7 Reasons to Invest in SEO Now

Business owners often prefer to run some ads to promote their websites, rather than investing in search engine optimization (SEO). It's easier and quicker to do, and the results are much more immediate too. However, if you're in it for the long term, and you should be, then SEO for your website makes much more sense. Here are 7 reasons why:

No Constant Cost Increases

The monthly cost of a successful SEO strategy will pale into insignificance when compared to the increase in website traffic and sales. The traffic growth will be exponential over time, increasing profits exponentially too, and will become near impossible to stop - unlike ads where traffic and profits grind to a halt the moment you stop running them.

85% of Online Clicks go to Organic Search Results

That leaves just 15% of all online clicks going to ads, which means that the majority of traffic originates from the search results. If your website ranks well for your best keywords, you will have a steady flow of highly relevant buying traffic pouring into your website, night and day. This will do wonders to your bottom line, and if you want to increase that traffic, you can purchase a few ads too - but always start with a good SEO strategy.

You may also want to read: The Beginner's Guide to SEO - Part 1

Increased Traffic = Increased Sales = Increased Profits

A good SEO strategy will increase the traffic to your website, not just from search results alone, but over time satisfied customers will happily refer you to others, thereby increasing the traffic to your website even further. This will inevitably result in an increase in sales, which will translate in greater profits for you.

SEO is Cost-Effective

Popular methods of online marketing, besides SEO, include pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, buying leads to use with email marketing and social media marketing. These all work well, and it can be argued that some of them have certain advantages and benefits over SEO marketing. However, SEO marketing should always remain your main base for online marketing. The return on investment (ROI) is good, the results are predictable, and the effect is long lasting.

Mobile Devices Dominate Internet Bandwidth

With the dominance of mobile devices over traditional desktop devices online, SEO has evolved in new ways to embrace this dominant technology. Mobile devices offer new opportunities and challenges for everyone, and those at the forefront are the ones who will benefit most. Running ads won't save you here, neither will a strong social media brand. SEO is by far your best chance to cash in.

SEO is Not a Fad or a Gimmick - it's Here to Stay

SEO will continuously evolve to embrace and adapt to new technologies as they emerge, but at its core, SEO is still a constant that isn't going to go away any time soon. When you compare SEO against other ways of promoting your website, it's a bit like building a house on rock compared to building a house on sand. Both houses will look great, at least to begin with, but which one do you think will stand the test of time?

Local SEO - the Huge Opportunity You Can't Afford to Overlook

The rise in the use of mobile devices now means that people will pull out their phones and look for a local store on a whim when they need something. If they happen to need what you are selling, and you don't feature in the search results, your competitors will be the ones to benefit. How can you prevent this happening? An effective SEO strategy is the best answer, every time. If your company is not listed and ranking high in Google My Business, you are missing out - big time!

CC Communications can Help
Our Charlotte website development and marketing agency has been helping businesses grow their presence in the search engines for over 23 years. We're currently providing free SEO audits to the first five businesses to complete our online survey. Using our comprehensive SEO analysis tools we'll develop a plan to find and resolve any issues that may be impacting your website's performance. 

7 Things Often Overlooked When Designing A Website

When you create a new website, it’s easy to look for aesthetics rather than practicalities. You want it to look nice for your visitors, and while that certainly is important, you may be ignoring essential elements. Here are 7 of the most overlooked features on websites:

Meta Data

The meta data of a website is usually hidden in the underlying HTML code that makes up the page and allows it to be visible in a web browser. However, this data is vitally important as it is read by the search engine spiders to affect your rankings. The meta data of a web page includes the page title, the description, page headings, and subheadings. Understanding these important elements of search engine optimization will make your site more competitive online.

Google Analytics Tracking

This is an online analytics and tracking service that is freely available to all, courtesy of Google. You need to set up a Google Analytics account (http://www.google.com/analytics/), and then simply follow the easy on-screen instructions to analyze your web traffic and know where each visitor came from, and more. You can also set up dashboards for at-a-glance information and have your most important data emailed to you on a regular bases.

Mobile/ Responsive Design

Mobile use now accounts for more than half of all Internet access, so it is very important that your website has a responsive design, and not a static design. You need to have an HTML template that can respond properly with no sideways scrolling on even the smallest screen size, if you want to do business online. Services like MobileEasy are helpful for a small business without a large budget for a website overhaul.

Clear Calls-To-Action

Just having a great sales page is good, but it isn’t good enough. People might be convinced that your product is just right for them, but if you don’t have a clear call to action, they probably won’t buy from you. Tell them clearly and distinctly to buy now!

Testimonials

It’s all very well for you to say your product or service is great, but it’s much better when other people say it too. Always try to get satisfied customers to provide you with a testimonial, and display it proudly on your website.

Security (SSL Certification)

Secure Sockets Layer, or SSL, is essential if you do e-commerce. In short, SSL encrypts sensitive information. If you accept credit cards on your site without an SSL Certificate, for example, it would be possible for someone with the right equipment to harvest the credit card numbers.

Contact Information

All too often a website doesn’t make it easy for their visitors to make contact. Always have a prominently displayed contact page. Include an email and phone number at the very least, if possible. Having contact information on your website increases visitor confidence.