5 Ways to Ignore SEO Could Affect Your Results

It may be possible to run a business in 2018 without search engine optimization, but it puts you at risk and leaves you money on the table.

Anyone who has tried to convince a customer, a boss or a colleague to invest in search engine optimization will not be aware of the usual objections: it is too unpredictable, the PPC is better, it takes too much time, etc.

There is a common misconception that the financial benefits of SEO are not as clear as social media or sponsored links. But anyone familiar with SEO knows that it is very measurable and, in most cases, even better value than social media and the CPP.

And many companies seem to have understood: in 2016, Borrell and Associates had predicted that the SEO sector would reach $ 80 billion in revenue per year by 2020.

A well thought out SEO strategy will bring more qualified traffic to your website. Quality content tailored to the needs of your customers will bring a higher conversion rate. These things are well known. But completely ignoring SEO does not simply mean losing a few sales here and there: it can be risky or potentially disastrous financially.

Here are five ways this could affect your bottom line …

1. Using PPC to replace SEO

Many people have tried to settle the SEO debate between SEO and Sponsored Links by trying to calculate a definitive conversion rate for both. Many of these studies provide valuable information on paid and organic traffic, but a number of variables cannot be captured by a single percentage.

Take, for example, the fact that a site optimized for SEO can target keywords for people at different stages of the sales funnel, from educational articles to product pages. PPC campaigns, on the other hand, tend to send prospects directly to a sales page.

Many people converted via PPC advertising may have been sensitized to the content they accessed in a natural way: according to Ipsos, 44% of online shoppers start using a search engine. The same could also be true for phone or brick and mortar customers: according to Acquisio, 73 million phone calls will be generated solely by mobile search by the end of 2018.

PPC often has a higher conversion rate than SEO, but its network is limited. SEO allows you to expand this network and reach potential customers at the very beginning of their shopping research. Without that, you leave tracks and sales on the table and you miss an opportunity to strengthen the authority of your brand.

2. Omit or misunderstand lucrative niches

You may think that optimizing a few strong traffic terms in your niche is sufficient. However, one of the most valuable aspects of SEO is to access your customers’ thought processes.

Recently, one of my colleagues optimized a site for a recreational vehicle dealer in Oregon. Initially, the dealer wanted to create a page for people looking for recreational vehicles in Portland. Some basic keyword research revealed that there was little or no traffic around Portland-specific terms. Instead, the high traffic conditions were all based on states.

This seems to be a minor distinction, but without this small but valuable idea, the company would have missed a potentially huge revenue potential.

3. Not being prepared for Google updates

After the update of its main algorithm by Google in August 2018 (known as the “Medic update”), many devastating traffic losses have been reported, particularly in the health and welfare sector. be. Some webmasters even claimed that the update had destroyed their businesses.

Although it is impossible to predict exactly how updates in Google’s algorithms will end up in the rankings, adherence to best practices in SEO can mitigate the risk of being adversely impacted by an update.

For example, once the smoke had disappeared from the initial damage of the Medic update, it was obvious that the most affected sites did not have “E-A-T”, for example. they lacked expertise, authority and trust. By focusing on creating quality content and creating a climate of trust and authority vis-à-vis their public, sites with a successful SEO strategy have minimized the risk of downsizing. traffic and sales.

4. Recasting of bad sites

This may sound shocking in 2018, but many companies still employ agencies or developers with little or no familiarity with SEO to redefine their sites.

I can not tell you how many times I was called at the last minute for a redesign, but I realized that a company had built its site entirely in JavaScript or had made a serious technical error that would almost certainly as a result in a Google demotion. Then, they expect me to sprinkle a few words in their content and that I get them immediately in the standings!

At the beginning of the process, it’s simply asking Google to remove you from your rankings – and your income streams online!

5. Lack of credibility and trust

There is obviously a direct relationship between organic traffic and sales, but if you ignore SEO, you will also miss many other benefits. For example, it is well known that lists of organic products have much more credibility with consumers than paid lists. If you dominate the first page of Google across your industry, this is an excellent PR strategy that will reinforce the impression that your company has authority and expertise.

If you ignore SEO and your site rarely or not at all in organic ads, this can make consumers more suspicious of your credentials and even affect the conversion rate of your PPC ads.

Conclusion

It is certainly possible to run a business without SEO strategy, and you can even succeed. However, by ignoring SEO, you prevent sales and even greater success by leaving opportunities for your competitors.

A strong SEO strategy allows you to minimize the risk of declining sales, while maximizing your online footprint and taking advantage of the most lucrative opportunities.

Believe me, your results will thank you!