Thanks to the Internet, over 80% of consumers now research business products and services online before making a purchase decision. Therefore, if your business doesn’t have an online presence, chances are you may be missing out on opportunities to be considered when your ideal buyers are in the “buying window”.

While your website is the foundation for your online presence, your digital marketing strategy needs to extend into Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to create awareness, drive traffic to your website, and earn more sales.

SEO Stats:

• 90% of clicks on page 1 of Google are on organic search results (not paid)
• 33% of clicks are on the top organic search result
• 76% of clicks are on the top 3 organic search results

The Benefits of SEO

Here are three key reasons why your small business needs to be focusing on SEO:

Improved Visibility

The vast majority of consumers (75 percent) don’t look beyond the first page of search results when researching products and services online. Therefore, if you’re not strategically optimizing your content in anticipation of what your target audience is searching for online, your business probably isn’t even on their radar.

If you think paid advertisements will help you to boost your online visibility, you should be aware that 70 to 80 percent of consumers ignore paid ads. There’s a sense of credibility in consumers’ minds when a business ranks on the first page of search results through organic SEO efforts.

Increased Consideration

Your website’s ranking in search results has a direct correlation to the sales that you’re able to generate from your digital marketing efforts. Being aware of the type of searches that your target audience is performing online will help you to craft an SEO strategy to attract organic traffic to your website. It’s important to note that organic leads have a 14.6 percent higher closing rate. Also, inbound leads that are earned organically from search engines cost an average of 61 percent less than paid advertising leads.

Local Audience

If you’re trying to earn more business from your local audience, focusing on SEO will help you to accomplish this when people search on products and services in your area. Nearly half of all searches on Google are for local businesses, and 50 percent of local searches performed on a mobile device will result with a store visit or contact within 24 hours.

As you can see, your business can’t afford not to take SEO seriously. If you want to create brand awareness and generate leads from your target audience, contact us at In2communications and we’ll help your small business succeed with a solid SEO strategy!