Any business with an online presence nowadays should know the importance of SEO (Search Engine Optimization). SEO helps websites to garner more customer traffic to the website in a focused manner through keywords. Usually, this is done through the higher ranking of the website or brand name in the search results of search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.

In the startup sphere, an innovative product holds a great importance. But, after you achieve initial traction or begin to grow /scale, good marketing is a core factor on which eventual success depends. This also includes online marketing efforts– on social media platforms as well as through SEO. Now, while most startups begin their digital marketing through social media channels, they should not forget that SEO increases the effectiveness of it. While there are paid online opportunities such as hiring a UK Video SEO Company to help grow the viewership for your content, it may not be the only way to grow your business.

Here are a few reasons why SEO marketing is so important for a startup:

It enables to cash-in on rapidly growing internet penetration

According to a recent report, internet users in India will grow by at least 50 million yearly till 2020. This growth is no longer fueled only by the internet users on desktop, but also mobile internet users. Youngsters are the main demographic here, the one with the most growth and openness to experiment. About three-quarters of the Indian online users are in the 18-35 age group. What this signifies is that in the coming decades, they will be your future target customers. To reach them, you need to have a strong online presence no matter what products or services you are offering.

It helps to ‘pull’ instead of ‘push’ customers

A global online study revealed that India ranked first when it comes to the number of online shoppers using search engines. Unlike traditional media or social media where you have to reach out to the target audience, SEO’s inbound nature pursues customers to look for you on the net. If a customer types in a specific search word/s in the search engine and sees your name pop up among the top results, it tells him that your product or service is more relevant to what he is looking for.

It gives better ROI

Online advertising is a money-pit where you have to continuously pour in precious money to attract paying customers, which is not always possible for a cash-strapped startup. Your ads are displayed only as long as you pay for them. In contrast, an SEO strategy drives organic traffic and will continue to show benefits for the months to come even after you are no longer using it actively. SEO is also useful in tracking quantifiable results in terms of traffic, ranking and conversions. So, the ROI on SEO is higher than that on other digital marketing channels.

Related: Budget Marketing Tips For A Startup

It improves your branding

SEO is no longer a standalone marketing strategy, it is now an integral discipline of a company’s overall marketing strategy. When Google throws your startup’s website appears in top search results, it makes a favourable impression on your customers. It builds trust and credibility among customers. The more your pages and content rank higher, the better chances you have for customers to click on your content to know more about your brand.

It generates offline demand

A survey found that 85% of consumers use the internet to find the local business. Let’s say you have recently opened a fashion boutique. Assuming that you have a social media page or a website (either of them is the first step towards online marketing!), SEO can connect you to customers who don’t know about you yet, but your products are highly relevant to them. Unless you implement SEO, your online customers will not find you and be tempted to visit your store.

Indian e-commerce industry has been banking heavily on SEO as one of the inbound marketing strategies. SimilarWeb, a web traffic intelligence company, recently released a report, which revealed that this year, direct traffic of Indian e-tailers was responsible for 36% of desktop traffic. Whereas the organic search traffic brought 30% of the industry’s desktop visits.

Related: Pointers To Remember To Go With A Good Digital Marketing Agency

The success of any SEO strategy depends on how intelligently you apply it. SEO requires resources in terms of funds, time and effort, so any startup who wants to use it should analyze how much and in what way it can invest these resources in SEO. Typically, some basic SEO can be done by the entrepreneurs themselves by learning the basic steps through online tutorials or workshops. Then, as your startup grows, you will have to formulate a strategy to accommodate SEO as a recurring and an integral process in your marketing and branding efforts. Finally, how much you are willing to invest in SEO is only limited by your budget, but disregarding it is not an option for an evolving startup.

Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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