Everyone wants their business to appear on the first page of search engine results—the higher, the better. Search engine optimization (SEO) has long been heralded as the key to success for ranking, but is it still relevant? Some people believe that paid advertising now makes the biggest difference, but they aren’t always right.
As many of your rivals are using SEO in an attempt to boost their business, you need to find out if it can work for you.
Search Engines Might Change, but SEO Can Too
As search engines update their algorithms regularly, you need to make sure you are keeping up. Even if they change, there is no reason why your approach to SEO can’t as well. After the last update from Google, it seems that the consensus is posts of around 1,900 words rank well. Make sure your posts are not full of filler though, it still has to be useful for the user, and a high bounce rate can knock you down.
Content Marketing vs. SEO
This is basically good content vs relevant content and both matter. There is no reason why you can’t create meaningful content that has great value and make sure it is also going to be seen. The two are mutually beneficial and should be included as part of any ranking strategy. There is no point in writing great content if no one is going to see it.
Being an Authority Still Matters
If you want to appear high in the search engines, then you need to give good value. The likes of Google still like to see posts that link to one another, and we mean this in the literal and in terms of theme. For example, a pet website will rank well if there are lots of useful articles relating to different pets that are SEO optimized.
People Still Use Search Engines
More than ever before, people are using the likes of Bing and Google to find information. An organic search still counts for almost half of all searches online. To find an SEO company in Toronto for example, you would immediately use a search engine to do so.
Putting in The Effort Matters
It might seem like a great deal of effort for what can be a slow return, but those who put in the right amount into their SEO strategy find that it often pays off. Your marketing budget should be split into different categories but neglect SEO at your peril!
An Organic Search Is Favored Over Paid
The fact is, most people scroll past the ads that appear in search engines. There is a sense that the authorities are the ones that have already ranked well, causing consumers to scroll past the paid search results.
This is arguably because we trust the first page of Google to deliver articles that are as close to what we are looking for as possible. So, it is evident that SEO is still relevant, and vital for the success of many businesses. Keeping SEO in your marketing strategy is the key to growing your company.