SEO is fundamental for increasing your website’s visibility on search engines, attracting qualified organic traffic, and improving the “user experience. A well-executed SEO strategy helps you reach your target audience, generate more conversions, and build lasting online” authority.
You often hear about it, everywhere, sometimes even inappropriately.
But why should a business owner, whether large or small, or a digital entrepreneur, do SEO on their website?
Let’s start from the basics and immediately understand what SEO is.
What is SEO
SEO, an acronym for Search Engine Optimization (Search Engine Optimization), is a fundamental process in digital marketing. It serves to increase the visibility of a website on major search engines, such as Google or Bing.
This strategy allows you to position your website among the top search results for the most relevant keywords to your business. This ensures greater exposure to your target audience.
Let’s better understand what Search Engine Optimization is through a practical example
To better understand the reasons for the “importance of SEO, let’s take the example of” painter Rossi from Milan.
If Rossi’s website appears in the first position in search results when someone searches for a “painter in Milan”, it means he has successfully implemented advanced SEO techniques, thus standing out among thousands of competitors.
This privileged positioning increases the likelihood that potential customers will click on his site and choose him for their services, thanks to the increased visibility and relevance to the searched keywords.
SEO, therefore, is not simply limited to making a website more appreciated by search engines through the optimal use of keywords.
SEO includes the right site structure, content optimization, page loading speed, creation of quality links, and much more.
This set of strategies improves the user experience and satisfies search engine evaluation criteria, with the ultimate goal of converting visitors into customers.
But why is SEO so important for any business and brand?
Over the last ten years, numerous entrepreneurs have asked us at Qreativa this question. The answer, while simple, is profoundly effective.
Every business, including yours reading this, must be visible to those who are already looking for your services.
Otherwise, it’s as if you’re starting at a disadvantage, even before launching advertising campaigns, investing in influencer marketing, social media, and other strategies.
There are already potential customers who search for your product or service every day, and without SEO, you’re simply ignoring them.
Every marketing strategy must start with this awareness, to avoid wasting resources on coordinated communications, graphics, creativity, advertising, and the multiple complexities of marketing, without first ensuring visibility to your potential customers.
SEO is not just one of many available strategies, it’s the foundation on which to build your online presence!
Through SEO, you can show your products and services to those who are actively searching for them, thus ensuring a solid base from which to further expand your marketing activities.
Starting with SEO therefore means not only reaching an already interested audience but optimizing the effectiveness of every euro invested in communication!
The PROS and CONS of SEO: everything you need to know
Exploring the pros and cons of SEO allows us to better understand the value and challenges of this digital strategy.
Let’s start with the cons and get the bad news out of the way!
Cons of SEO:
Extended timeframes: if you want everything immediately, it’s not for you
SEO requires patience and is not suitable for those looking for immediate results.
Achieving a good ranking on search engines like Google or Bing can take 3 to 6 months, sometimes even a year or more.
This process is also influenced by the frequency of algorithm updates, which make SEO a long-term investment.
Everything depends on conscious searches
SEO is based on the presence of active searches for keywords relevant to your business.
If there are no searches for these keywords, it will be difficult to achieve significant results.
Therefore, a thorough analysis of the search frequency for keywords must be carried out before investing in SEO, to ensure that there is actual interest.
Pros of SEO:
Continuous visibility for your website
One of the major advantages of SEO is the ability to guarantee constant visibility.
Once your website ranks among the top search results, you will receive a continuous flow of organic traffic, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This transforms your site into an always-active sales tool, working for you even while you’re on vacation or sleeping.
Stability of ranking once achieved
Maintaining a good position on search engines tends to become easier over time, especially if you continue to optimize your website effectively.
Once you’ve achieved a good ranking, it will become increasingly difficult for the competition to surpass you.
This makes SEO an extremely advantageous strategy in the long term, but it’s important to start as soon as possible, and before your competitors take the lead.
In summary, SEO represents a long-term strategic investment that, despite requiring patience and careful planning, offers lasting benefits in terms of visibility and stability, essential for online success.
What are the costs of doing SEO and ranking your website
Establishing a precise cost for SEO activities is complex due to the many factors involved, such as the competitiveness of keywords or geographical specificities.
For example, the differences between Trento, Messina, Milan in terms of population density and level of competition, the current state of the website or e-commerce, the degree of optimization, the age of the site, the technology used, and many other aspects.
These factors make the price of SEO extremely variable, both in Italy and abroad. However, we can provide you with an approximate estimate. Keep reading!
Indicative costs for an SEO strategy
A geolocalised SEO campaign for a single city can start from about 500 euros per month, while strategies aiming to cover the entire national territory start from 2000 euros per month and up.
These figures are indicative and each project requires a personalized quote to accurately assess the specific needs and unique characteristics of the business in question.
Be wary of excessively cheap offers, promised by so-called SEO “gurus”, who offer services at negligible costs, such as 99 euros or even 49 euros per month.
These proposals, attractive but unrealistic, can expose your site to serious penalties from search engines, seriously compromising your online visibility.
Resolving these penalties is then very difficult, if not impossible, so it’s important to choose your SEO partner carefully, prioritizing the quality and reliability of the service offered!
If you don’t rank with SEO, your competitors will
Ranking in search engines is not an option, but a necessity. If you don’t do it, your competitors will occupy those strategic positions!
This concept is one of the cornerstones of SEO and highlights its importance. In 2024, not being present on the first pages of search results means giving ground to competitors, who will gain more visibility and also strengthen their online reputation, becoming the first choice for users looking for the products or services that you also offer.
SEO, therefore, is not simply an optimization activity, but an active positioning strategy that allows you to always be one step ahead of the competition, ensuring a constant presence in front of your target audience.
SEO and SEM: what’s the difference?
SEO and SEM are two sides of the same coin in digital marketing. SEO is focused on optimizing the site to improve its visibility in organic search engine results, while SEM encompasses broader strategies, including paid advertising, to rapidly increase online visibility.
SEO works in the long term to attract organic traffic through technical improvements and content, while SEM generates immediate visibility through pay-per-click advertising campaigns.
Both approaches are complementary and, when used together, offer an effective overall strategy to increase traffic and online presence of a website.
So is it better to have an SEO strategy or focus on PPC?
The choice between optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) depends on the specific objectives, budget, and timeline of your digital marketing strategy:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a long-term investment to increase organic traffic and site credibility, improving user experience and building a lasting online presence. It requires time and dedication to see significant results. It’s not a sprint but a marathon!
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click) offers immediate results in terms of visibility and traffic, with the ability to precisely target the audience. Ideal for short-term campaigns, but remember that traffic stops at the end of the advertising campaign!
Thanks to SEO, you save on advertising
Search engine optimization represents a powerful digital marketing tool that, when well implemented, can mean considerable savings on advertising costs.
This happens because, through an effective SEO strategy, your website can achieve high visibility on search engines for relevant keywords without the need to directly pay for advertisements.
When a site appears among the top organic search results, i.e., not paid, for certain queries, it attracts qualified traffic without incurring click costs as happens with pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on platforms like Google Ads.
Moreover, organic results are perceived as more credible and reliable by users compared to sponsored ads, thus enhancing the conversion rate and overall effectiveness of the online presence.
Investing in SEO therefore means working on quality and “content optimization, on”site usability, on page loading speed, and on other factors that influence organic positioning.
This approach, although it requires time and dedication, leads to long-term benefits, ensuring a stable and constant presence in search results, without having to continuously invest in advertising.
SEO offers “the opportunity to build a solid foundation for attracting interested visitors, reducing dependence and” investment in paid advertising campaigns and maximizing the ROI (Return on Investment) of your online activities.
How to leverage the data you get from the SEO strategy
Using SEO data will help you make decisions, continuously optimize your online strategy, and ensure that your website remains competitive in the digital landscape.
Optimize content and improve performance
Analyze the performance of your content to understand which topics and types of content generate greater interest and interaction from users.
Use this information to produce more relevant and engaging content.
Improve the User Experience (UX)
SEO data can reveal usability issues on your site, such as pages with high bounce rates or long loading times.
Use this information to make technical and structural improvements to the site, thus enhancing the overall user experience.
Take Advantage of Link Building Strategies
Identify which sites and pages link to your site and which of these links bring in more qualified traffic.
This will allow you to strengthen your link building strategies by focusing on high-quality backlink partnerships and opportunities.
Adapt the Strategy to Search Trends
Use SEO data to stay updated on search trends in your industry. This will help you quickly adapt your content and strategies to respond to changes in interest and new market opportunities.
Measure and Maximize ROI
Compare the traffic and conversions obtained through the organic channel with investments made in SEO.
This will allow you to evaluate the “effectiveness of your SEO strategy and make any corrections to improve the return on” investment.
What is the Role of SEO in a Multichannel Strategy
SEO in the multichannel marketing strategy amplifies the visibility and effectiveness of marketing activities across multiple platforms.
In a digital ecosystem where consumers interact with brands through different channels, SEO helps create coherence and strengthen a company’s online presence.
Here are some aspects that highlight the importance of SEO in multichannel strategies:
- SEO increases the likelihood that your site’s content will be found by search engines for relevant keywords, thus ensuring organic visibility that amplifies paid advertising campaigns, on social media, via email (email marketing), and on other digital channels.
- The “optimization of the site for search engines goes hand in hand with improving” usability and the “overall experience for the” user. This aspect of SEO benefits all channels, as an easy-to-navigate site rich in relevant content encourages users to interact with the brand across multiple platforms.
- The “integration between SEO and PPC can significantly improve the” effectiveness of advertising campaigns. Keyword research done for SEO can be used to optimize PPC campaigns, and vice versa, PPC campaign data can provide useful insights to refine the SEO strategy.
- SEO helps ensure that your brand messages are consistent and optimized across all channels. By using the same keywords and key messages that resonate with your target audience, you can strengthen your brand identity and increase brand recognition across different touchpoints.
- Creating search engine optimized content supports content marketing strategies, ensuring that your content is not only relevant and high-quality but also easily findable online. This creates a virtuous circle where SEO and content marketing mutually reinforce each other.
- SEO provides valuable data on user behavior, search preferences, and market trends, which can be used to inform and optimize strategies on other channels. This data-driven approach helps make informed decisions and personalize user experiences across all channels.
Conclusions
SEO is a fundamental pillar for every type of business, from micro-enterprises to large multinational corporations.
It guarantees significant visibility in the vast digital ocean and also generates lasting value over time.
Through conscious research, SEO allows for intercepting new potential customers, generating highly targeted purchases or quote requests.
This is because the interactions stem from intentional searches, indicating a specific interest in the products or services offered, and therefore turn out to be high-quality and particularly relevant.
Remember, therefore, that success in the digital realm inevitably passes through a well-structured SEO strategy, capable of leveraging the search dynamics of your target audience to convert expressed interest into concrete and measurable actions.
Don’t delay any further or you’ll give your competition an advantage
Contact us for a free and personalized SEO consultation!
Seize the opportunity to improve your website’s ranking, increase qualified traffic, and transform visitors into customers.
Our team of experts is ready to listen to you and provide the solutions best suited to your needs.
Listen to the words of our Michele Eccher, an expert in SEO positioning, who perfectly summarizes the concept!
