Importance of SEO for Houston Businesses

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SEO has been helping millions of businesses to reach their ideal customers at an ideal time in their research journey.
And post the pandemic situation, US consumers switched en masse to online research. So, it has become crucial for Houston businesses to earn a prominent online presence.
And here is where SEO puts up an appearance.

12 Good Reasons Why SEO Matters For Your Business in Houston

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1. Organic Traffic is the Best Way to Draw Site Traffic

You might be amazed to learn that over 53.3% of site traffic comes from organic rankings.
Moreover, Google powers approximately 5.6 billion searches every day.
That said, organic traffic makes up for significant traffic on your site. So, if you do not optimize for SEO, you are most likely to lose on this traffic.
This also means that you are missing out on a significant number of leads and customers.
When you optimize for SEO, you rank for relevant search terms in the SERPs. These rankings help your business appear to the customer while actively searching for a relevant product/service.
For example, Have a look at this screenshot showing the top organic search results for “Houston roofing companies”.
So, unless you optimize for SEO, your SEO-friendly competitors in Houston will steal your business.

2. SEO Offers Qualified Traffic and Leads to Local Businesses

SEO is an underappreciated marketing wizard for local businesses. And today, over 46% of the total searches on Google are for a local service or business.
Moreover, 90% of consumers have switched to Google to search for nearby businesses. So, if you are serving local customers in Houston, you must optimize for local search results.
Your local SEO efforts start with creating a GMB profile for your local business. And this GMB profile is capable of attracting significant leads for your business.
During the pandemic (Jan to July) in 2020, businesses witnessed a 61% increase in inquiries via call owing to their GMB listings.
If your local SEO is good, you can rank for the Local 3-Pack results on Google. And these Local 3-Pack results attract a minimum of 100% higher CTR than other results.
Further, local SEO can give you a stellar boost in your in-store footfall traffic in Houston. Google witnessed a 200% increase in "near me" and "where to buy?" search queries from 2017 to 2019. And this number is rising exponentially.

3. Your Rankings Work as a Prominent Social Proof for Your Brand

We aren't serving customers in isolation, and consumers have become tech-savvy. Other consumers and influencers influence their purchase decisions and behavior.
Instead, social proof is becoming more important than ever, whether you sell online or offline.
Today, on average, a consumer skims through 10 reviews before buying a product or service. And a significant percentage of users will look for reviews online during in-store shopping.
Have a look at this automotive repair shop in Houston having hundreds of positive reviews in their Google my business profile.
So, stellar SEO efforts and prominent rankings will add another star to your brand's social proof.
Today, tech-savvy consumers understand that Google considers authority and value while ranking sites.
So, if your site ranks in the top Google search results, it is credible social proof from Google. And consumers are more likely to purchase from your business.
If you hold these organic rankings for over a year, consumers also recognize your brand. And this brand recognition translates into credibility.
The result is qualified leads and consumers who trust your brand. And you can expect better conversions and sales out of it.

4. You Do Not Have to Pay for Your Organic Rankings

Today, every business invests a considerable amount of its revenue in marketing. And paid advertising often requires a big initial investment.
Take a look at the low range and high range bid pricing for the keyword “Insurance” in Houston.
But, you do not have to pay Google a single penny for your organic rankings.
Moreover, you do not pay Google for any traffic that comes to your site through SEO efforts. That said, every lead you draw from your SEO efforts is free of cost.
However, you just need to dedicate sincere efforts towards optimizing your site and content. And this will require you to invest a significant amount of time, and you may need to hire SEO experts.
But, once you rank for the relevant search queries, your efforts will pay off. And you can expect qualified leads at a low cost per conversion rate.

5. A Significant Part of Your Business is Likely to Come from SEO

Owing to the pandemic situation, we have witnessed a phenomenal rise in the number of Internet users.
Over 68% of consumers begin their online experience with Google. That said, SEO plays an important part in making your business visible to the consumers.
SEO helps you appear for the searches right when a user searches for a relevant service or product.
For example, if a consumer wants a car repair service, he will search "car repair services near me" on Google. Or, if he wants to buy a product, he will search for it using Google.
Today, over 80% of consumers research online even before making an offline purchase.
And if your business appears in the top searches, you are likely to earn qualified leads.
For example, Have a look at these websites ranking at the top and gaining organic search traffic from Google.

6. SEO Helps You Optimize for the Increasing Mobile Traffic

Internet penetration through mobile devices is on the rise. And today, mobile devices account for over 54.8% of the total Internet traffic.
Some industries like HVAC, home improvement, saloon services, etc., draw significant traffic through mobile.
In fact, in 2019, mobile devices accounted for 64% of the total searches for HVAC businesses.
So, if you are serving offline or as a local business, you must optimize for the mobile platform.
SEO helps you optimize mobile search visibility. And you can highlight your contact info directly on the search results, GMB, social media, listings, etc.
This helps you earn direct inquiries for your business. As per some crucial statistics:
76% of consumers who search for a nearby business via their mobile device visit it within a day.
28% of these nearby searches from mobile devices result in a purchase within a day.
This certainly explains why you must utilize SEO for your business in Houston.

7. SEO Rankings Aren't Volatile

If you leverage paid advertising, your ads disappear as soon as your budget exhausts. Meanwhile, this is not the case with your organic rankings.
SEO rankings take ample time and effort, but they are not volatile. And once you achieve the top spots in SERPs, you do not witness a sudden change in positions. This applies even if you take a week off from your SEO efforts.
Moreover, top ranks are even more persistent. Top rankings display your content authority, and most businesses will like to link back to you. These backlinks further increase your authority, and you adhere to your position even harder.
For example, Have a look at this PC repair company in Houston, gaining link from a review website.
Therefore, genuine SEO efforts pay off as long-term results. So, while you buy ranks from your PPC ads, SEO helps you earn those ranks for free.

8. Organic Rankings Earn You a High CTR

Today, consumers have grown tech-savvy. And they understand the difference between paid and organic results.
They trust Google's ranking algorithm for offering the best sorted organic results. So, they tend to ignore the paid search results and scroll down to the top organic results.
As per stats, 70 to 80% of consumers are likely to ignore paid results and click on the organic results.
So, if you earn top rankings, your business enjoys a higher CTR than paid results. Moreover, organic results drive you more qualified leads than paid results. And 70% of marketers say that SEO has a higher sales potential than PPC.
So, if you aren't investing in SEO, you must consider it ASAP!

9. You are Likely to Rank for a Long List of Keywords

SEO is crucial when you wish to maximize your brand's visibility online. Your content and SEO efforts allow you to rank for an extensive list of keywords.
A typical long-form blog can easily rank for over 1000 keywords. And you get the flexibility to target a long list of keywords in your SEO content.
You can even use long-tail keywords easily as you do not pay for your keyword choices.
You can use tools like long tail pro, Ubersuggest, or KWFinder to find long tail keywords.
Have a look at the screenshot from Ubersuggest.
These keywords increase your content relevancy and ranking probability. As per statistics, 69.7% of queries on Google contain at least four words.
However, when it comes to PPC, you need to be particular about your keyword choices. More keyword sets mean more campaigns and a higher marketing budget.
So, SEO gives you the freedom to explore a long list of keywords without paying to the search engines.

10. Good SEO Improves Your Site's Conversion Potential

A long list of your SEO efforts will most likely improve your site's conversion potential. Some of these efforts include:

• Reducing your site's loading time (preferably up to 3 seconds) and page response time
• Optimizing the Meta Title and Description for relevancy and keywords
• Mapping keywords in the page and content
• Improving the user experience by creating snackable content and removing any intrusive popups
• Optimizing the images and other media elements
• Improving the site structure and internal linking structure
• Reducing the site's bounce rate by adding CTAs and other click-points
• Adding schema markups and a sitemap for improving the site's crawlability

For example, See how the kitchen appliance companies in Houston make use of Schema.
So, while optimizing the search, you are already improving your site's conversion potential.
Moreover, leads from your SEO efforts have an average conversion rate of 14.6%. This is impressive compared to the 1.7% conversion rate of outbound leads.

11. SEO Strategy Allows You to Measure Your Efforts and Results

Though your SEO efforts aren't as measurable as PPC, it still gives you enough data insights.
You can get your hands on several SEO tools to measure the results of your efforts. These tools are Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMRush, etc.
Take a look at the organic traffic screenshot from Google Analytics.
These tools help you measure metrics like:

• Your top-performing keywords and your top-performing pages
• Traffic on your site and individual pages
• Bounce rate on your site and other metrics like pages per session and session time
• Your page rankings in the SERPs
• Your link profile, including the outbound and inbound links
• Google Search Console also reports any penalty on your site.

These metrics enable you to measure your efforts and optimize your strategy for better results.
With SEO, you also get the benefit of competitive marketing. You can easily draw insights into your competitor's strategy in Houston. So, you do not have to start from scratch and get valuable insights to feed your strategy.
Some insights include the backlink opportunities, the competitor keywords, content inspiration, etc.

12. SEO Is Crucial to Grow Your Brand's Online Presence

SEO is crucial to earning your business the right exposure online in several ways. Some of the most common perks include:

• It helps your brand appear in the SERPs for relevant search queries.
• Your business will likely appear in Google Maps and as a GMB listing.
  
• Your site can rank for the zero position result and Local 3-Pack results that offer a high CTR.
  
• Your business earns a recognized social media presence and better engagement.
• You have a PR strategy in place, growing your brand awareness.
• You are most likely to have your business listed on local business directories and niche listings.
• You have a planned backlink generation strategy, which grows your brand's authority.

So, with SEO, you gain wider online visibility for your business for the long term.

Latest SEO Stats for Your Reference

• Google text & image search and Google Maps together account for 92.96% of global search traffic.
• 70% of marketers deem SEO a better sales generation strategy than PPC.
• Today, 82% of consumers research a local business and its reviews before visiting it.
• 76% of consumers who do a local intent search through their mobile devices visit the business within a day.
• There are over 97 billion local intent searches on Google every month.
• The organic ranking makes up 53.3% of all website traffic.
• 75% of searchers wouldn't make efforts to browse past the first page of search results.
• About 45% of shoppers comfortably buy a product online and opt for a curbside pickup.
• Over 34% of US consumers utilize the Internet to search for a local business or service every day.
• Your conversion rate drops 7% for every 1-second increase in the site loading time.

SEO Benefits for Your Business - FAQs

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Q1. What are the Top 5 Ways SEO Benefits My Business?

Ans. Among the several benefits of SEO, here are the top ones:

• SEO is your ultimate toolkit to climb up the rankings in the SERPs
• SEO can give a sincere boost to your site traffic, qualified leads, and inquiries
• SEO enables you to create a prominent exposure for your business online. This includes search visibility, local search visibility, social media presence, business directories, etc.
• SEO includes optimizing your social proof, improving your brand's credibility and conversions.
• SEO helps improve the user experience and conversion potential on your site

Q2. Are SEO Benefits Comparable with PPC?

Ans. Yes, and in several cases, SEO generates better results than PPC.

• SEO is a long-term strategy where your rankings aren't as volatile as PPC
• Top organic results generally receive a better click-through rate than PPC results.
• 70% of marketers believe SEO offers higher sales generation capabilities than PPC

Q3. Can SEO Grow My Store Sales in Houston?

Ans. Yes, SEO works efficiently for local offline businesses as well.
There are 97 billion searches related to local businesses on services on Google every month. And one-third of total US consumers make local intent searches every day.
That said, local SEO efforts can source you significant leads. Local SEO will help you rank for local searches and grow your brand's visibility to your ideal customers.
Do you know, 82% of consumers review a local business online before purchasing from it? That said, SEO might be highly crucial for your business.

Q4. What would be the Most Crucial SEO Tips that I Must Start Implementing Today?

Ans. Some tips for mapping in your SEO strategy:

• Build, verify, and update your brand's GMB listing with perfect details and description.
• Optimize your Meta Title for keyword focus and high CTR
• Take your developer's help to improve your site's speed and mobile compatibility
• Analyze your competitors to find backlinking opportunities, keywords, and content inspiration
• Optimize your content's quality & authority, and use social media for content marketing

Key Takeaways

Some key takeaways to understand why it is crucial to resort to SEO include:

• SEO earns your local business a prominent presence. And 90% of consumers use the Internet to search for local businesses.
• SEO also improves your brand's credibility, and top rankings are prominent social proof.
• SEO leads offer an 8-times higher close rate than outbound leads
• We are witnessing a significant increase in local intent search queries. And 80% of consumers do research online even before purchasing something offline.
• Organic rankings are more stable, and top rankings offer a high CTR than PPC ads.
• SEO earns you prominent business exposure in search, Google Maps, social media, etc.