You’ve heard that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a vital digital marketing tool. But do you really know how SEO works?
SEO is made up of many elements and is the process of generating traffic from free, organic, editorial, or natural search results in search engines.
By leveraging SEO, you can make your website more visible. The #1 result in Google’s organic search results has an average CTR of 27.6% (compared to second and third-ranking results getting 18.7% and 10.2%), according to Backlinko research. So, getting that top spot or a place on Google’s first SERP page means more traffic and more opportunities for you to convert prospects into customers.
Now there’s also artificial intelligence to consider. AI-powered algorithms like Google’s RankBrain have significantly impacted SEO by enhancing search results. This is resulting in a more complex SEO landscape (more on that later…)
With all that in mind, let’s explore why SEO is so important and look at the 5 crucial elements of SEO you can use to drive traffic, generate quality leads and make sales.
The Key Elements of SEO
- What are the Benefits of Using SEO?
- What are the 5 Crucial Elements of SEO?
- What Impact is AI Having on Search and SEO?
- Conclusion: Search Engines Are Fallible
What are the Benefits of Using SEO?
There’s a good reason that many companies have SEO experts on their team and spend resources and money on using the tactic in marketing activities – it works!
Let’s look at four of the biggest benefits of using SEO and its impact on web traffic and leads.
1. SEO increases visibility and improves rankings
One of the most important functions of SEO is to increase your visibility, which means making it easier for prospects to find you when they search for something you have to offer. Visibility is directly related to your ranking.
The higher you rank on a search engine result page (SERP), the more likely prospects will see you and click through to your site, so it’s key to increase your organic page ranking.
For example, we recently updated a top performing blog on influencer statistics that had slipped down the rankings. By updating the content with new information and statistics, the blog now takes the top spot on Google.
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The more effective your SEO efforts, the higher your ranking and the better your visibility, which is especially important when you consider that a quarter of web users never click past the first SERP according to ‘The 2024 State of Marketing & Trends Report’.
2. SEO drives web traffic
Increased web traffic is one of the main goals of SEO. Consider this for a moment: the #1 organic result on Google search is 10x more likely to receive a click compared to a page in the #10 spot, according to Backlinko.
So, the further you move up the ranking, the more web traffic you will get.
The golden grail for many marketers is the ‘Featured Snippet’ which is often referred to as position #0 as it appears above the first ranked URL. This is usually content taken from a blog or landing page that answers a question people are searching for.
Here’s an example of a Featured Snippet when typing in the query ‘convert AU size to UK size’.
