Is SEO Really Worth It?

It’s been just a little too long since we’ve talked about search engine optimization (SEO). Since it’s one of our favorite topics and involved in much of what we do here at Designflair, we figured we would should chat about it.

In February, we defined SEO and what it entails. It’s the development of traffic from search engines such as Bing, Google, and Yahoo. Authentic SEO strategies gain traffic to your website from ‘organic’ or ‘natural’ search engine results. (Still confused? We get it, it can be complicated. Check out The Beginner’s Guide to SEO from Moz for a helpful guide.) The thing about SEO is that it is an evolving landscape. Google is constantly engineering new ways to crawl websites and people are constantly searching the internet in new ways. So we’re here to tell you why search engine optimization is valuable to you in 2015.

SEO strategies establish quality content for your site or blog.

In order to rank higher in search engines, you want shareable content. ‘Everyone’ has been told that content is king and ‘everyone’ is creating new content, (both high and low quality) so what makes you stand out? It will be your unique voice or message that sticks in people’s minds. If someone likes it, they are more likely to share it with their contact sphere as well. This is the key to being found online in the 21st century and building clientele. Establishing a site or blog with quality content will result in content that people want to share, and a major part of SEO strategies is making the experience for users of your website more enjoyable. Hiring an expert to do SEO for your site is worth it because it will benefit the content of your website overall.

Quality content as part of SEO strategies will:

• Use focus keywords, but stay away from spammy tactics such as keyword stuffing.
• Provide relevant information in your niche that is helpful to your target audience.
• Include helpful and working links that support your content, adding value to the information your site or blog provides. Links will also add authority to your site, which is something search engines are looking for.
• Contain powerful images that are optimized for being found on search engines. Search engine optimized photographs are particularly instrumental for commerce sites. Product images with proper title images, for example, will allow them to appear on Google image search results.

Utilizing SEO will increase your brand’s awareness and visibility.

Last week we explained the importance in having a strong brand identity for your business. Increasing your business site’s ranking on search engines is a major part of that. Employing SEO tactics for your website will increase your chances of being found online, allowing your brand to be discovered.

Another aspect of SEO is to format your website so that it is compatible with smartphones and tablets, which adds to your brand’s reputation. Make it easy for people to find you, whether they are searching for you from mobile or desktop.

SEO Strategies & Techniques

There are a variety of ways to approach search engine optimization. Marketers are gaining knowledge and realizing that strategies such as key-word stuffing are worthless, and that proper SEO takes a bit more time for much better results.

• Change Content On-site. On-site SEO strategies including changing your website’s infrastructure and content. The infrastructure of your site includes developing a content hierarchy, making it mobile-friendly, and engaging users through an appealing interface. Again, developing a website with quality content is the main way to get people to your site – which is why we ensure our clients have quality content on all their branding and marketing material.
• Social Media. Implementing SEO on your social media platforms gains traffic, refers people to your website and builds your brand identity. Digital media marketing is a means to increasing your website’s ranking.
• Marketing Research. Understanding your target audience will allow you to tailor SEO strategies to reach those desired people. When search engine optimization is backed by market research, it’s more effective.

The goal of SEO is to gain traffic.

Every business should have a website, and if you’re paying for a website you want it to be easily found online and for people to access your information. Employing SEO will allow your website to be more effective by increasing the amount of online traffic for your business. So yes, SEO is still worth the investment in 2015.

At Designflair we take into account the ‘computer aspect’ and ‘human aspect’ of SEO. We stay on top of relevant information, such as the latest Google algorithmic updates, while creating a beneficial user experience through well-designed websites.

In order to improve your SERP ranking and increase traffic on your site, we look at the overall picture. Speak with us today to set up a meeting to discuss your business’s website.