Not too long ago, we shared some of the biggest reasons to invest in an SEO strategy. You can read our post on why you need SEO to view the top benefits. Today, we’re looking a bit deeper to find out whether it is possible to go without SEO.
Is it possible to succeed online without any Search Engine Optimisation at all or is SEO considered more of a luxury than an absolute necessity?
What Happens Without an SEO Strategy?
What exactly would happen if you did not have any SEO strategy in place? Would you survive or would you somehow manage to make do, anyway? For starters, here are just a few of the things that you may soon start to notice…
You would essentially be invisible
One of the biggest risks of skipping SEO is staying invisible. Without SEO, you may manage to get onto the SERPs if you are lucky or in a low competition niche. The chances of this are very slim, however. SEO has evolved over the years to the point where sites that are not optimised tend to be pushed back in searches. When there is no on-site structure, no proper linking, no keywords, no meta data, and no strategy in place, your website will not be easily found, making it far harder to bring in traffic.
You would struggle to compete
At the same time, while you are trying to be found online, you can be sure that your competitors who have invested in SEO are finding it a lot easier. Digital marketing is notoriously competitive, with many different businesses often competing for similar audiences. If your audience is searching for your products and services online, they will choose the supplier who is easiest to find, not the one who is a few pages down in the very back pages of the SERPs. Needless to say, this will have a direct impact on your growth, making it more difficult to bring in customers.
You would battle to convert
Over and beyond being found and competing for customers, you also have to turn any traffic you do manage to get into actual customers. Many businesses assume that SEO is all about getting traffic. It is also about turning traffic into purchasing customers, however. An optimised website that has a clear linking structure, simple navigation, pages that have been indexed and ranked by search engines, images that are fast loading and optimised, and various other on-site elements that help to create a better user experience will always convert better than those that are un-optimised. It really is as simple as that. Without conversion, it becomes very difficult to grow your business.
SEO may not be the easiest or quickest channel compared to others. Without a solid SEO strategy in place, however, getting found online becomes virtually impossible.
