6 Reasons It’s Necessary to Hire SEO Experts to Succeed Online
SEO isn’t dead, despite the fact that hundreds of people look up the opposite every single month. In fact, SEO is thriving! If you look at the Google Trends graph, you can see that SEO searches have been trending upwards since 2004. While search engine searches about SEO aren’t as high as they were in 2016 and 2017, search engine optimization is even more important for website owners than it’s ever been.
Consider the fact that 57% of B2B marketers state that SEO is their single most important lead generation tool. Or that 81% of consumers research a product before making a purchase.
It’s obvious that anyone using the Internet should be at least considering SEO as part of their digital marketing strategy. Considering that 64% of small businesses have websites at this point, it’s obvious that very nearly everybody is using the Internet for business at this point.
That isn’t restricted to eCommerce websites, either. News blogs and websites need to consider SEO, for instance. If you’re creating digital content, you want it to be found, naturally. Blogs and special interest websites can be businesses, too.
Whatever your reason for creating digital content, you need to factor SEO into your content strategy. Once you know a thing or two about SEO, it can even give you new ideas for fresh content.
With the Internet being so prevalent and omnipresent in our lives, the rules around SEO are changing faster than ever. Even Internet specialists sometimes have a hard time keeping up with the Google updates and ever-changing algorithms. That’s where SEO experts come in.
SEO can be a bit of a secret science, even for those who use the Internet extensively for business. That’s why we’re going to show you some of the benefits when you hire SEO Experts.
6 Reasons You Need To Hire SEO Experts For Your Online Business To Thrive
Before we begin, let’s delve into the question, “What is an SEO specialist?”
What Does An SEO Expert Do?
SEO is a vast and intricate discipline. So the short answer to “what is an SEO specialist?” is – a lot of things.
The more involved answer is that SEO experts keep track of the latest search engine trends and algorithm updates. They can use these insights to create new content for your website. They also use this specialized knowledge to make sure your existing content is in compliance with the latest SEO trends.
An SEO expert will work with you to understand your unique business goals and marketing objectives. Then they’ll work with you to help you attain those goals using the latest SEO insights.
Say your goal is to grow your online audience and raise brand awareness. An SEO expert knows that viral media is a quick and easy way to achieve this. They might proceed to write some long-form content or click-worthy listicles, in a bid to get your audience to share your links on social media and to their personal networks.
They might even create some multimedia content around that content, such as Pinterest pins or YouTube videos.
While some SEO trends are constantly changing, others have remained tried-and-true for as long as Google’s been around. An SEO expert will also go through your existing content, making sure that your on-page SEO is up to speed. They’ll make sure your internal links are valid and you’re not missing any opportunities.
An SEO expert will also make sure your site complies with the latest tech trends, like page speed or mobile compliance. If your page is taking too long to load, they’ll use a variety of techniques to speed it up so you’re not getting penalized by Google.
We could go on and on. But this brief glimpse into what an SEO expert does should help give you some ideas of how they’ll help you succeed online.
What It’s Necessary To Hire SEO Experts To Succeed Online
There are currently nearly 2 billion websites online, at the time of this writing. That means that nearly 25% of the entire Earth’s population has some form of digital presence.
That’s a lot of competition. A lot of people vying for the same eyes, ears, hearts, and wallets.
Here are some things you can look forward to when you hire SEO services.
SEO Experts Focus EXCLUSIVELY On Your Digital Content
We’re all busy. 72% of small business owners report feeling overwhelmed. For many business owners, SEO is just one more thing to do in an already overwhelming workload.
An SEO expert’s entire job is to make sure your digital content is its absolute best. That it’s in compliance with the latest Google updates. That you’re not missing out on any backlinks or hosting any broken links on your website.
An SEO expert can create new content for you, as well. Creating blog posts, landing pages, copywriting, or even social media content all takes time. Yet they’re all essential if you’re hoping for your digital business to thrive in today’s digital economy.
SEO Yields Organic Traffic
Sure, social media can yield an intense amount of traffic. While it’s tremendously exciting to watch the pageviews and site hits climb after you publish a piece of content, what are you supposed to do when the buzz dies down?
Organic SEO is essential for on-going traffic. It’s how your site shows up on the search engine result pages (SERPs). That’s one of the reasons SEO’s such a great investment. It never goes away!
The same can be said about pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, which is pretty much your only other alternative for getting steady, on-going traffic. You can run a PPC ad campaign, but it disappears the moment you stop pumping money into it. SEO never disappears.
SEO Is The Cornerstone Of Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEO forms the nucleus of search engine marketing, or SEM. That is reason alone to put a sizable amount of resources towards hiring an SEO expert, especially if you happen to be in the B2B sector.
SEM means your customers are looking for you. Think about that for a moment.
How do you think a business owner in the 80s or 90s would’ve responded if you told them you had a list of certified leads that were ready to make a purchase? Provided they didn’t think you were some snake oil-selling marketing guru, they probably would’ve given you the keys to their house for a simple peek at that list.
SEM is a way to target your ideal customers, no matter what niche or industry you happen to be in. Search engine marketing can be particularly effective in achieving actual conversions, which is another reason it’s a good idea to hire SEO experts.
You can even use search engine marketing as part of a local SEO campaign. This can be a highly lucrative approach if you happen to have a brick-and-mortar location or are selling physical products or services.
SEO Experts Help You Compete Against Big Businesses
One of the most revolutionary aspects of doing business on the Internet is the way it allows smaller and independent businesses to compete against larger corporations, including Fortune 500 companies. It can even be to your benefit, at times, as smaller organizations are able to implement new ideas faster and evolve more quickly than megalithic businesses.
Larger organizations have exponentially more money to sink into marketing. They can run PPC campaigns and target ads on social media pretty much around the clock. There aren’t many businesses that can keep up with that.
When you hire SEO experts, you’re able to target the precise audience you’re shooting for. Maybe you’re running an independent market in Venice, Ca. for instance. Or a shop for sustainable fashion in Manhattan.
With SEO and SEM, you can even turn the smaller size of your business to your advantage. Customers that appreciate independent businesses and sustainability are often mistrustful of larger corporations. You can leverage that insight to your advantage
SEO Experts Help Build Brand Awareness
People can’t do business with you if they don’t know you exist. Unless you’re Nike or McDonald’s or Amazon, you’re going to have to let people know you exist, somehow. You’ve got to do it in just the right way, as well, or you could leave your prospective customers with a negative impression of your brand.
Getting found is only one way that hiring an SEO expert can improve your brand. Consider the fact that Google advises hiring an SEO consultant as early as possible if you’re looking to optimize your online business. Now, why would they recommend that?
Granted, Google has a vested interest in SEO, as it’s how they’re able to function. Above and beyond that, however, Google measures for user experience. SEO factors are ultimately about usability.
That also speaks to why you should factor SEO into your online business as early as possible. You want people to have a favorable opinion of your brand, which begins with your website.
For your website to be ultimately useful, it should be:
- Usable
- Useful
- Appealing
- Findable
- Accessible
- Trustworthy
If you get any of those aspects wrong, you could leave your audience with a negative impression of your business. Your online content would be doing the opposite of what it’s intended result.
SEO Experts Guide Your Customers Through The Buyer’s Journey
The Internet has leveled the playing field for independent businesses to compete against the majors. It also means you’re competing against everybody else. The customers are aware of this, as well, and get slightly savvier with each passing year.
While this means you’ve got endless possibilities of reaching a global audience, it also means that there’s a lot more involved in getting a customer to actually spend money with your business.
The ‘buyer’s journey’ or ‘buyer’s cycle’ has multiple stages, with new ones being added all the time.
Presently, you could break the buyer’s cycle down into 4 stages:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Conversion
- Retention
There are certain signals for each one of these stages. SEO experts know how to read those signals. Even better, then know how to interpret them and turn them into actionable insights.
Consider the awareness stage. At that point in the buyer’s cycle, a customer isn’t ready to make a purchase. It’d be a mistake to try and sell to them, at that point – potentially a costly one.
Examples of some phrases that indicate a customer’s still in the awareness stage might be:
- How to do ___?
- Benefits of X
- Reviews
- FAQ
At this stage in the buyer’s journey, someone’s first just become aware of a problem, issue, idea, or product. They’re trying to learn more. An SEO expert can create content around those keywords and phrases and help deliver what that customer’s looking for.
This creates brand awareness, loyalty, and steers them through the buyer’s cycle, all at once.
Once someone’s entered the Consideration Stage, it’s possible to start gearing your customers towards making a purchase. The Consideration Stage is when a customer is starting to weigh their options. There are keywords and phrases for this, as well.
Keywords For The Consideration Stage Include:
- Best
- Reviews
- Cheap
- Affordable
- Deals
- Provider
- Troubleshooting
When people are looking up these phrases, they’re getting closer to being ready to spend money. A SEO company can create buyer personas to match your intended audience. They can then create content to help answer those customer’s particular pain points.
Examples of content suitable for the conversion stage include:
- Whitepapers
- Tutorials
- Video content
- Infographics
- Data and statistics
This content can also be leveraged towards other business and marketing goals, at the same time, such as signing up for your email list. It also helps increase brand loyalty and trust at the same time. Authoritative content like whitepapers, infographics, and tutorials shows you know what you’re doing, establishing you as a thought leader in your niche or industry.
These are just some of the benefits when you hire SEO experts, which should tell you how much there is to know about this nearly endless topic. SEO is the DNA of the Internet. When you understand how it works, you can essentially achieve anything.
Looking For SEO Services Near San Diego?
We’re so glad you’re here! We’re not just a SEO company – we’re also an advertising agency, a marketing firm, and your personal brand advocates, all rolled into one.
We started MAD Group because we didn’t like how our industry was treating its customers. We work with brands we believe in. Which means we believe in our work, and stand behind it.
Whether you’re looking to hire SEO experts or branding experts, we have everything you need to thrive in today’s digital economy, under one roof.