There’s an age-old question, “if a tree falls and nobody is around to hear it, did the tree make any noise?” While most people who try to answer the question are interested in philosophy or science, there’s a related question in digital marketing. For marketers and agencies, it’s “if we publish something and it doesn’t show up in the SERPs, does the content have much impact?” Here, the question is related to another one: why is SEO important? Let’s find out!
What is SEO?
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of helping ensure your website content shows up as high on search engine rankings as possible. Content optimization for search engines requires site owners to use keywords that help “sort” content so it’ll show up when someone looks for content that matches these keywords.
However, there’s more to SEO than just keywords. Rather, your content must have qualities that make it most attractive to the web crawlers that search engines use to discover and rank content. And because the vast majority of clicks on any keyword go to results on the first page, it’s critical to rank as high as possible. Some 25% of search engine users don’t even look at the second page.
Why is SEO important for marketing?
We get it. Creating content for your agency can be difficult when you prioritize your clients, and the SEO process often seems intimidating. But why should agencies do this important content optimization anyway? There are many reasons besides getting more clicks than the competition.
It doesn’t cost much
While PPC and other paid marketing methods can cost a lot of money, content optimization is almost free. You only need to pay for a few software tools and someone to write your content. Of course, those software tools are often important for other things, such as analytics and paid search. Plus, you only need to pay more money to create or update a page, rather than with each click or impression.
Pay-per-click money goes farther
Although you can get a lot of eyeballs with proper SEO, you may still want to do some pay-per-click marketing. That’s because you can pay for clicks on more competitive keywords where you have little chance of ranking well. Then, catch more traffic with high-quality SEO. In other words, you’ll get the audience from organic search on less competitive keywords, so you can save money to pay for more targeted advertising.
Move people along the sales funnel
One answer to “why is SEO important” is that people can read your articles and consider your service. In this situation, the customer might know little or nothing about your agency upfront. So, you must get people to ask questions and discover how your services are the best solutions to solve their pain points. If people don’t find your content, it’s a lost opportunity.
SEO brings opportunities
Because content optimization helps people find your agency’s content, it also brings in opportunities. For example, someone might be considering someone else’s services, and then your content convinces them not to. This can be quite common in e-commerce, where there’s often much competition. Optimizing your service landing pages can help ensure your services are found first and that readers understand why your agency is different from the competition.
Local SEO helps customers find you
If your agency is locally based, then you need local SEO. To optimize content for locations, you’ll add the place name to your regular keyword. For instance, we might use “content agencies in Seattle” or “marketing agencies in Seattle.” By using local SEO techniques, you can capitalize on a market that wants to find your services in the area. Otherwise, that business might go to a competitor who uses local SEO.
Quality SEO is a competitive advantage
Not only does content optimization bring people to your website, but it also helps you make a good impression. While old-style SEO once focused on spamming keywords, these days, Google looks for quality writing, too. In practice, this means your best-ranked articles and pages will often be the ones that are well-written and prioritize the reader experience. Because a good first impression is so important to customers, both the writing quality and the optimization itself put your brand at an advantage.
Although content optimization is beneficial to your business, the most important thing is to do it right. After all, if you don’t get top billing on the SERPs, then your competitors will. This is probably one reason why agency owners get intimidated by SEO and its precise, yet ever-evolving principles.
Luckily, with SEOArmy, you don’t have to learn all the rules yourself. You don’t even need to choose the keywords on your own. Instead, our award-winning SEO strategists and writers will choose the best keywords and craft top-quality content for your website. Just tell us what you need, and we’ll take care of it on time, every time.