Benefits of SEO
SEO is not a cost but an investment that imparts results in the long term. You cannot
expect a miracle to happen overnight—it takes weeks or even months to reach the
top-of-the-results chart. There is no fixed way to accomplish this; however, a
combination of several methods can help you achieve higher rankings in a calculative
(and not manipulative) way.
The following are several advantages of implementing SEO in your web design
projects:
• Catering to a massive audience: SEO is organic, and as your site
goes up the rankings, you get more traffic. Studies related to
various factors of SEO (link building, user-engaging content, and
so on) indicate that sites visible in the first few pages of search
engine results garner more traffic than the rest. For example, if a
user wants to buy sneakers online, they usually click site links that
appear on the first or second SERP without bothering to scroll
through the rest; they do not want to spend too much of their
valuable time and are looking for a quick resolution. Not only will
traffic increase as a result of SEO, but the recommendations of
users visiting your website will help you get more hits and attract
new customers (a lot depends on the content or what’s on offer—
you learn about that in subsequent chapters). The reach and
scope you achieve by implementing SEO leads to a larger target
audience.
• Permanent results: When you use a pay-per-click approach, your
site appears at the top of the SERP; however, the moment you
stop paying for ads, the site will no longer be visible. On the other
hand, SEO results are not dependent on ads, and with efficient
maintenance, your site will appear at the top of the charts without
having to advertise. You do not pay Google or advertising vendors
to achieve the top spot on the SERP. (Note that at times, you
may need the services of a digital marketing agency for various
reasons, such as providing quality content on a regular basis or
obtaining better online advertisement and exposure.)
• Low cost of implementation: In earlier days, marketing consultants
advocated the use of brochures, ads, and television to advertise
products. The amount of money spent on advertising was huge.
Today, creating and hosting a website is not expensive. Hiring a
digital marketing expert or using the services of a professional
SEO organization can be a viable option, depending on your
line of business or niche. In the long run, you can stabilize
your site’s position among the search results with minimum
upkeep, resulting in a huge return on your investment for SEO
implementation.
• Data and analytics: Earlier, data was used for monthly, annual,
and sales reports by the top brass of an organization. However,
data is used as a resourceful alternative with the advent of data
science. Data helps you gain insight into customer preferences,
marketing trends, and much more. You can get detailed analytics
that help you determine game-changing factors for your business.
For example, Google Analytics and Google Search Console
let you gather data that can help you understand key aspects
and drawbacks related to your site’s visibility. You can also see
conversions and bounce rates for the users visiting your website.
For example, you can better judge the number of users actually
buying something on your website vs. those who visited but did
not make a transaction.
• Staying ahead of the competition: A plethora of free and
commercial enterprise-grade SEO tools (for example, Google
Analytics and Google Search Console) lets you see results
and reports not only for your website but also for sites owned
by your competitors. Therefore, you can compare your results
with your competition. You receive statistics about various
aspects of your competitors’ business, such as the use of certain
keywords, localization factors, and analytics. Thus, you can gain a
better understanding of important competitive factors and steer
clear of your competition.
• Usability: SEO and user experience go hand-in-hand. The future
of SEO leans toward creating an enhanced user experience.
For example, internal links on your website that point to
relevant pages and content not only help search engines crawl
your site but also result in easy navigation. Ultimately, SEO
implementation should focus not on search engines but on
the user’s requirements and intent. Keeping this broad picture
in mind, attracting users with engaging content and design
is a recommended SEO trait that, in turn, aims at creating an
awesome user experience. For example, Google advocates for
mobile-friendly sites and ranks those sites higher, because mobile
has become the de facto platform for business compared to
desktop- or laptop-based sites.
• Content marketing and branding: Users tend to surf websites
that are found among higher-ranked search results. Google
encourages adherence to semantics and clean planning as
opposed to underhanded techniques used by spammy websites.
Therefore, if your page is among the top-ranked search results,
it reflects a certain trust and credibility. In addition, the “content
is king” paradigm encourages fresh content and engaging users,
resulting in conversion optimization. As traffic increases, so will
the credibility of your website. Therefore, you can ensure that the
branding of the products on your site is apt, leading to better sales.
This is why small- and medium-size enterprises are more focused
on SEO implementation (compared to large-scale organizations,
which have the funds to advertise through several channels) using
localization and other techniques that result in brand awareness.
Challenges in SEO
The world of SEO has its hurdles. The following are various challenges you may come
across when you implement SEO in your design projects:
• Time constraints: As mentioned earlier, people expect an SEO
implementation to deliver quick results. In reality, it takes weeks or
even months to see a positive result. A true SEO consultant always
adheres to legitimate tactics and does not try to fool the search
engines. Using devious tactics can help you gain results, but it will
not be long before you are caught, resulting in penalties. Violations
can cost you dearly. Some penalties are relatively lenient: your site
is not featured in the top results as a result of being downgraded.
But there are also severe penalties, including delisting your site
from the search results (it depends on the severity of the violation).
• Avoiding irrelevant, spammy content: Content is king, as you will
hear often in SEO training and tutorials. Well, content-driven
websites usually fare well with SEO implementation, provided
the content is engaging and relevant. Simply stuffing your
content with keywords may not lead to good results. You need
to understand user intent via their queries instead of focusing
on what search engines like. For example, if your site advertises
plumbing services in Toronto, then using irrelevant content such
as smartphone reviews or vacations in Ibiza would be misleading.
The focus of the content must not distract users. Users must
receive the information they expect when they surf your website.
Moreover, factors such as manipulating content, aggressive link
building, and poor content may eventually prove detrimental.
Search engines like fresh content. Therefore, if your content has
not changed for a long time, or if you have used duplicate content
from another website, your site will not appear in the top results.
Not including SEO while designing your website: As mentioned
earlier in the chapter, SEO and user experience (UX) go hand in
hand. Implementing SEO in a project after the website has been
designed may lead to discouraging results. While building the
website, you need to consider factors important for SEO and UX
design. For example, on an e-commerce website, it is imperative
that the checkout facility is clearly visible, because some users
just select an item and then want to check out. If the user
cannot locate the checkout facility easily, it results in inefficient
navigation, leading to a poor UX. Users will not visit a website
again if they have difficulty navigating it.
• Heavy-duty sites: Cramming your website with as many features
as possible or too much content can affect the UX significantly.
Heavy-duty sites lead to excessive page-load times, and studies
have suggested that users abandon searches if page-load times
are not optimal. Less is more. Proper utilization of whitespace,
efficient site architecture, and user-friendly design, along with
relevant content, will streamline the UX, prompting users to
return.
An excellent example is the Google home page, www.google.com .
There is a search box in the middle of the screen; users, on
visiting the page, enter search terms in the box. Most users
end up doing what Google expects them to do: search for
information. There are no distractions on the page. This
approach works because there is no bulk or clutter to waylay
users when they visit the site.
• Defective products: Customers are the most important thing for
businesses, and their feedback and recommendations are vital.
If the quality of your products is not up to the mark, it is likely
that users will not return, regardless of your website content.
Apologies do not matter in the case of a flawed product or bad
customer experience. Hence, the quality of your showcased
products as well as efficient issue resolution are essential in
generating user traffic to your website.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your happy
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