Americans turn to the Internet when they need to find something, and that trend is only increasing with the prevalence of mobile devices. As of January 2014, the Pew Research Center found that 55% of American adults owned smartphones, and 42% owned tablets. Gone are the days when consumers could only Google something from a desktop or laptop computer. With figures like that, it should come as no surprise that businesses are turning to online marketing companies, rather than traditional advertising, to bring in more customers. It also shouldn’t be surprising that search engine optimization is one of the most prominent online marketing services now being offered.
A decade ago, SEO consisted primarily of stuffing awkward keywords into webpage content or buying a bunch of backlinks to boost a site’s rankings. But thanks to improvements in Google’s ranking algorithms, such the so-called Hummingbird update, that’s no longer good enough. Now, the best SEO services focus on online audience optimization. OAO refers to optimizing content so that it has user intent, not just the search engine, in mind. That means creating high-quality content that actually anticipates a searcher’s needs. It’s a time-consuming and specialized process, which is why 62% of companies decide to outsource part or all of their content marketing (according to a Forrester survey) to expert SEO services.
Should you be looking at online marketing companies that can offer SEO for your business? The short answer is yes, almost all businesses will benefit from SEO given how heavily American consumers rely on Google to find what they need. But search engine marketing — comprised of SEO and its cousin, paid search advertising — offer particular benefits to certain kinds of businesses. Here are some examples of businesses that benefit most dramatically from SEO and SEM services in general:
Are you ready to start looking at online marketing companies? Discuss what benefits you might see from SEO in the comments.