Promotion is one of the key business processes for any business, and in the 21st century, due to global digitalization, this process is moving to the internet. In 2024, several dozen types of effective internet promotion are widely used, including:
- Social media;
- blogs;
- contextual advertising;
- chatbots;
- CPA networks;
- e-mail newsletters;
- SEO-optimization, etc.
SEO-promotion, search engine optimization – is the promotion (promotion) of the site in the organic (not advertising rendition) Google and other search engines for keywords that are requested by users of the search engine. It is one of the strongest (and profitable in the long run) ways of promoting businesses.
Let’s analyze the effectiveness of advertising and promotion in search engines:
- Coverage of search engines. Those or other search engines in total, on a regular basis, use more than 93% of all Internet users on the planet Earth, i.e., billions of people! For example, the audience registered on one or more social networks – 50.64% of the total Internet audience.
- Affinity advertising in search engines. Search engines are organized in such a way that they produce content for the user’s request. The user identifies his need through his query, which he enters into the search box, and the search site adjusts its content to this query. Thus, the index of affinity advertising in search engines is approaching 100%
- Relevance in search. It would be unfair to say that search engines always produce results that 100% meet the expectations of their users, of course, this is not true.
But at the same time, the level of relevance of advertising in search is much higher than advertising in social networks or messengers (chat rooms). This is evidenced by such an indicator as CTR – the ratio of clicks on the ad to the display of the ad, measured in %. For example, if 1000 people saw the ad, 10 clicked on the banner, respectively, 10/1000 = 1%, CTR = 1%.
In the case of search advertising, the average CTR is 4%-6%, and for advertising on Facebook or Instagram, this figure ranges from 0.001% to 0.8%.
Users are much more willing to go on search engine advertising than on social network advertising because, in the search engine, they themselves made a request for a service or product, rather than encountering this offer as if by chance, having absolutely no need for the proposed.
Thus, in all major indicators, reach, relevance, affinity, search engine promotion, and search advertising (PPC) are important.
Where do I start promoting my business on the Internet with SEO?
Search engine optimization consists of a number of important stages, the work of which is performed in sequence. Promotion starts with internal work, followed by backlink building. Let’s take a look at the most important stages of SEO that your business needs. But first, let’s find out what SEO promotion is and why a business needs it.
Analysis of the competitive environment
SEO begins with a competitive landscape analysis, which allows you to:
- Identify and evaluate competitors;
- find out the semantics on which competitors perform promotion;
- identify points of growth, as well as the main mistakes of competing sites.
During the analysis, it is necessary to form a table in which competing sites will be listed in order of priority. On the basis of this data, you can compile a more perfect semantic core. To analyze, it is better to use Serpstat, PR-CY, Mention and other services rather than manual moderation. The services apply special algorithms, which allow you to get an accurate sample of competitors.
Semantic core and internal optimization
The semantic core is a pool of keywords that customers will use to search for your business. Semantics is collected using the same Serpstat, which makes a selection by region, traffic channels, and other parameters. After the keywords are collected, the site is filled with content. We are talking about texts, meta tags, pictures, videos, and infographics.
The next stage is internal optimization, which consists of creating a mobile version, linking, improving security and strengthening other characteristics of the site.
External optimization
This type of optimization is aimed at strengthening your link profile. The more authoritative resources refer to your site, the better. Young sites should build backlinks gradually, otherwise, sanctions from search engines will not be avoided.
When strengthening the link profile, you should cooperate with sites that have high trust and reputation. Refuse to buy temporary links, because search engines are not too favorable to them.
What other work needs to be done?
Within the framework of search engine optimization, you need to carry out additional work that will help to take and maintain the first positions:
- improve reputation by increasing the number of mentions, positive reviews on third-party sites;
- improve internal services and customer service quality by introducing modern technologies: chatbots, mobile applications, etc;
- maintain groups in social networks, which help to attract new clients, build reputation and communicate with the target audience;
- create a professional sales team that can keep the attention and interest of the client before he explores the site and starts placing an order.
Another important factor that has an indirect impact on SEO is the team of employees. If managers, technical support, consultants, and other specialists work in a cohesive manner, making maximum efforts to retain customers, the business will thrive. Behavioral factors will improve, conversion rates will increase, and the number of targeted conversions will increase, all of which will have a positive impact on search engine positions.