How to Use SEO to Your Advantage in 2022

The events of the last couple of years have catapulted more businesses into digital marketing. With people shifting to being at home more, businesses view digital marketing as essential because how we work, live and connect with one another has changed.

In fact, Gartner’s Annual CMO Spend Survey 2020-2021 showed that digital channels now make up the bulk of marketing spend. And the survey found SEO to be among the top five priorities for CMOs. That makes sense — CMOs understand how critical search engines are for business.

People conduct almost 4 billion searches on Google per day. And that’s just Google. Now, a question: Out of those 4 billion searches, what’s the likelihood people are searching for what you have to offer? The answer, of course, is that certainly some are, often thousands of them. Some much more.

Except there’s a problem. Every single search produces millions of pages of search results. And you need to be on Page 1 for it to even matter.

Search engines are complicated, and the game of search is complex. Making it even more complex is the fact that Google makes frequent changes to search — as many as 4,500 changes to search in the last year alone.

So how do you compete? The answer is search engine optimization.

SEO effectively gets your business in front of your audience in one of the most important — if not the most important — arenas today: organic search results. Even when the odds are stacked against you. Even when you have to contend with millions of pages of competitors.

Is it easy? No. Nothing worth getting is ever easy. But it is attainable with the right strategies and a resolve to stick with it.

How to Use SEO to Advance Your Business

Now that you have some context on why SEO is critical right now, I’ll discuss how to use SEO as a weapon to compete in the battlefield of the search results.

First, a good SEO expert stays up to date on the latest changes to search. They research, and they test. They work to understand how to apply changes to a website for maximum results. This is a full-time job that any business owner or busy marketing team does not have time for on their own.

Next, SEO helps you uncover your competitors in the search results and understand their ranking strategies. Your competitors may not be who you think they are. By analyzing them, you will find out how to meet or exceed their SEO strategies, giving you a chance to compete for their position on Page 1. (Related: Who’s My SEO Competition?)

Finally, with the right professional or SEO agency, you’ll get the big picture view of how your website may be harming your chances of success in the search results. And they should direct you in strategies you should be following.

They should look at everything from the technical and on-page optimization of your website to your link profile to the content you create. They can look at the search results holistically and come up with a whole-SERP strategy for not just ranking in the “10 blue links” but everywhere else on the search results page.

As I’ve written about here, if you hesitate for a moment on your SEO strategy this year, your competition will pull ahead. And, by delaying the process, it may be very hard to catch up with them.

This year, think about how to use SEO to support your business goals. And if those goals include driving traffic to your website, converting leads and generating revenue then SEO can help.

Do you want a free consultation and quote for SEO services customized to meet your needs? Contact us here.

Bruce Clay is founder and president of Bruce Clay Inc., a global digital marketing firm providing search engine optimization, pay-per-click, social media marketing, SEO-friendly web architecture, and SEO tools and education. Connect with him on LinkedIn or through the BruceClay.com website.

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