As a business owner, you’ve probably been told that SEO is essential. But why? What can search engine optimization really do for your business? Are rankings really that important to the success of your business? Many businesses are reluctant to hire an SEO professional because they simply don’t understand the value of the services provided. However, establishing an online presence and striving to gain higher rankings will have a tremendous impact on the traffic your site receives – and your bottom line.

Why SEO is Important

Simply put, SEO is a way to make your website easy to understand for both visitors and search engine robots. While search engines have become incredibly sophisticated over the last few years, they still can’t see and process a web page the same way a human can.

When done correctly, SEO helps search engine robots understand what your page is about.

Those who perform SEO understand how these robots work and how to optimize your website (both internally and externally) to ensure that search engines know what your page is all about. Ultimately, the more optimized and relevant your site is, the higher your rankings will be.

Why SEO for Businesses is Important

You know why SEO, in general, is important, but why is it so important for businesses?

For one thing, your rankings in the search results will affect just about every aspect of your business from traffic, to leads, conversions and brand awareness.

The higher your website ranks in the results, the more traffic you will receive. The first few results receive the highest click-through rates and attract the most visitors. The more traffic you receive, the greater the number of leads and, hopefully, conversions.

At the same time, high rankings improve brand awareness because searchers see your website and your brand when searching.

The truth is that your competitors are fighting to secure their position in the first few results. As long as search engines are relevant, businesses will continue to compete with one another for these valuable positions because of the attention, traffic and exposure they provide. If you’re not fighting just as hard (or harder) to compete, you’ll miss out on customers and your chance to improve your bottom line.

The vast majority of your customers are using search engines to find your products or services. If they don’t find your website on the first page of results, they’ll head straight to your competitors.