Your new website looks like the real deal. But what good is that if no one can find it?
Search engines have replaced phone books for nearly two decades. Now, more than 70% of consumers surveyed say they learn about a company from their official website. On top of that, Google now processes more than two trillion searches per year!
The data is clear, so what are you waiting for? Stop putting off your optimization and make your business soar with these benefits of SEO traffic generation.
Supercharge Your Traffic for Free
Who doesn’t love the word, “free?” This is one of the most undeniable benefits of organic SEO.
But, first. What’s organic SEO anyway?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. Think of this as a big umbrella term for all the methods used to optimize a website for search engines.
Organic, in this case, refers to any web traffic generated from search results, not pressed juice. If a Google user clicks on one of your links on a search page, this counts as organic SEO traffic.
The challenge is to get your website in front of the visitors’ eyes. This means you need to get on the first page of Google each and every time. That’s what SEO is all about.
To kick-start organic SEO traffic generation, you’ll need to know a few on-page optimization tricks:
- Choose the keywords (search phrases) you want to rank for
- Optimize your website content with your keywords
- Optimize your H1 title tag with your primary keyword
- Optimize the meta description that appears in search results
Ideally, your website should have at least 50 web pages as well. This will help you rank for more relevant keywords in your niche.
The best part is that you can do all of this for free! But if you want this grunt work to go a little faster, there are paid SEO tools and consultants that can help.
The Benefits of Paid SEO Traffic Generation
The other side of the coin is paid SEO traffic generation. This is done through pay-per-click advertising, otherwise known as ‘PPC.’ Popular PPC services include Google AdWords, Bing Ads, AdRoll, and Facebook Ads.
Like organic SEO, you also want to select and optimize your website and content with the right targeted keywords. However, with PPC, you make ads that target them.
Notice those search results marked with the word, “ad”, next to them? That’s an example of an AdWords ad. Notice how the title and copy are optimized for a particular keyword.
Unlike optimizing for organic SEO, which is free, you have to bid on keywords with PPC. This means, every time someone clicks on your ad, you’re charged for that click. Hence the name, pay-per-click.
The Cross Benefit of SEO and PPC
Both PPC and SEO target the same consumer base. Not only do you receive above-the-fold traffic, but PPC can also improve your organic SEO traffic generation as more visitors drive traffic to your site. This only helps you rank higher for your target keywords.
PPC can also give you that surge of traffic you need without having to wait. Organic SEO takes time, but PPC can provide a more consistent traffic source as you continue to optimize for organic SEO. Since you pay as you go, PPC can be a cost-effective solution to getting your rankings up.
PPC also has invaluable data to draw from. Especially, Google AdWords. Not only do you have access to a free keyword planner, but you can view the analytics behind each click.
Brand Awareness
Brand new businesses greatly benefit from SEO traffic generation. The first page of Google is an indispensable tool for brand awareness. This is especially helpful for new brands on a tight budget.
For example, if you’re a new essential oils site, ranking on page #1 for the keyword, “what are essential oils?”, is a good way to get your brand out there and establish yourself as an authority on essential oils.
This type of keyword attracts a broader audience looking for information. You can also narrow it down to “decision keywords” for audiences who are trying to make a decision. Keywords that compare items are great for this.
Not every niche is served by PPC and social media marketing either. That’s why many businesses rely on organic search results for brand awareness.
If you’re optimizing for awareness, make sure your web page titles and meta descriptions are clear with call-to-actions.
Search Engines Love Social Media
Feel more comfortable with social media marketing than SEO? Give yourself a little credit. You’re more of an SEO pro than you think!
Google loves social media. Meaning, it factors social media activity into their ranking algorithms. This is great for social folks who love building tens of thousands of followers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Followers consistently share, retweet, and mention their favorite websites.
But social media also creates valuable backlinks which Google loves. While social media links are usually tagged as “no-follow”, you can still build high-quality do-follow backlinks by regularly promoting your content on social media.
The best way to attract backlinks through social media is to create content that’s highly shareable. For example, a recent study about Facebook content found that posts that were light, heartwarming, or inspiring are more readily shared. That’s why travel photos, exciting vacations, and ‘adventures’ do so well on social media.
The study also found that quizzes don’t garner the amount of engagement they used to. But life hacks and cute cat videos are still going strong!
If you’re relying heavily on social media for marketing and SEO, make sure you’re spending your efforts on the right content.
Next Stop, Optimization!
Feel a little less mystified about SEO traffic generation?
What’s great about SEO is there are so many ways to go about it. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all plan, but there’s a lot of room to get creative.
Use this article as a beginner’s guide as you optimize your site for search engines. Or talk to an SEO specialist to start ranking right away!
