Of course, all business website owners need excellent search engine optimization (SEO in Melbourne), and many are keenly aware of this. Other businesses are more focused on using social media instead. Yet so many website owners are missing the point that combining these two essential aspects will make the difference.
As a general rule, the more information and links included on your website, on social media sites, and in local directories, the better. Not only do customers want to see the possible information regarding your business, but every piece gives a slight advantage to your local SEO efforts compared with other local businesses in the area. Google makes this process very simple with its My Business page, giving the business owner a completion bar indicating how to complete the page’s information.
You need effective SEO in order to increase organic traffic, which comes from search engines. For example, if you have a plumbing business in Melbourne, you will want to mention plumbing and Melbourne-related keywords for both on-page and off-page search engine optimization. Compared with traditional SEO, however, social media is much more critical when it comes to local SEO services because many customers may find you on one of the social media platforms instead. In this sense, your business’s Facebook page serves as your website for many potential customers. Recommendations, social proof, and good reviews are hugely important for any business, and social media is leading the way in this department.
Once your website is optimized, the first stage of your social media campaign is to claim your Google My Business page, then optimize all of the information on your social media pages to match the information on your My Business page along with all the other local directories. This provides customers with all the information they need to find your business. Social signals, such as “Likes” on Facebook or “Re-tweets” on Twitter, count as a local search ranking factor, according to a recent study by Moz. This means that you will rank higher on local search results if more people interact with your business on social media.
Should You Be Paying For PPC?
When deciding which is better for your business – SEO or PPC- you have to understand the differences between them. And how those differences will make the desired impact you want for your business.
Firstly, what are the differences?
Once you have to pay…the other you don’t.
SEO and PPC are part of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which is part of your overall Internet Marketing campaign. The main difference between Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay Per Click (PPC) is that traffic coming from SEO (organic) is complimentary, while traffic generated from PPC is not free (as the name implies, you have to pay a cost-per-click). This is also why you may sometimes see the terms organic and paid search engine listings (or Paid Search Advertising, PSA).
Where should your money go? PPC to start as it is going to help you get the results you want immediately.
Yet where should you devote your efforts, time, and budget? PPC campaigns can indeed get websites noticed, as they are thrust into prime positions and can be highly targeted. Yet, if you run a business, you are looking at the long-term growth and success of that business, not simply instant results. If your website is not well optimized for search engines, and you don’t take steps to achieve this, you might constantly be looking for quick results from PPC campaigns. Yet this comes at a very high cost that never ends.
The rest of the time, you focus on working on SEO. This is going to be the final step in your marketing plan.
In the meantime, if you are not focused on search engine optimization, you might miss other opportunities to grow your website’s effectiveness. This includes taking advantage of multiple social media platforms and growing local customer support through reviews and links, all of which will cost far less to implement. For example, a relevant SEO blog and newsletter will build great content on your website and simultaneously trigger the search engines to rank you highly.
SEO will help you establish your business in your industry for years to come.
If you are running a care home in Melbourne, your SEO efforts could link you to countless other healthcare organizations, local community websites, related social media pages, and local news and media organizations. You will become noticed by potential customers, other businesses, and also the search engines as a relevant and vital care home in Melbourne. If you opt for the lazy approach of putting some basic service and contact information and then starting an ongoing PPC campaign, however, then you are not building your identity or brand, you’re not engaging with the community, and it’s constantly costing you money.
So what is the final answer?
You may gain some business with PPC, but you won’t build that long-lasting trust and identity with well-implemented SEO. So it’s always best to start with a strong PPC campaign to help you establish a higher rate of return and more profits and to kick off your campaign. From there, focus on working on SEO for a longer and stronger approach down the line.