It’s 2021 and with companies now changing their marketing strategy with the ‘new normal’, basics of digital marketing can often be forgotten – the age-old methodology of using Search Engine Optimisation is now – more than ever important to consider.
The first result on a Google SERP has a 28.5% click-through rate. By the time you get to the 10th result, the CTR has fallen to 2.5%.
Smart Insights
Audiences are now aware of ‘paid search – the number of individuals who click on the ‘paid’ searches are reducing by the day as they are now more aware of what organic and paid search results look like.
Google search ads appear on the top and sides when a Google Search is performed – the organic number one ranking one are the first in line right after the paid search – this is where most of the customer clicks occur.
The truth with SEO is that it still matters in 2020, though many of the practices and methods have changed. For example, Google’s 2019 BERT update lit a fire under SEO professionals to focus more on optimizing content based on search intent rather than keywords. Many businesses still need SEO, but they’ll need to adapt to the shifting landscape.
Business Development & Lead Generation For Locally Focused Businesses
One of the best use-cases of SEO is local businesses and how you can use this to out-rank your local competitors. With local SEO, you can reach out to prospective customers who are looking to engage with your business locally – Google tailors the search results to your geographic location – when done correctly, your website with our SEO efforts can help you dominate the local search results for the business niche you’re aiming at.
49% of marketers believe organic search is the most profitable channel they use
Social Media Marketer
Optimizing For Search Intent Through Site Content
Google has been optimising their efforts using natural language processing to better understand the context of user’s search and the intent behind them, with the Google BERT algorithm update in late 2019 – this essentially means that website that publish content that match what users are actually search for may be given much higher priority in search results. The key focus should be on the intention behind the search, not how often a specific keywords wis going to be used on your content.
Businesses should aim to create content that provides values to the potential customer and provides solutions to their queries – this update matters the most for businesses who are dependent on organic intent-based targeting with best matches on what your target audience is looking for – this provides your target audience with more value than the pages that are currently ranking.
Adopting A Multichannel Approach
Adopting a multi-channel approach on your marketing funnel helps you create more value and understand your customers’ approach better – while Google organic search isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, digital-savvy business would do well when using SEO alongside existing traffic channels.
SEO might not be an automated marketing approach, but with regular efforts and consistent optimization you can look at getting leads and daily traffic on an automated process – using this process you can attract organic traffic without taking away from your primary marketing channels
Brand Authority And Reach
One of the biggest advantages of using SEO is the higher brand authority by targeting long-tail keywords that attract highly targeted traffic looking to engage with our purchase with your brand. When your brand starts popping up on search results on ‘how to’ or ‘how do I’ or ‘how can I’ your keywords automatically solidify your brand as an authority on a topic and position you against your competitors.
According to a 2014 survey, 84% of the millennial respondents said they don’t like advertising (and many of them don’t trust it).
SquareSpace
It seems that many of this generation of buyers are becoming more resistant to traditional tactics like cold calling, email spam, and even paid ads. But with SEO, businesses can reach this demographic where they are already looking for brands — search engines. SEO works as a form of inbound marketing that attracts customers to you rather than interrupting their natural scrolling with pushy sales tactics.
In conclusion, while SEO might feel like an ‘old-school’ approach – it is still here to stay, even with AI-based Google Search parameters and ad generation taking the cake on most impressions and clicks on paid campaigns – SEO will still be the organic and the most engaging way to engage with your audiences.
Looking to integrate Search Engine Optimization into your marketing strategy?
Reach out to us for a FREE SEO Audit of your website and we’ll be happy to offer our expertise on SEO to help YOUR business perform better.
