The Hidden Benefits of SEO Services for Your Company’s Bottom Line

If there’s one hot topic in the marketing industry, it’s search engine optimization or SEO. Although it’s popular across many industries, it may surprise you to know that around 25% of businesses don’t even have a website, and nearly twice that lack an SEO strategy.

Well, that’s good news for you, since less competition means more benefits, and there are plenty to enjoy! Let’s talk about the hidden benefits of SEO services that help your company’s bottom line.

What is the bottom line for businesses?

The bottom line in business is calculated by deducting expenses from revenues. It refers to a business’s net income or profit. They call this the bottom line as it is found at the bottom of the net income financial statement.

So, how do we maximize our profits and return on investments through SEO?

Let’s explore….

1. Integration With Digital Marketing Strategy

To get the most out of your digital marketing strategy, you will need to include SEO into the mix. Do you want your business to rely on PPC ads five years from now?

First of all, not only will SEO help drive more traffic in the future, but it will also benefit your existing digital marketing strategy in more ways than one. Remember, your website is the center of your entire digital presence, so a boost to that is a boost to it all.

Because of this, SEO integrates well with existing PPC, social media, and email campaigns.

For example, an SEO content strategy will allow you to share quality content on social media, promote or reuse content through email campaigns, and directly perform better with PPC campaigns (more on that later).

Also, SEO will work alongside your other strategies to improve your brand awareness and drive sales, which decreases your reliance on other strategies over time.

Moreover, keyword research will help with PPC campaigns, increased traffic will help grow your email list, and more users will be able to click your social media widgets. There are many ways SEO is mutually beneficial for your digital presence.

2. Improved User Experience

User experience (UX) and SEO are long-lost twins who feel each other’s pain. When UX design improves, so do SEO prospects. Unfortunately, when UX suffers, so does your SEO value.

The reason for this is simple. Search engines like Google have a job to do, and that’s to match users with high-quality, relevant content based on their searches (along with a few other factors). Well, it would reflect poorly on these search engines if they were consistently matching users with low-quality sites or sites with poor UX.

For that reason, Google alone has 200 ranking factors that directly relate to website quality, and these factors will make or break your site’s SEO value. Because of this, improving user experience is one of the most notable and beneficial side effects of a proper SEO strategy.

Essentially, the easiest way to describe how SEO works is that Google’s algorithm looks for quality websites with quality content.

So, what about UX affects a site’s SEO value? Glad you asked.

Page Loading Speed

The time it takes for your pages to load plays a major role in both your UX and your SEO value.

With a slow load time, you likely won’t get a chance to demonstrate your UX design. Believe it or not, nearly half of users will only wait 3 seconds for a page to load before exiting. Fortunately, there are ways to improve your load times through proper web development, once the issue causing the lag is determined.

Navigation

Your internal linking structure and navigation play a major role in UX. When users can’t figure out how to navigate through a website, they are unlikely to spend long trying to figure it out.

Not only that, but Google’s crawlers get confused when they can’t find their way through your site, which can lead to penalties and a lower SEO score.

Site Clean-up

Any 404 errors, redirects, or other mishaps will be cleared up with SEO services. Not only will this help Google’s crawlers navigate through your site, but it will be greatly appreciated by users, as many will leave your site after finding one of these.

Page Structure

The structure of the pages across your website needs to be adaptable, clear, and legible. Your headers should contain minimal text and your images should be optimized for page speed and quality.

However, pages don’t need to just fit one particular screen, which brings us to our next point.

Mobile-Friendliness

As of now, over 61% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, but not all websites are catching on. Because the majority of traffic comes from smartphones and similar devices, priority must be placed on the mobile-friendliness of websites.

Again, not only does this affect user experience, but Google also analyzes how features and pages will appear and operate on these devices.

3. Increased Conversion Rates

Here’s the thing; with the right web design, cleanup, and content, your conversion rates are bound to see an improvement. Even simply improving your page loading speed will help convert clicks into sales.

We don’t often think about benefits to our PPC or email campaigns when we think of SEO, but an improved UX will prevent your site from driving away customers, which will save you money on your campaigns.

Also, improved content will help drive conversions with catchy calls-to-action (CTAs) and more quality information for your users. There’s no sense in pouring more and more money into an ad campaign when you can simply improve on your existing ones.

4. Building Trust

Not only does a proper SEO strategy establish authority with Google, but it also does so with users. Users tend to trust organic search results far more than search ads, which is why the top organic results get the majority of traffic.

Even if those users know nothing about how Google’s algorithm works, they still assume that the top organic results will be the most trustworthy. When you start out on an initial note of trust, it sets a strong tone for what’s to come.  A strong website, professional domain, and killer content will retain that trust once it’s built, which will lead to greater user retention and even brand loyalty.

Remember, you can market for new customers for eternity, but you’ll eventually run out if they never come back. Focusing on customer retention pays off in the long run.

Moreover, establishing authority will also strengthen your company’s branding, leading to greater awareness and recognition over time.

5. Quality Content

The pillars of SEO are a quality website and quality content. With both, not only will you see your SEO value skyrocket, but you will also see improvements in user engagement, retention, loyalty, and conversions.

Don’t underestimate the value of content marketing in your strategy. You can have the greatest website of all time, but if it’s only 5 pages, how will people find you?

First of all, they won’t. Unless they search for your business title directly, your contact page is just like all the other contact pages out there. However, with a blog or other content marketing outlet, you can have thousands of pages with much greater chances of being discovered.

Users rarely seek out businesses or brands when they need something. Instead, they typically seek information, which is why content marketing is so important. Your brand can offer the information they seek and your services can offer a solution to their problem.

For example, if you own a plumbing business and you have articles about “how to know if your pipes are leaking” and “why is my toilet always clogging?”, then you have the opportunity to offer the information they seek as well as your services.

Consequently, this brings highly relevant traffic to your website. The people who will be making those searches are likely to discover that they need the services of a plumber, and what do you know? They’re already on your website.

When quality content is followed up with the right CTA, it will generate sales behind the scenes for years to come. The best part is that once a content marketing strategy breaks through and starts seeing success, every new post will likely earn more and more.

6. Increase Reach Potential

If you want the chance for one or more of your posts to go viral, then an SEO strategy is essential. While a viral post is not a sustainable business model, the payouts are enormous, so it’s worth it to invest in the opportunity.

It’s far easier for a blog post (or another type of content) to go viral when it’s optimized. Essentially, if you lay the foundation for your posts, then you are more likely to hit the jackpot with one. The more quality content you post, the greater your chances!

7. Lasting Benefits

Finally, the benefits of a well-executed SEO strategy last for a long time. When you send out an email newsletter, post on social media, or buy a PPC campaign, the benefits begin to diminish quickly.

However, when a blog post makes it to the top of a relevant Google search, it could stay there for years to come, driving traffic behind the scenes the entire time. This is all without the need for additional expenses like with a PPC campaign.

Also, you only need one to begin driving traffic. Ranking at the top of a medium-volume search could easily keep your business afloat for years without the need for upkeep.

With an initial investment and an ongoing content marketing strategy, your website will have no trouble climbing the rankings and staying on top!

How to Help Your Bottom Line With SEO Services

Now that you know some of the best side effects of a proper SEO strategy, you’re probably considering taking on some SEO services. However, there are some important things to keep in mind before hiring an SEO service. Here are a few examples of what to look for.

Check Services Offered

First, you need to determine if the services the company offers match your business’s needs. For example, not all SEO services offer content marketing, so if that’s not something you intend to do yourself, ask about that! They may either offer those services or a referral to someone who does.

Also, because the user experience is so critical to your overall SEO strategy, you should always look for UX design services or relevant experience in an SEO company.

If you have specific needs related to web design or content marketing, then you should look at the services offered or contact the company with any questions.

Review Testimonials

Fortunately, we live in a world where we can check reviews from previous customers before taking on any new services.

Most companies offering SEO services will have case studies or testimonials offered to potential clients. Ask about these before jumping in with a firm, as this will give you a better understanding of how effective their services are, and how previous customers enjoyed working with them.

Realistic Expectations

Finally, you need a company that takes SEO seriously and doesn’t offer unrealistic expectations about its services. SEO takes time to develop, so don’t listen to anybody who tells you that they can help you “rank at the top in two weeks” or “get 1,000 quality backlinks tomorrow”.

Instead, you want to find a company that works with your company’s current needs, that is able to adapt to them, and that offers a concrete plan for improving your ranking over the course of several months.

Build the Foundation!

Now that you know how SEO services will help your bottom line, there’s no time like the present to get started. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. The sooner you start your SEO strategy, the sooner you will see results. If you’re interested in trying out some SEO services for your business, then let’s get started!