Why SEO ?
Businesses nowadays are getting more and more dependent on search engines for getting new customers and make more sales. This is because people are getting more mobile with all new devices being released to the market granting easier Internet access to more people. The real game-changer for businesses is the fact more people nowadays are doing an online search through their mobile devices. Therefore you need to make sure that these people can easily find your business when they search through whatever gadgets they use if you want to survive in the current market.
Development of search engines
The development of search engines are actually in line with the growing needs of customers. In regards of local businesses, consumers usually want to know various information relating to a business. They want to see some photos, they want to know the company’s phone number, operation hours, driving directions, etc. These customers are also more involved in social media sites and accessing other online sources where they can see some reviews in order to learn more about a company.
Search engines are developing in order to answer those needs, some of those important elements mentioned above are usually can be found in search results. Not only the type of information being displayed, but also the accessibility of the information is also evolving. Major search engines have worked very hard to ensure that the information can be easily accessed through any kind of mobile device.
How the development of mobile technology is impacting search engines and local businesses
Google claimed that mobile devices have actually become the main source of its search traffic, this is a very important thing that every business should be able to anticipate. Since Google is currently the “biggest” search engine on the Internet, there’s no other proof necessary to say that mobile devices have a huge impact on local businesses.
More than 89% of smartphone users are conducting Google search at least a few times a day, that’s why Google continuously tries to make sure these people really get what they’re looking for. A lot of measures have been taken by Google to provide better search results for mobile users, including by penalizing local businesses who don’t have mobile-friendly websites.
That said, there are still a lot of local businesses who don’t have mobile-friendly websites, which is actually quite shocking, because it’s pretty much like asking for troubles.
The importance of social presence in SEO
In order to make a purchase decision, most consumers nowadays look for information in about 10 different sources. So, not only they use search engines in finding a company that can offer a product or service they looking for, but they also do further research to learn more about the company, and one of the main source for them to find this extra information is in social media sites. Prospect consumers often interact in social media content published by the company relating with the product or service they are looking for before they make a purchase.
Some other information sources often used by these consumers include business directories, photo sharing sites, video sites, and blogs.
It’s really important for local businesses to publish their content on these online platforms in order to improve their visibility to their consumers. Most of the times, this visibility aspect will determine whether they can make more sales or not. Today’s companies should begin seeing these online platforms as cost-effective advertising platforms that they can use in their marketing campaign.
Challenges for small and medium sized businesses
The biggest challenges for small and medium sized businesses today is to find a partner that really understands the way consumers are using the Internet nowadays and design the perfect marketing strategy based on the latest trend of consumers behavior. Local businesses now not only need to have mobile-friendly websites, but they also need to improve their visibility by creating blogs, business listings, as well as a solid content marketing strategy that includes articles, videos and photos. They also need to create solid social media networks in order to grow their followers and fans.
Not only they need to create a great content marketing strategy across different platforms, but also they need to create consistent and professional looking design on these different platforms. Most importantly, they all need to be accessible across all devices.
This is not an easy thing to do, it takes a lot of technical skills and a lot of research to be able to execute such plan successfully. That’s why these businesses need to have a trusted partner that can help them plan and execute the most effective marketing strategy.
Tips for online marketing and branding in today’s market
Small and medium sized businesses should be able to create a comprehensive system in order to get new clients online, and furthermore, new promoters for their businesses. The most successful online marketing campaign is when you can make it go viral, and hat’s not something you can do overnight.
The best thing to do is hire a professional that can evaluate the latest trend of online consumers’ behavior of their target market and then audit their current strategy and web presence in order to make some necessary improvements. Usually the entire evaluation will include analysis of competition and advertising budget.
Predictions of SEO trends in 2016
As we’re approaching 2016 there are some big changes in SEO that will have huge impacts on the competitive landscape, these include:
- More than 90% search traffic in the US market are expected to come from smartphones by 2016.
- Nowadays, tablet sales growth have surpassed the smartphones. So in 2016, tablets will play a more significant role in providing web traffic, and businesses need to adapt to these changes in making their marketing tools and strategies more tablet-friendly.
- Mobile traffic has become a more potential traffic, more than 80% of local mobile searches have turned into sales. The number seems to keep going up.
- Social media sites are really important to influence purchase decisions of online consumers. They always look for recommendations in social media sites when to help them choose the right product or company.
- Direct email marketing is still a good marketing strategy, but if not combined with a solid internet marketing strategy based the latest trend, it would be pretty much useless.
