Why Is SEO Important for a Website?

Published on April 29, 2023

The term “SEO” is often thrown around as a buzzword in the world of digital marketing. While many business owners in Australia are aware of its significance, not everyone understands its true potential. Search engine optimisation (SEO) has the transformative power to bring your website to the front page of Google and, ultimately, more sales to your business.

So why is SEO important for a website? The answer lies in its compounding benefits. When you follow SEO best practices – like targeting relevant keywords, improving site structure, and creating quality content – for at least a year, you’ll inevitably get targeted, high-converting traffic that sets the stage for long-term growth. You’ll get a better return on investment (ROI) through small, consistent efforts.

SEO Has Compounding Benefits, so Play the Long Game

The beauty of SEO lies in its ability to give your business compounding benefits – in other words, you have to be in it for the long run. You can’t expect quick wins. This long-game approach sets SEO apart from other marketing tactics that may only provide short-term gains.

As search engines continually evolve and update their algorithms, having a strong SEO strategy in place ensures that your website remains relevant and easily discoverable by your target audience. 

Keep in mind that SEO is not a one-time fix but rather an ongoing process. You need to consistently monitor and update your website to align with best practices and industry standards to improve your search rankings. As your website’s content improves and your site structure evolves, search engines reward you with better visibility and traffic. 

Not to mention sustained effort helps you stay ahead of your competition. When you neglect to invest in SEO, you could lose your hard-earned rankings to competitors who are more proactive in optimising their online presence.

Related article: How to Make Your Website SEO-Friendly

5 Reasons Why Investing in SEO Is a Non-negotiable for Your Website

1) Websites Are Not Built to Sit Still and Look Pretty

A common misconception about websites is that they are solely meant to serve as visually appealing digital brochures. This just isn’t true.

The true purpose of a website is to be an active platform for attracting, engaging, and retaining customers. This is where SEO comes in. It transforms a static website into a dynamic marketing tool that consistently generates traffic and conversions.

Pro tip: Learn as much as you can about SEO. Websites that sit still and rely solely on their visual appeal risk losing potential customers and falling behind in search rankings. If you optimise your site for search engines, you’re telling Google that you have a proactive approach to digital marketing and thus deserve a spot on the first page.

2) Local SEO Means More Customers From Your Area

You don’t necessarily need a catch-all, global approach when it comes to SEO. Instead, you can opt for local SEO – meaning your content targets customers within a specific geographic area. By optimising your website for local searches, you can increase your visibility among potential customers in your vicinity, driving more foot traffic, phone calls, and online inquiries.

Consider a hypothetical business in Australia: “Bowral’s Best Patisserie”.

It’s a family-owned bakery located in the Southern Highlands, specialising in French pastries and artisan bread. They pride themselves on using fresh, locally sourced ingredients and traditional baking techniques. Their goal is to become the go-to destination for locals seeking quality baked goods and to attract tourists visiting Bowral. Here are some of the digital marketing strategies we recommend for this type of business:

• Google My Business (GMB) listing: Bowral’s Best Patisserie should claim and optimise their GMB listing. They must provide complete information such as their address, phone number, website, and hours of operation. They should also add high-quality, mouth-watering images of their products.
• Local keywords: The bakery should identify and target local keywords relevant to their business, such as “patisserie Bowral”, “French bakery Australia”, or “artisan bread Southern Highlands”. Incorporating these keywords naturally into their website content, meta tags, and headings can help improve their local search rankings.
• Location-specific content: They could create blog posts featuring local events they’ve participated in, showcasing partnerships with local suppliers, or sharing the story of their family-owned business and its connection to the community.
• Online Reviews: Encouraging satisfied customers to leave reviews on their GMB listing and other review platforms like Yelp or TripAdvisor can boost their online reputation. Positive reviews also serve as trust signals for search engines.

Related article: Best Ecommerce Platforms For SEO (2023)

3) Establish Authority and Trust in Your Industry

It’s not easy to establish trust with anyone – more so, keep it. That’s why consistently producing valuable content that addresses the needs and pain points of your target audience is crucial for fostering loyalty.

Pro tip: When making content, pretend you’re talking to a friend or someone who’s experiencing a problem. You need to find the right words to say, the right way to say things, and the right timing.

Another important factor in building authority is earning high-quality backlinks from reputable websites within your industry. When other respected websites link to your content, it serves as a vote of confidence in the eyes of search engines, signalling that your website is a trusted source of information. You can obtain these backlinks via strategic outreach, guest posting, and content marketing.

4) Cost-Effective Solution That Benefits Your Bottom Line

Unlike traditional advertising methods or pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, which can be expensive and provide diminishing returns, SEO offers a more affordable way to reach your target markets.

Why? Simply because the organic traffic generated through SEO is essentially free, as you don’t need to pay for each click or impression. You just need to invest time and resources into optimising your website’s content.

SEO helps you attract highly targeted traffic, as users searching for specific keywords are more likely to be interested in your products or services. This targeted approach results in higher conversion rates and a better ROI compared to other marketing tactics that cast a wider net but may not be as effective in reaching your ideal customers.

Pro tip: Remind yourself that achieving higher rankings will never occur overnight. You have to prove to search engines that you deserve a spot alongside the other top players in your niche.

5) Discover New Opportunities to Shine

SEO is not only about improving your search rankings but also about discovering new opportunities to connect with your audience. By staying up-to-date with the latest trends, best practices, and algorithm updates, you can adapt your strategy and uncover untapped markets and niches that align with your business goals.

For instance, by analysing keyword data and user search intent, you may identify emerging topics or customer pain points that you hadn’t previously considered. Say, you’re an e-commerce business in Australia that sells eco-friendly home products (e.g., reusable bags, bamboo toothbrushes, biodegradable cleaning supplies).

By conducting an SEO audit, you discover that there has been growing interest in “compostable coffee pods”. Related keywords to this emerging topic have been increasing in search volume. 

Upon further investigation, you find that many customers are concerned about the environmental impact of single-use coffee pods and are seeking environmentally friendly alternatives. This new insight presents an opportunity you could capitalise on to expand your product range, as well as create related content.

Ask for a Free SEO Audit of Your Website (No Fuss, No Obligations)

It takes a really long time to experience the compounding benefits of SEO – from better rankings, higher conversion rates, to long-term growth – but I promise that the wait and effort is really worth it. 

Here at Manifest Website Design, we want to pay it forward and help improve your website’s ranking on search engines. We are offering a free SEO audit of your website – no fuss, no obligations, no hidden agenda. We wouldn’t be where we are today without the help of the experts that came before us, so allow us to do the same for you. Get in touch with us for your free SEO audit today.