Your Company Needs Digital Marketing to Survive Covid-19 and Beyond…Here’s Why
From an SEO perspective, page 1 of Google is where most people go looking for information. This means having a presence on the first few pages of search results and making sure your products and services are visible in organic listings at the top of the SERPs is key to your business’ success. Why? You guessed it: more clicks equals more conversions.
Right now, about 65% of web users Google a product or service before making a purchase. This number is only going to rise as time goes on and this is exactly why your business needs to be investing in digital marketing services to defend against even stiffer competition…and you can’t let those SEO rands go to waste either.
Now is the time to invest in SEO services if you haven’t already so your company can take advantage of this monumental shift in consumer behaviour. Digital marketing services are the most effective way to maintain your current customer base while simultaneously establishing yourself in new markets.
Here are five reasons why you need digital marketing services to succee
The New Consumer is Mobile
More people are using mobile devices than ever before when conducting research online. This means optimising your site for mobile is more important than ever if you want to maximise your traffic. When was the last time you looked at your website on a cell phone? It probably wasn’t that long ago (if it was, then…good job!). Now try and remember the last time somebody asked your opinion about something they saw online. Chances are you took out your phone so you could get the details.
This is no coincidence; it’s evidence of a global trend where mobile search is playing an increasingly larger role in how people find information, make decisions and go about their daily lives. How does this affect your business? Well, if you don’t already have a responsive site (meaning your website adapts to fit mobile devices) and mobile optimisation (meaning you can be found on Google mobile search), then you’re missing out to three-fourths of your potential online customers.
The Competition is Thicker Than Ever…
As we mentioned earlier, only about 65% of web users go looking for products and services via a desktop computer. That means 35% of potential customers are looking for information on a mobile device, and this number is only going to keep going up.
This means having a web presence that reaches desktop users just won’t cut it in the near future. In fact, more people will choose their smartphones as their primary tool for accessing online services than PCs. But what does this mean for your business?
It means the competition is now fiercer than ever before. Without investing in digital marketing services, you’re forfeiting 65% of the consumer market to the highest bidders…and that’s no way to run a business.
The Problem with Ads
While Google Ads is still the most popular PPC advertising service, its effectiveness is declining. This means your return on investment will be lessened unless you’re running highly-targeted ad campaigns…and who has time for that?
The reason for Adwords’ decline in effectiveness is due to Google’s own algorithm changes. Just a few months ago, the company made several updates to improve the relevancy of its results. One of these changes was to raise the bar on what is considered high-quality content, which means websites that attempt to game Google’s system are no longer getting an edge.
This means your company will have a much harder time standing out in today’s market without putting in some extra work. That’s where digital marketing services come in, which brings us to our next point…
You Can’t Just Sit Back and Relax
Nowadays you can’t just sit back and rely on your website to do all of the work for you. Your business needs to be investing in digital marketing services that maximise your reach online. For example, did you know that 83% of online experiences begin with a search engine, according to the Digital Marketing Institute? This means when people are looking for information about your business, they’ll start by searching Google or another search engine. If your site isn’t properly optimised for organic search, then you’re putting yourself at an 83% chance of losing potential business.
What Can You Do?
If you want to take your business to the next level, then you need to be taking full advantage of not only organic search (meaning SEO) but also paid advertising and social media promotion. To make things simple for you, we’ve outlined the four biggest steps your company can take to attract maximum attention from these three major marketing services:
Step 1 – Optimise Your Site for Search Engines
The first step in this process is to hire a professional SEO company because optimising a website for search engine traffic isn’t something you can do on your own. What’s more, there are so many things you need to take into consideration that the average small business owner just doesn’t have time for it. That’s why you should be looking for an SEO company that has experience with local businesses, as well as knowledge of the latest industry trends and strategies.
Step 2 – Use Google Adwords to Your Advantage
The next step is to use Google Adwords to your advantage. The average click-through rate for ads on the first page of Google is about 16%, which means using paid search services can boost your traffic. However, you need to pick your keywords carefully, because the competition is tough and Adwords success doesn’t come easy.
Adwords campaigns are notorious for draining small business owners of their cash, so you should start this process by hiring a professional PPC management company. These experts have the tools and know-how to get your ad campaigns on track from day one.
Step 3 – Build Your Social Following
Next, you need to focus on building your social media presence. Today over 83% of marketing executives say that internet content generated by social media represents a significant portion of their marketing mix, and for good reason. Building your presence online through Facebook, Twitter and other social networks can bring in a major flow of targeted traffic. For example, the average click-through rate on paid ads on Facebook is just .035%, but for organic posts, this number jumps to 3.5%. Not only this, but more and more people are getting their news from social media websites, meaning you need to make sure you’re part of the conversation.
Step 4 – Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly
Finally, your website needs to be mobile-friendly for maximum reach. This means that if someone is viewing your website from a mobile device, it needs to be formatted in a way that is easy for them to navigate and access all of the information they’re looking for.
Did you know that Google has announced that they will begin penalising sites not optimised for mobile viewing? This means if you don’t have a responsive site design, you could be missing out on more than half of your traffic.
Building trust is the name of the game, and if people are constantly having to pinch, zoom and scroll just to read your content, then you’re going to suffer some major loss in conversions.
The Key takeaway?
If you want to take your business to the next level, then you need to make sure all of your ducks are in a row when it comes to organic search, paid advertising and social media promotion. Start by optimising your site for SEO, get the word out through Google Adwords and Facebook ads, and create a mobile-friendly website that’s easy to navigate and read. These four steps are your best chance at increasing your organic traffic, which means more conversions, more sales and a bigger bottom line.
The pandemic has shown us that companies need to have a strong online presence now more than ever. Your customers are going to be looking for information about your company and products on the internet, so you need to make sure that your website is up-to-date, your social media accounts are active, and you’re using search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques to ensure that your website appears at the top of relevant Google searches. At Top Click Media, we are one of South Africa’s top digital marketing agencies and we can help you get your company ready for the digital age. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us show you how Covid-19 can be the turning point in your business’ history.