Why is SEO Still Important in 2021?

Why is SEO Still Important in 2021?

SEO is a digital marketing practice that is showing no signs of losing steam anytime soon. Recently, Google employees themselves have said that even with machine learning, the SEO industry will likely be with us forever. But why, in 2021 almost 2 decades after SEO became a big deal, is SEO still the unbeatable marketing gift that just keeps on giving?

Search Engine Optimisation, for those who are not yet quite familiar with it, is the process of helping a website to become more visible on the internet. The process is intricate, it requires a constant updating of knowledge for those who are working in the industry, and it is only successful when lots of time and effort are put in. 

And it is because of all this hard work that few people have a full understanding of what SEO encompasses and what it really takes to get a website onto the very 1st page of the Google search results. 

In fact, the industry is so complicated, that sometimes even professional SEO practitioners are known to become flustered and confused by the latest Google update. This is because SEO is at the complete mercy of Google, and it’s ever changing algorithms. 

Just one update and the whole game can be changed, and to take the time to relearn how Google is now operating, is just not something everyone can afford to do. 

But the pay offs of SEO are astounding. Companies have been known to grow their profit margins by more than 200% within 6 months of starting proper SEO and this is what makes this type of online marketing the ideal solution for new and established companies alike. 

SEO is worth it, and in 2021, it is more important than it has ever been. 

And a lot of this new boost in status that SEO has been basking in, has to do with what we’ve all been through in 2020. 

The year that will forever be known as the year of pandemic panic and the shutdown of physical businesses, has shown us that the internet is so much more than a tool from which to extract information and to access entertainment and news. 

While for the most part many business people already knew that the web is a great place to market, it was only in 2020 that the message was driven home. With businesses forced to go online, many company owners seriously started looking into SEO, and online selling in general. 

For this reason alone, SEO has become one of those important business staples that no company can really afford to be without. Whether your company is operating in a large and competitive industry or if it is working in a niche industry, SEO can be beneficial. 

Considering that it is search engines that are mostly used to find things that people need or want to buy, if you don’t have a solid SEO strategy by now, you are going to place your business in a disadvantageous position. 

Cutting out this vital form of marketing means that you are not going to reach your entire market and will have to resort to traditional marketing methods which have, in the last year, proven to be a little ineffective when it comes to reaching all of the people you want to reach. 

Every second of every day, Google processes 40 000 search queries 

If you are still wondering why SEO is still important in 2021, this statistic alone should be enough to convenience you. Although this number is taken on a global scale, local SEO (meaning the kind of SEO that functions on a city, town, and suburb level) is also booming. And if people are looking for you online and your site is not optimised in such a way that you are visible, how would your potential clients ever find you?

Other reasons why SEO is still so important, includes:

1. It is an economical option, even in these rough times 

Not everyone has the greatest marketing budget at the moment, but with SEO’s high return on investment rate, this is one marketing practice that will eventually pay for itself. Depending on what your goals are and just how wide an area you wish to reach, SEO can be more affordable than you imagine. Should you really struggle to budget for it, you can always ask the agency you approach if they have any special rates, something that many companies are offering at the moment to help businesses get back on their feet. 

2. It still works, even in 2021

There should be no need to remind people that SEO really does work. Although over the years there have been many times when people say SEO is dead, it is an industry that has only been on the up and up. So even if you are only getting started with your SEO in 2021, it is going to work. 

3. It will help you get back on your feet, even if 2020 battered you 

There are very few businesses that have been left completely untouched by the unprecedented fallout of 2020. But through the use of SEO, these businesses can absolutely start getting back on track with a cost-effective SEO marketing strategy. By driving your website up the search engine rankings and starting to rake in those leads and those sales, you can rebuild what you lost. 

4. It will help you get back on your feet, even if 2020 battered you 

There are very few businesses that have been left completely untouched by the unprecedented fallout of 2020. But through the use of SEO, these businesses can absolutely start getting back on track with a cost-effective SEO marketing strategy. By driving your website up the search engine rankings and starting to rake in those leads and those sales, you can rebuild what you lost. 

5. It creates new opportunities, even if you can’t see them 

SEO can make you aware of opportunities that you might not have seen otherwise. When you or your SEO agency checks what people are searching for by having a look at which keywords are being used to find the website, you will be given a key bit of insight into the direction that you can begin to grow your business in, so that you can capitalise on these keywords.