Thanks to the restrictions on movement during the pandemic that saw much of the world’s population spend endless amounts of time stuck at home for many months, there was a huge surge in internet usage. Not just because it was increasingly needed as a support for learning and work-from-home arrangements.
Due to idleness or boredom, many people found the internet to be very useful in pursuing personal interests and value creation. Unsurprisingly, this also meant a huge growth in organic search activity as people found themselves looking up all kinds of information on search engines.
For businesses that had already invested well in SEO and building rank, this provided excellent opportunities to connect with online users through organic searches. So, what are organic searches and why should they matter to your business in the post-pandemic world?
What are organic searches?
Every time you look up a query on a search engine, there are often many results that appear. The unpaid results are what are referred to as organic search results. These results are ranked according to search engine optimisation that considers various factors including keyword choice, content relevance, backlinks and domain authority.
For a webpage to be highly ranked, it must be deemed by search engine algorithms to be an authority on the subject the online user is looking up based on the assessment of such factors. Once the online user clicks on these results, they are delivering organic traffic to the website, which marketers consider to be highly valuable.
It can take a long time for a webpage to build rank and appear on the top results page. However, once this ranking is achieved and can be sustained, it encourages online users to click through and become relevant traffic to business sites that may be converted.
When results pages are generated, online users are presented with organic search results and ad results. Ad results are usually denoted by the term “ad” at the top. Online users tend to have more faith in organic search results than paid ads. Hence the reason marketers work toward building rank for business sites that will draw in this organic traffic. Organic traffic helps businesses to boost long-term traffic to their sites.
Why organic searches should matter to your business
Organic search growth continues to grow even as the pandemic winds down. People have become increasingly accustomed to using search engines for various queries. At a time when inflation and the cost of living are on the rise, it comes as no surprise that people are continuing to make use of the internet to find businesses that can offer them the best value for their money when it comes to their needs and wants.
Over the last couple of years, the e-commerce business has grown stronger thanks to people shifting away from brick-and-mortar establishments to going online not just to make purchases, but also to find information that will influence their purchasing decisions.
This presents a wonderful opportunity for businesses to capitalise on this search activity to direct more online users that are prime candidates for conversion to their platforms. With most online users having greater confidence in organic search results, now is the best time for businesses to ramp up their SEO efforts which will help bolster their overall online marketing performance. Ensuring that your platforms are highly ranked on organic search results is like a huge neon sign that will point online users to your business ahead of the competition.
With an SEO strategy that focuses on growing organic search traffic, your business will be able to enjoy:
- Better cost advantage – paid SEM tactics like pay-per-click ads can help boost the visibility of a brand, but cannot beat the cost advantage of unpaid organic search traffic. With a strong SEO strategy that helps in building rank and thus visibility of your platforms above those of your competitors, you get to enjoy greater sales and profits at the highest rate of return on investment on marketing efforts.
- Relevance – with SEO, the online users that click through to your site will likely have been searching for whatever product or service you offer. This strong relevance to the search terms or keywords used when generating organic search results will increase the chances of converting the online visitor into a paying customer.
- Authoritativeness – when your platforms are highly ranked organically, it inherently means that your brand is among the most credible. Even when you have ads appearing above organic search results, online users tend to be savvy enough to understand that they are paid for. For legitimately top search results, they will typically scroll down to organic search results that they know are top-ranked because the source is highly reputable.
- Improved SEO results – organic and paid search results work hand in hand to maximise the chances that online users will click through to your platform. While most will stick to organic search results, others will also be interested in paid ads. It makes sense to ensure top ranking on both aspects to capture as much online traffic as possible for potential conversion.
Long-term results – it is notable that sites that achieve top ranking and remain consistent in their SEO efforts tend to more easily retain that position. This is distinct from paid ads whose appearance at the top will often fluctuate more widely. Not to mention that this is a ranking that remains consistent day and night. No matter the time of day the online user queries the search engine, the results will remain consistent, ensuring maximum brand exposure.