Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a field which laid somewhere in the oblivion about a decade ago but is in the thick of things today. At the turn of the millennium, if you asked someone if he/she had SEO in his/her marketing strategy, you would be laughed at. If not so, you would definitely be met with a blank expression, suggesting that you were talking about something alien. Today, however, you cannot think of an existence without SEO. That is how the entire transformation has set in. I have tried searching for the number of SEO firms, individuals who operate in the industry, but couldn’t’t establish a reliable number. An educated guess, however, would make one believe that the number would run into thousands (if not less) of entities that provide SEO services in various parts of the world.
So, what is the objective of writing this blog post? It isn’t to tell you what SEO is. This blog post endeavors to speak, to all those newbies in the industry and the ones who want to adopt this strategy for their business, about how things stand today and how that could impact their efforts.
The first very clear stat that I wish to bring forward is about organic link building. According to a research, 70% of links that were clicked on by search users were organic. Regardless of whether it is a professional SEO firm or an individual, there has been an increased penchant towards trying inorganic techniques, which generate results faster and are not as tedious. The stats, however, suggest otherwise. While you might be able to generate results for your clients in the short run, your long-term success, however, would only rely on how good you are at organic SEO. It’s the difference between being ordinary and extraordinary.
The next stat would emphasize on the relevance of SEO. How many times have you thought that if your search engine rankings couldn’t reach the top, you could instead advertise? I am sure that this happens almost all the time. Think again, A peer reviewed study suggests that almost about 80% of search users ignore paid ads. If you always have relied on search ads, this must come as a jolt. This also clarifies that there is no real alternative to organic search results.
There are various other statistics that can be thrown like 75% of the search users never go beyond the first page of search results and others. However, they are quite commonly known in the public domain. We should strive, now, to derive insights from these stats. As an SEO firm, it is quite evident that you have to rely on organic SEO effort. These might include a variety of different strategies that you can adopt, the decision of which is beyond the purview of this blog post. Alongside, you should also rethink about your focus on search ads. If they are being ignored by most, does it then make sense to shift this amount to your SEO efforts? You are the best person to answer this question.
If you are a client, you have to be extremely careful in the way you select the SEO firm that you wish to work with. There are thousands of them in the industry who claim to do the job for you. However, Caveat Emptor has to be exercised, and the selection has to be made by that firm which believes in organic efforts and makes use of workable techniques that have the chance of taking your website’s ranking to the first page or at least close to that. What you need to know, though, is that Guaranteed Results are a farce and no one on earth can guarantee a rank to you without indulging in unethical means.
Therefore, all these facts can hold you in good stead when you enter the industry as a client or a SEO provider.
