The Affordable Way to Improve Website Traffic

Ranking high on Google is one of the fastest and most effective ways to improve website traffic and grow a business. However, competition to get to the top is fierce — and if you’re operating within a tight budget, it may be daunting to allocate more resources to search engine marketing.

Fortunately, there are ways to improve your marketing strategy without breaking the bank. One way to do so is to leverage the power of organic SEO. In the following information, we’ll discuss how organic SEO differs from paid search, and how to deploy this tactic for maximum effect.

Paid Search vs. Organic SEO

First of all, it’s important to know the difference between paid search advertising and organic SEO. Basically, paid search is an advertising technique in which companies “buy” space on Google’s first page in relation to certain keywords. For instance, if you were to go to Google right now and type in the search phrase “SEO agency,” several results would pop up with the word “Ad” next to them. In other words, those companies paid Google to rank high for the keyword phrase “SEO agency.”

In contrast, organic SEO involves search results that “naturally” rank high in Google’s listing. Companies do not pay for these web pages’ high ranking; instead, they are high on the list because they are very relevant to the user’s search query, and are viewed as authoritative (or valuable) by Google’s algorithm. 

Obtaining an organic search ranking on Google’s page #1 is one of the primary goals of almost any digital marketer today. Your brand gets a ton of exposure to your target audience, and you don’t have a to pay a cent in advertising expenses! And what’s more, organic SEO is super-effective, with one study showing that it generates 3 times more leads than paid search.

How to Implement Organic SEO

Now that we’ve discovered why organic SEO is such a big deal, the next question is: how do you use it, especially on a budget? Here are 3 tips that you’ll find helpful:

• Use focus keywords for each piece of content. So much of organic SEO revolves around matching your content’s reach to the right audience. In order to do that, you need to make sure that each blog post, article, white paper or video that you upload contains a focus keyword that runs through it as a dominant theme. Google will then be able to classify your content as relevant to specific search queries, meaning you’ll catch the right users’ attention.
• Develop a “pillar page” strategy. A pillar page is a main topic page optimized around a keyword. Once that pillar page has been established, you can build on it by composing several more articles that deal with the same general topic, but have a specialized niche or sub-topic as their primary focus. As each article links back to your pillar page, it will grow in “topic authority” and slowly climb Google’s SERP rankings.
• Post on a consistent basis. If you post on a regular schedule, Google’s algorithm will begin to view you as more of an authority on the subject under discussion. You’ll also enhance your brand’s credibility, and promote increased engagement and loyalty among your consumer base.

It’s true that organic SEO is a not a “get rich quick” scheme — in fact, it’s quite the opposite. It is a long-term investment of time and resources. However, it doesn’t come with the upfront costs of paid search advertising, and it will eventually yield an exponentially higher ROI.

If you’d like to learn more about how organic SEO can help you grow your business and get leads from Google on a budget, reach out to our friendly team of experts at Reap+Sow Marketing today.