Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
All business owners and marketing executives love the idea of social media marketing. It’s common sense: Google is currently processing somewhere around 5 billion searches per day. Who wouldn’t want a healthy slice of that traffic headed towards their own landing pages?
However, what stops them from following through on new search engine optimization campaigns is the reality that it can be difficult to bring traffic in from Google if you’re starting from a low initial search position. If you haven’t put time, money, and effort towards SEO in the past, it can seem daunting to even begin.
It’s not surprising, then, that we often hear different versions of the question: “Is SEO really worth the time and effort it will take?” To get at the right answer, here are a few things you have to remember…
SEO is Harder Than Some Web Designers Will Tell You
There are some vendors out there who will try to convince you that SEO is really just a matter of plugging a few keywords into your website and watching the sales flow in. That’s just not realistic in a lot of markets. But, they want you to pay a deposit or sign up for a plan. So they don’t emphasize things like ongoing content creation and link building.
You don’t usually achieve a top Google ranking overnight. It takes time, attention, and usually a small investment to get the ball rolling.
You Can Get SEO Results Faster Than You Think
Search engine optimization doesn’t necessarily take off overnight, but you might not have to wait months and months, either. That’s particularly true if you know exactly who your customers are and work with a creative team that can do some detailed keyword research on your behalf.
Additionally, local search engine optimization is more important than ever. And, it happens to move more quickly. So, if your first priority is to attract buyers from your neighborhood, or a very specific segment of the market, you could see your web analytics improve in just a month or two.
Good Organic SEO Pays for Itself Again and Again
Whether it takes you six weeks or six months to get results, though, we would highly encourage you to invest the time and money needed to put a good organic search engine optimization campaign in place. That’s because the efforts will pay for themselves again and again in the months and years to come.
It can take a bit of patience to establish yourself on Google. Once you’re there in a top position, however, it’s even harder for your competitors to catch up to you as long as you keep producing content and optimizing your site. Even better, it’s easier to maintain a top search position—and profit from it—than it is to plan and execute your initial campaigns.
Good SEO Offers Bottom Line Value
When you put all the pieces together, search engine optimization is a good business investment, just like an upgrade to an office or retail location would be. You have to spend some time and money getting it right, but if you make that commitment and stick with it, you can enjoy an almost permanent advantage over your competitors… not to mention increased leads and sales.