Why is SEO (positioning) so important for every website or online store?

What is SEO anyway?

     SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which refers to a series of activities, or rather, the process of optimizing a website to increase its visibility in the Google search engine. In other words, it simply means ensuring that when a user enters a specific phrase (keyword), such as "Saunier Duval heat pump," your website appears at the top of the search results (if, of course, you sell Saunier Duval heat pumps). In other words, it's an activity that ensures so-called organic traffic (not advertising!), meaning Google's search engine suggestions for specific URLs, leads to your website or online store. It's all about achieving the highest possible ranking—hence the alternative term SEO—positioning.

     Website positioning encompasses a multitude of activities aimed at increasing website presence in the organic search results (known as organic traffic) presented by search engines. It's undeniable that the higher a website's position, the more traffic it receives, which translates into higher revenue for the company. Another advantage of positioning activities is building product, service, or brand recognition. Therefore, it's worth considering positioning at the very beginning of your e-commerce business, especially since it's a long-term process and results aren't achieved quickly – the first effects of SEO efforts may only be visible after a few months. 

What activities are associated with SEO?

     Google analyzes all websites on the web based on hundreds of different factors using so-called "Google bots/robots." The results of this diagnosis determine which pages appear first for a specific keyword and which don't. Our goal is always for our pages and subpages to appear as high as possible in the page rankings—especially on the first page of results (whether we like it or not, most users don't "look" beyond the first page of results, which, beyond ads, are the top 10 search engine results/suggestions).

The key factors that SEO professionals consider important when it comes to building the position of a website or online store through SEO are:

• linking – both internal, the role of which has actually grown in recent years (i.e. links on our website or in the store, directing the user to other subpages of our store), and external (of course, this refers to external incoming links; one of the basic rules of proper SEO is to keep the number of outgoing links from our website as low as possible; when it comes to incoming links – it is more complicated and we will describe it in the next entry);
• the amount of unique (original) content on the website and subpages (yes, probably not everyone will agree with this, but in our opinion: the more content – ​​the better – more content usually results in greater visibility of the website; of course… you cannot go below a certain level of content (we are talking about uniqueness, but not only that));
• quality of content – ​​this is certain and has been repeatedly confirmed by Google itself – the quality of content is of paramount importance;
  • firstly, and this is the most basic rule: uniqueness of content (it can never be a copy of, for example, an article or advice from another website),
  • secondly – ​​the goal is to build content in such a way as to strive for the so-called " topical authority ", i.e., according to Google, to strive to exhaust a given topic as much as possible;
  • there is still a controversial issue regarding original product descriptions – is it better to have fewer products, but with original descriptions, or more products, but not all of them with original descriptions… but we will write about this separately, because it is not so clear-cut…)
• optimization of the website and subpages – in short, building individual pages so that Google can notice our pages more easily and quickly (including setting appropriate so-called " meta data " ("meta title" and "meta description" and the most important one is "meta title");
• indexing – this is – it would seem – a basic issue, but a very important one: everyone should care about ensuring that all subpages of a given website/webstore (so-called "URLs") are visible to users, but for them to be visible to users… they must first be noticed (indexed) by… the Google robot; unfortunately, recently, after changes to the Google algorithm in 2021, page indexing has become more difficult and, unfortunately, also takes much longer (especially for larger websites/stores);
• "last but not least" as some say: the speed of loading and operation of websites/webshops is now more important for positioning - no one knows how much, but according to Google - after the introduction of the so-called Core Web Vitals, it has become more important.

By entering a specific keyword (technically called a "phrase") into the Google search engine, the user receives a list of pages (web addresses, also known as URLs, or "SERPs") that the algorithm deems most relevant to the query. The results will primarily highlight pages filled with unique content and saturated with carefully selected keywords. Properly optimized HTML code, the number of links leading to the page, and its loading speed are also important.

Why should the positioning of stores and websites be entrusted to professionals?

Website positioning is based on the Google algorithm, which is systematically revised. This means that a positioned website should be monitored by specialists who will ensure its accuracy. It is also a long-term and ongoing process – because hundreds, even thousands, of companies work on SEO constantly, even just to maintain their rankings – it's crucial to constantly improve the rankings of their websites. Website and online store positioning should be entrusted to professionals. While you can perform some tasks yourself, to achieve the best possible results for your website, it's worth trusting SEO specialists and focusing on things like creating and publishing quality content yourself. It's this type of collaboration between the SEO agency responsible for SEO and the client, who creates content for their website because they're knowledgeable in their industry, that brings the greatest benefits. Therefore, it's better to work with an SEO company (or agency) – here are a few important reasons:

• an SEO agency has many years of practice and experience in its field, is able to cope with the task and cope with the constantly changing Google algorithms (and these change even several, or even a dozen times in one year);
• an SEO agency has access to many useful and simply good and effective tools (e.g. Ahrefs, Senuto, Semstorm, etc.), has purchased the highest packages, so it has access to all the functions of these tools, and most importantly: knows how to use them;
• an SEO agency can write content – ​​and some content can be written better than a freelance copywriter or the company that owns the website (e.g., thanks to, among other things, having access to… appropriate tools);
• an SEO agency has greater opportunities than we do to acquire incoming links and often has its own so-called "back-end" from which it generates good links to our website;
• an SEO agency, thanks to its knowledge and experience as well as access to the above-mentioned and other tools, is able to – and does it well – verify the content written by us or copywriters and possibly improve it ("tweak" it);
• a website positioning agency has not only SEO experts in its ranks, but also employs specialists in programming, internet marketing, UX, and has its own copywriters – so it has the resources to effectively plan, implement and support SEO activities;
• an SEO agency can also suggest solutions that an ordinary entrepreneur, even when searching online, cannot find (e.g. an interesting way to report links to Google indexing);
• Regardless, it should be emphasized that it is also worth having someone... who oversees and controls the SEO agency, and in short, who looks after the client's interests and has enough knowledge and experience to be able to, for example, choose the right agency and then manage its activities (unfortunately, our experience and that of our clients, with a dozen or so SEO agencies in Poland, shows that you need to have a minimum of SEO knowledge to simply not waste money on fake activities, bad activities, or no activities).

By entrusting the positioning of a website on Google to a consulting company such as Świat Cyfrowy, an entrepreneur can save money and time, which he can then devote to other marketing activities that will help him develop his company even further.

If you want to be successful on the market, can you give up positioning your company website?

     Website positioning is primarily aimed at website owners who want to showcase and sell their company's products or services. In short, the idea is to... drive traffic to their website or online store. Of course, you can and should generate this traffic in various ways, such as purchasing advertising, which effectively means renting a company from Google AdWords, or signing a contract with an affiliate company. But this is a different, alternative approach, and equally necessary: ​​it generates traffic and, consequently, revenue. However, advertising, as everyone knows, can be quite expensive (ineffective, but that's a matter of margin/profit on sales and conversion rate). Those who decide to run their own business should have a company website, which should be properly positioned – meaning it should attract this traffic in various ways, including organic traffic generated through SEO activities.

     It's undeniable that in the internet age, a well-positioned website significantly facilitates reaching customers. Research shows that as many as 97% of people search online for information about specific solutions, local brands, or products. As you can see, this is a huge audience that can potentially be reached. It's common knowledge that users know and distinguish between ads and organic traffic suggested by search engines, but they don't realize that these suggestions can also be influenced. Users often bypass ads (text or product) and choose suggestions from organic traffic, which is influenced by SEO. Therefore, it's crucial not only to have your own website but also to rank it in at least the top ten search results. This significantly increases the chances that a customer will choose our offer.

Why is SEO important?

     SEO is a part of integrated online marketing. This activity is gaining popularity. It is increasingly considered extremely important, ranking in the same category as Google AdWords (online advertising) and social media.

Well-executed SEO makes a website popular, which translates not only into increased visits but also into conversions in the form of orders (revenue) or so-called "microconversions" (which could be a lead to a future order, an inquiry, contact from a potential client, a chat request, etc.). Therefore, it's worth realizing that SEO is incredibly important and can be key to a company's online success. If you still have any doubts, see below why SEO is important:

• Attracting potential customers to your website (organic traffic) – these days, most customers start their product search online, even if they plan to purchase offline, in a brick-and-mortar store. Therefore, it's not enough to have a beautiful website. It must be visible online, and that's precisely the role of SEO;
• Greater profits – there's no doubt that a well-positioned website will rank at the top of the view rankings (or at least on the first page – the first 10 results, excluding ads), meaning there's a good chance that website visitors will choose our offer. This, in turn, translates into greater profits for the owner;
• Increased customer trust – Well-executed SEO makes a website more recognizable. Its promotion is primarily achieved through the selection of appropriate keywords. These keywords help the website rank higher, which translates into increased popularity. Therefore, it's worth maintaining a company blog, for example, featuring expert articles and guides that will provide potential customers with reliable information.
• Building so-called "brand awareness" – nowadays, no company should not have a website and should build its position, brand, and offerings using such a website, especially using SEO (positioning) tools; unfortunately, in our opinion, there is a bad trend in many companies to, for example, have and promote themselves ONLY through social media, i.e., Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn accounts… However, this is not sufficient for many reasons, which we will discuss later.

SEO Summary

Well-executed website positioning will increase the website's popularity online, and the goal is to achieve a position on the first page of organic traffic results – ideally, the first position, as suggested by the Google search engine. When deciding to conduct, for example, an audit and subsequent SEO, it's worth choosing SEO professionals who understand that every website is different. This means that it shouldn't be treated like any other, but rather should be approached individually and with due diligence, proposing appropriate actions and solutions. Only then can you be sure of achieving success in the form of top search engine rankings.

     Our team, knowledgeable and with years of experience in the so-called digital world (the name obliges!), recommends considering implementing SEO-based activities, but not uncritically. Perhaps using our services will be the best solution – we know this stuff, have experience, and have collaborated with SEO agencies, so we can help your company successfully enter or thrive in this digital world, but with a realistic approach to the costs and expenses of such activities.