SEO is integral to any digital marketing strategy for brands and businesses looking to scale their products and grow. SEO provides additional visibility across all marketing channels, including search engines, official websites, social media and other platforms.
However, many SEO experts engage in unfair practices such as shadow domains, gateway pages, and link schemes. These practices make it difficult for genuine, informative and current information-rich content to appear in top search engine results.
To counter this problem, Google regularly updates its algorithm rules to improve the search experience. For example, the August 2022 Useful Content Update prioritized people-centric content over SEO-centric content.
This brings us to the question, is SEO still relevant? Can genuine, value-added content be included in the first place of search results without SEO optimization?
Let’s take a look.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. In some cases, it also suggests Search Engine Optimizer. The main function of the SEO process is to understand how search engines work, which search engines people prefer, what people search for, and precisely what keywords they use.
Performing SEO is customizing website content accordingly so that search engines can detect the content that people are browsing.
SEO improves the visibility of web pages, helps more organic traffic find their way to the content they’re looking for, and most importantly, increases potential searches into strong conversions and improved brand equity.
This is why SEO is critical for digital marketing teams to come up with an effective marketing campaign to increase site traffic and sales in one fell swoop.
SEO components
SEO is not a monolith. It is a process that has multiple components that play equally important roles.
SEO usually includes elements like
Keywords– People use these words or phrases to find specific content, products and services.
content– It comes in many forms, and content crafted with the right topic and angle often reaches more people and generates more sales.
Off Page SEO– It involves building backlinks, which drives traffic to the website.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)– SEM suggests paid marketing campaigns. It includes PPC campaigns, native ads, Google AdWords, social media ads, etc.
The relevance of SEO and the benefits for businesses
Several advantages of SEO would prevent anyone from considering it obsolete.
This is how SEO is relevant:
Increased visibility and improved ranking
Seconds hubspot, a quarter of Internet users do not scroll down after clicking on the top results. Higher visibility is needed to get higher on the search engine results page (SERP).
SEO provides a fast-forward button to deliver the content that potential customers are looking for. Consequently, it increases visibility and in turn improves SERP ranking.
A higher SERP rank makes people believe in the brand and business as it seems more legitimate and trustworthy.
Help with content marketing
With the help of SEO, high-quality content ranks higher and provides significant visibility in the process.
PPC stands for Pay Per Click, a form of digital advertising. Help businesses rank higher in paid search results. When properly combined, SEO maximizes the effectiveness of PPC campaigns.
Better ranking in local search
Local searches usually end with “near me”. 80% of these searches on mobile lead to conversions. Local SEO strategies can help businesses reach these potential customers.
In addition to these, SEO also helps businesses and digital marketers reach larger audiences, increasing user experience and engagement rates by improving website usability and helping to monitor quantifiable results.
Overall, SEO ensures a specific competitive advantage in digital marketing.
Also Read: Botify Partners With Semrush Adding More Brand Visibility
SEO risks
However, SEO is not foolproof. If done incorrectly, it can lower your ranking.
Watch out for these mistakes while doing SEO.
Do not combine multiple content formats together with texts. Ignoring Mobile Traffic Buying Backlinks Not Understanding Search Intent.
Is SEO relevant after Google’s useful content update?
Yes, SEO is still applicable.
However, it should be combined with people-centric content rather than relying solely on keywords and start following best practices Google suggests.
Given the amount of benefits for websites, SEO can be the gateway to reliable exponential growth.
Therefore, it is problematic for anyone to ignore its importance in digital marketing strategies and call it irrelevant.
Infostor.com(c).
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