Search Engine Optimization

What is SEO and How is it Used in Digital Marketing?

As a business owner, you’re probably familiar with search engine optimization (SEO) and may even be implementing it very loosely. Unfortunately, effective SEO can be overwhelming. It’s constantly in flux. Whether there’s a new technique, algorithm, or tool, it can be difficult to keep up.

But SEO is valuable and necessary for businesses of all sizes. And the good news is: if you stick to the basics, anybody can learn how to do it.

SEO is a set of practices and tactics that, if implemented effectively, will improve the position of your web pages in search results.

Searchers type in a phrase, string of words, or question into a search engine and get a list of results, including ads and pages relevant to their search.

SEO makes your website more attractive and visible to search engines and helps you show up more frequently in results. Searchers will find exactly what they’re looking for (information that solves their problem) and you’ll get what you’ve been looking for (more high-quality visitors to your site).

The Role of SEO in Digital Marketing

The primary role of SEO in digital marketing is to increase your visibility on search engine results pages, and as a result, boost web traffic and conversion rates. Effective SEO will get you on page 1, either through your own SEO efforts or paid ad placement.

An essential part of a digital marketing strategy, SEO:

• Increases traffic to your website
• Enhances website visitor experience
• Boosts brand awareness
• Produces higher-quality leads
• Improves site authority

The Cons of SEO

SEO is essential for successful digital marketing, but it does come with some negatives. The goal is to streamline, work within your capabilities, and watch out for these potential pitfalls:

Routine maintenance required

Organic SEO is not a ‘one and done’ project. It requires upkeep. You must constantly optimize your site to continue showing up in search results. You also need to keep on top of your website’s page speed, links, new content, tags, and more.

SEO algorithms frequently change

Keeping up with Google’s algorithms can be challenging, as they change almost daily. This can make crafting a long-term SEO strategy difficult, because what makes pages perform well today, may not work in the future.

Organic SEO takes time

Organic SEO requires patience. While paid ads can start generating desired results right away, organic SEO can take several months to deliver – especially if you’re aiming for page 1. This has nothing to do with skill or talent, it’s just the nature of organic SEO. Professional SEO agencies have to play the long game too.

Paid SEO can be expensive

Paid ads will cost you money up front. If your industry, products, or services are highly competitive, your keywords can be costly. Search engine ad builders allow you to set a budget and it’s critical that you do so. But, if you’re a small business with an even smaller advertising budget, you can eat through an entire campaign in a matter of days or hours.