Is SEO Worth the Expense?

Small business owners and new companies want to increase their brand’s presence to attract more customers and generate sales. They must implement the necessary marketing strategies to direct prospective clients to their website which, hopefully, will compel them to call or click for more information.

Outbound Marketing – Are Advertising Campaigns Enough?

Outbound marketing strategies, like advertising, have long been preferred by most small business owners because of their cheap costs. Some firms advertise on local business listings, diner placemats, or local mailings to try and attract potential customers.

While these advertisements can get messages to a large audience, they might not be enough to encourage potential customers to take action. In many cases, people are uninterested and are not looking for what the business offers. Hence, these low-cost marketing campaigns often result in low conversion rates, which means that the number of people who respond to the ads is small.

Some outbound marketing strategies still work for some businesses, but for others, leveraging the power of the internet yields better results and higher conversion rates.

With the growing digital reliance in the industry, more and more people are using the internet for commerce. Most businesses have websites to provide customers more accessible means to their products and services.

Consumers can look at online offers on their mobile devices, and with a few clicks, they can finish a transaction.

However, having a website is not enough for businesses to meet their conversion goals. They must use the right online strategies if they want to maximize the benefits of the internet.

Inbound Marketing and SEO

Firms can amplify their online potential by implementing inbound marketing methods like search engine optimization (SEO).

Search engines like Google or Bing use algorithms to determine a website’s relevance to a search query. If a website is optimized, search engines will associate it with a particular online inquiry and make it rank higher in search results.

Appearing on a search engine’s top results makes the business easier to find and keeps them ahead of the competition. Most internet users rarely navigate beyond the first few pages of search results as the answer to their online query is usually found among the top positions.

A well-planned SEO campaign can place a website at the optimal positions in search engine results. By showing up on these first few pages, the website can attract more customers and direct them to action.

Many consumers already use the internet to look for goods and services they need. Through SEO, target customers can find a company’s services online even when they don’t know its name.

Since these people are already interested in what a business offers, they are more likely to make a purchase than a passive person who comes across a local ad. Having a few visitors per week, who are already looking for the company’s services, means a higher chance of them actually taking action on the website. It is better than scattering advertisements to a thousand uninterested individuals to convince them to contact the business.

Companies need to maintain an effective SEO campaign if they want their websites to stay on the first few pages.

As most firms do not have enough resources to implement SEO by themselves, it is ideal to rely on an SEO consulting company’s services to execute the digital marketing strategy.

Online content marketing agencies are equipped with the skills and tools in sound SEO practices that yield favorable results. A reputable digital marketing team shares the desire of business owners to make the company grow and the brand more known to its target audience.

While SEO can be advantageous for small business owners, they often get intimidated when they see a campaign’s costs. Digital marketing services tend to be expensive due to their labor-intensive nature.

Business owners need to weigh whether SEO is worth their money. Otherwise, they might resort back to blasting ads in local mailers and diner placemats without the assurance of generating more leads. An increased online presence that guarantees more customers is an excellent investment for the company’s growth.

If firms are still thinking about whether SEO is worth the expense, they can view the following infographic provided by Landau Consulting.

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