Back in the day, businesses gained customers through being listed in directories like the Yellow Pages, handing out
flyers on street corners, and conducting mass media marketing campaigns. And while many of these strategies still work,
businesses that fail to have a significant online presence are rarely able to grow or compete in an increasingly digital
environment.
Where once search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies were viewed with scepticism, or seen as a non-essential add-on to other digital marketing strategies,
developments in how consumers use the internet, and how search engines like Google currently rank websites, have meant
that any business looking to grow profits and expand reach must invest in this practice.
Failing to embrace SEO can severely hinder business growth and limit consumer awareness. That’s because if a website
isn’t ranked on the first page of search results, the vast majority of consumers will never bother to look further. If
consumers are unaware of a company or cannot find its website, the business loses out on a significant portion of
potential sales.
Anywhere between 80-95% of consumers with an internet connection research businesses online before making a purchase or
visiting a brick-and-mortar store. Similarly, around 65% of all consumers use mobile devices to search products and
services. Without effective SEO and mobile-friendly websites, businesses can lose serious ground on search engine
results page (SERPs) rankings.
Hiring a specialist SEO company to improve a business’s website rankings on SERPs is a key step to ensuring growth in
the modern digital consumer landscape. That’s not to say that a company should scrap all other marketing approaches.
Indeed, a good marketing strategy embraces all kinds of avenues to reach possible customers. But good SEO can bolster
all other marketing endeavours and ensure not only a business’s growth but its longevity in the digitised world.