SEO & Sales: What's The Relationship? - The Digital Sales Institute

SEO and Sales, what’s the relationship people often ask. Well, search engine optimization (SEO) and sales go hand in hand but that may not be apparent at first glance. Similar to traditional ad spending, SEO can bring more attention to your business and thus more sales. But unlike SEO, traditional ads stop pulling in traffic when you stop paying. The survival of every business depends on sales, but a strong SEO strategy can give you a leg up on other eCommerce stores in your niche because it puts you in front of more buyers.

Why is the link between SEO and Sales Important?

About 81% of internet users find a product or service through search engines, but only 30% of businesses actually actively use SEO. Business owners who have tried to implement an SEO strategy found it too time-consuming, overly complicated, or not worth the effort. SEO and sales are interlinked especially when relying on inbound leads but it does require effort. However, SEO isn’t as difficult as it seems. SEO can become a major part of your sales strategy if you know how to use it. After all, SEO can help search engines and visitors find your site. Lead generation is the backbone of any marketing agency, but attracting leads works a little differently on the internet. Instead of billboards, companies will hire agencies like Linkbuilder to build a repertoire of backlinks. Instead of newsstands, visitors will search for keywords.

SEO brings several benefits to website owners:

• SEO Generates Traffic: The highest click-through rate (who saw your ad vs. who clicked on it) belongs to the first Google result. The drop-off is severe after the first result.
• SEO Yields a High ROI: According to Terakeet, SEO increases a blog’s value by 429%, decreases customer acquisition costs by 87.41%, and earns $12.20 for every $1 spent.
• SEO Improves User Experience (UX): Since Google calculates page load times and mobile optimization in its ranking system, businesses spend more on user experience.
• SEO Offers Consistent Traffic: While it takes longer to see results from SEO, you’ll experience consistent, passive traffic once your strategy is correctly implemented.

Search engines use crawlers to look for new content, meaning anything that could be linked to could be found and indexed. However, only unique content gets entered into the database. Once the indexed URLs are in the database, a crawler will retrieve that information and match it to a user’s search query. If technical SEO, on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and keywords are seen as relevant to the search engines algorithm, you’ll rank higher and increase your reach.

How Can You Use SEO to Increase Sales?

Bringing curious eyes to your storefront is half the battle, as anyone with a brick-and-mortar establishment will tell you. Even at their best, traditional ads may get a customer to your front door, but not necessarily inside. However, SEO can guide your buyers to the end of the journey. Modern buyers aren’t going to pick the first option they see; they’re going to research, look up reviews, and ask a lot of questions. Through SEO strategies like keywords, content hierarchies, and an FAQs page, you’ll empower your customers to find the best option for their needs. Not only will SEO attract customers, but it’ll also find loyal, happy ones. Since the customer journey doesn’t end at the checkout screen, there’s still a chance they’ll return your product or leave a negative review. SEO-backed content helps customers know what they’re getting into. Keep in mind that online shoppers aren’t just ordering online; they’re also looking for local shops. 46% of Google searches are for local businesses>, 80% of which lead to conversions.

5 Tips You’ll Need to Increase Sales With SEO

Increasing sales through SEO is an ongoing effort, but it won’t be for nothing if you implement the right strategy. The following tips will instantly improve your SEO and sales alongside your marketing efforts.

1. Understand How to Use Keywords

Although keyword use has changed over the years, its importance remains the same. Without keywords, your prospects may never find you, which is why they’re key to any SEO strategy. If you’re a company that sells guitars, one obvious keyword would be “acoustic guitars,” but these short-tail phrases are highly competitive on search engines and may not yield results. You’ll need to mix up medium-tail (“easy acoustic guitar songs”) with long-tail (“six-string wooden acoustic guitars for beginners”) to help your customers find you at every stage of the buyer’s journey. Once you know what keywords to implement, put them in your:

• Web Pages
• Website URLs
• Blog Content
• Alt Images Tags
• Metadata
• Headings (H1, H2, H3)
• Email subject lines
• Page titles

You can use software and tools, like Google AdWords, to start your keyword research. Keep in mind that most search queries involve four or more words, so prioritize medium-tail keywords.

2. Focus on Creating Incredible Content

Google favors websites that frequently update. By creating a blog that you can update frequently, you create a vehicle for several SEO ranking factors, like backlinks and keywords. Content can help increase sales if it’s valuable. For example, a skincare line can make videos that show customers how to massage serum into their face. They could also write a blog post discussing the right amount of serum to use or what time of the day/night they should use it. When customers input queries about serums, they’ll come across blogs, web pages, social media posts, and other content that answers that question. If your content is the most engaging, authoritative piece of content in your niche, it will appear before anyone else’s content. That means you can build a relationship with your leads right away. While this doesn’t guarantee customers will purchase your product, it will make you one of their considered choices.

3. Watch Your Reputation Carefully

Local customers are more likely to visit your business, but will they still come running if your Google Business page is littered with negative reviews and angry customers? Absolutely not. While it’s normal to receive a bad review every now and then, a consistent low-star rating or a visible spat with a customer will turn people off. Reputation management is an essential part of being a business. Coupled with SEO, you can put your best foot forward online by:

• Engaging with customers professionally.
• Responding to negative reviews calmly.
• Encouraging reviews and testimonials.

Remember that your potential customers will likely look up reviews online or look at your social media pages or website before buying from your company. If you’re well-liked, potential customers will assume you’re trustworthy. Don’t underestimate social proof in sales.

4. Pay Attention to Off-Page SEO

While on-page SEO focuses on your content and technical aspects of your site, off-page SEO narrows in on Domain Rating (DR) and backlinks. Although search engines take into account the number and quality of your backlinks, Google will favor high-DR links every single time. But linking off your page won’t increase your sales beyond making you more rank able. While ranking is essential, you also want other high-DR sites to link to your own website.

There are five great strategies that help with link building:

• Write for HARO, so you can appear on more websites.
• Create content that mentions influencers in your niche.
• Ask other blogs if you can write a guest post for them.
• Search popular blogs and ask if you can replace a broken link.
• Make a lot of infographics because they’re really shareable.

You can also submit backlinks to image, video, and audio sharing sites, like YouTube, PodBean, or Pinterest. This ensures your content is seen by as many potential customers as possible.

5. Don’t Forget About a Smooth Sales Process

User experience is really important. In fact, it’s so essential to the buyer’s journey that Google implemented various page experience signals for its users to follow. These include the newly created Core Web Vitals, which focuses on loading, interactivity, and visual stability metrics. But that’s not all. Search engines want your site to be easily accessible to the user, an HTTPS security certificate, and mobile compatibility. By improving user experience, customers are more likely to stay on your website, look at the content you publish, and purchase from your store.

However, UX also involves guiding your leads to the end goal. This means your sales process has to be smooth and logical. So, ask yourself, what do your customers do before they buy?  Whether it’s head straight to the cart or call you, make it easy for them to get to each step by removing any obstacle in their path. A bloated sales process can make your customers leave your store, even at the “confirm order” step, so it’s important that you keep them interested.

 

SEO & Sales: What's The Relationship? - The Digital Sales Institute: