7 Reasons Why SEO Matters & How to Optimize It

SEO matters for your website because, without it, no one will organically see your beautiful webpage from search engines. Google wants to show your website to users — especially if you try to satisfy user intent.

Hey, I’m Seth. I’m a freelancer with 7+ years of experience in digital marketing. I help you earn more and work less. Check out some helpful guides to assist with your workflow.

Do you need a website SEO audit? I can do a complete overview for you and help increase impressions, engagement, and conversions.

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Why SEO matters:

1. Increased visibility from search engines

SEO helps improve your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) in Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

Optimize your website’s content and structure to increase the likelihood that search engines will rank your pages higher in their results.

This makes it easier for users to find you and your content, thus increasing the chances for conversions.

2. Increased traffic to your website

Increased traffic to your site can mean more leads, sales, and revenue.

Although, it’s essential to have qualified content come to your website.

Here are two scenarios:

Scenario #1

You’re a website about real estate in your market. You write a KILLER article about local coffee shots that gets a lot of traffic. Great huh? Well, kind of. Lots of traffic, but a high bounce rate and NO conversions. Not that great, after all.

Scenario #2

Same website, but this time you write a thought-out article about Dude Diligence, Earnest Money, and the house closing process. Less traffic is coming to your site, but you have a higher click-through rate and a few monthly conversions.

Which scenario is better? The second, of course! Because when qualified traffic comes to your site, you’ll gain leads/sales.

3. Better user experience

Beyond the impressions and clicks, it’s important that your site is optimized for the proper user experience.

By improving your website’s structure and content, you can provide a better user experience that encourages visitors to stay longer on your website and engage with your brand.

This can mean including a video, images, or inner linking to other helpful resources.

Further, making it easy for users to convert into leads is important for any website.

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4. Cost-effective

SEO is a cost-effective way to increase your website’s visibility and attract more traffic.

Sure, it can take time, but it will pay off if implemented properly.

While there may be upfront costs associated with optimization, such as hiring a professional SEO consultant, the long-term benefits can outweigh the initial investment.

5. Outrank your competition

By ranking higher in SERPs, you can attract more traffic and customers than your competitors, thus gaining a competitive advantage over other businesses in your industry.

Think about yourself…how often do you go past the first page of Google to find the answer to your problem? My guess, it’s not often.

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6. Long-term benefits

SEO is a long-term strategy that can continue to provide benefits for years to come.

While it may take time to see results, the benefits of SEO can last long after the initial optimization is complete.

There will be times when additional information and tweaking will be involved, but for the most part, SEO takes care of itself (as long as your completion doesn’t take over your ranking spot!)

7. Measurable results

SEO is a measurable strategy that allows you to track your website’s performance and make data-driven decisions about your optimization efforts.

By using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console, you can track your website’s traffic, rankings, and other key metrics to measure the success of your SEO efforts.

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Here are some helpful tips to optimize your website for SEO:

• Ensure your website is indexed on Google. Use Google Search Console to confirm this, or simply input site:xyz.com (example: site:sethkingdon.com) to see what pages are indexed on Google.
• Conduct keyword research. Brainstorm the keywords your audience is using. Include this in your content strategy, meta tiles, headings, and on-page content.
• Optimize your website’s structure. No 404 links. These are deadend links that end on a 404 page. You can remedy this by implementing 301 redirects or unblinking all together. This is just one way (but a BIG way) to optimize site structure.
• Creating high-quality, relevant, and engaging content. Think about the problems your audience faces. Then, write content that helps solve the problem for them.
• Build high-quality backlinks to your website. This is a challenging one, but one that pays off in the long-run. High-quality backlinks (example: .edu links) can really boost SEO because when high domain authority webpages link to you, it sends signals to Google that you’re reputable.
• Ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Google Search Console indexes sites in a mobile-first priority. Ensure your website platform provides mobile optimization.
• Ensure your website has fast loading times. Normal users back out of a webpage within 1 second. Minimize large amounts of HTML text and large images.

I’m here if you need help

I’m passionate about strategy, marketing, content, and SEO. I have an SEO audit that will help get your website more impressions. Check out some guides to help you in your workflow. Schedule a free call and let me help you build your freelancing business.