Dozens of businesses, irrespective of their size or the industry they operate in, have been affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. This alone is enough to suggest that there has been a shift in consumer behaviour; a majority of those who preferred shopping in physical stores have now changed their minds and heavily rely on online stores for various shopping requirements.
We all know that the Covid19 pandemic is far from over as of now, with the new variants posing new threats. Businesses have been forced to rethink their marketing strategies, as over 60% of B2B marketers reported that organic traffic generates better and more leads than any other source.
Who could be better than someone in the field ever since the advent of digital marketing in India? We decided to delve deep into how digital marketing has changed the way brands started reaching out to their customers as the pandemic began. We reached out to Navneet Kaushal, the CEO and founder of India's award-winning SEO Agency PageTraffic, to understand how brands can stay relevant to their customers and continue making sales in the post covid era with SEO.
Navneet started with some interesting stats. 80% of significant purchases begin with online research, even if the purchase is completed in stores. There have also been reports that the intent to shop in physical stores has gone down 7% in Italy and the UK and 8% in Spain. These statistics indicate that this behavioural shift to online shopping is here to stay.
Is paid marketing the only way for the brands to generate leads and sales?
Of course not. There has been a shift from spending on PPC to investing in SEO. Running paid ads requires businesses to spend money daily. The money you spend is proportional to the competition in the industry and the geographic location where your target audience is. On top of that, you need to have a separate budget for each advertising platform, but SEO is like killing two birds with one stone. When you optimize for Google, it's almost likely that your website will gain rankings for all major search engines.
Search engine optimization is like the Systematic Investment Plan of the digital marketing world. You will start slow, results will not be instant, but the growth you witness is incremental in the long run.
To ensure their brand is recognized and they get ROI on their investments, businesses now prefer to invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as 68% of all online experiences begin with a search engine. Be it eCommerce or industrial brands, SaaS businesses that look at MRR or FMCGs that aim to reach out to their customers in the comfort of their homes, SEO has caught the eye.
Interesting! How does PageTraffic help brands get on top of the organic searches on various search engines?
75% of the users never scroll past the first page.; therefore, ranking on the first page of search engines is crucial for your brand's success, and hiring the right SEO agency can make all the difference. The right agency offers a mix of industry-focused packages and the right approach to the process, topped with updated SEO strategies. At PageTraffic, we have SEO packages that have been designed, keeping in mind the unique requirements an enterprise might have. We offer:
On-going SEO Management
On-going SEO Consultancy
Enterprise SEO
Technical SEO
And for the ones who are still sceptical, we offer a One Time SEO Audit, where we perform an in-depth analysis of the website and make recommendations.
Do you completely rule out paid advertising?
No…we spend on paid advertising for PageTraffic. It's about deciding on the right mix. While Brands should run paid ads for immediate gains, optimizing the website for search engines will get you long term and lasting results. Studies have proved that SEO brings more qualified traffic to the website. 70%-80% of internet users ignore paid search results and click organic search results.
Why you Need to Think Long Term for SEO
You should know that it is not a quick process for SEO. SEO is a constant practice that requires daily management and keeping up to date with the search engine trends, algorithm updates, content, and technical changes on your site and what your competitors are doing. The benefits of SEO can be observed in the long term after implementing an ideal SEO strategy.
SEO is not just about ticking tasks off your to-do list and being done with it; it requires a long-term approach that incorporates:
Finding opportunities to optimize existing content
Building new backlinks
Ensuring correct implementation of Technical SEO
Finding new keywords for new content
Running a Periodic SEO health check to identify any issues causing hindrances to crawl and indexing
What's your advice to brands investing in SEO in the post-Covid era?
At PageTraffic, we always ask our clients to be patient to reap SEO's benefits. As algorithms change, modifications are needed to ensure that your website maintains its top rankings on search engines. Only continual effort can bring continual results when it comes to SEO.
