Reasons abound as to why business owners should have a website and why this website should be optimized; yet many businessmen still don’t keenly understand the importance of a business website.
Some of them still resort to the primitive ways of advertising, like billboards, flyers, and ads on TV. Of course, these methods of advertising had their prolific era, but nowadays the trends have changed, and if you want your business to be relevant, you need to go online and create a highly optimized business website.
SEO Statistics Worth Pondering
Statistics would readily reveal that around 81% of shoppers nowadays first engage in online research before buying something; and 89% of consumers utilize search engines when deciding which products and services they are going to use, according to Fleishman-Hillard. Statistics don’t lie, and if you have a profound business acumen, you would readily understand that SEO is important, and that your business will be on the losing end if you don’t have a highly optimized website.
The importance of SEO becomes more pronounced once you look at the statistical data concerning those who click on organic search results. Statistics show that 79% of online searchers click more on organic results, and 80% seldom click on paid or sponsored search results.
Is Having a Website Enough?
It is not enough, however, to simply have your own working website; it is also important to optimize your website.
Search engine optimization is important because it is designed to increase the prominence and visibility of your website online. Statistics show that online searchers of products and services seldom click outside of the first page of the search engine result page (SERP). Hence, if your website does not rank high, your website will surely not likely serve its purpose of promoting your brand online because online searchers will seldom click on your website. In such a case, your website will surely wallow in the quagmire of anonymity.
The importance of search engine optimization, therefore, comes to the fore if you want higher visibility and you want to catapult your website to the top three rankings on the SERP.
The Two-pronged Effects of Ranking High in the SERP
Ranking high in the SERP has a two-pronged effect on the visibility of your website.
On the one hand, if your website achieves a high ranking, your website’s visitors will increase in number because more searchers will click on your site due to its greater online visibility. On the other hand, as your website visitors increase, the search engine will be hard-pressed to increase the ranking of your website further.
The Importance of Leads
Leads are likewise a valuable offshoot of SEO. The higher the leads to your website, the greater the number of searchers who would view your website. The greater the number of viewers, the greater the chances that you could turn these website viewers into actual buyers or customers.
It is also important to take note that the number of mobile searches generally surpasses the number of searchers using desktop, and stats won’t lie in telling us that the average online searchers or users usually linger online for three hours daily using their mobile devices.
The Need for a Mobile-friendly Website
Statistical data show that mobile users far outnumber those of desktop searchers. This means that the buying behavior of most consumers has already shifted to the use of mobile devices when searching for a product or service. Hence, it is critical that your website is mobile-friendly and dynamic to allow mobile users to readily access it.
Conclusion
SEO matters, whether you like it or not. It’s often the detrimental factor of your success and failure. Regardless of what people say about the so-called ‘death of SEO’, it’s – along with the techniques and tactics surrounding it – still a big deal in digital marketing.