How SEO Became a Key Part of Digital Marketing

In today’s world, nearly every business has an online presence. Whether it’s a website, social media pages, or online ads, businesses are trying to reach customers on the internet. But just having a website isn’t enough. To be successful, businesses need to stand out from the crowd, and that’s where SEO—or Search Engine Optimization—comes in.

SEO has joined ranks with digital marketing. I like to break it down and see how it works and why it’s so important.

1. What is SEO?

SEO is a practice and strategy to get a higher rank on a website on the main search engines, which could be Google, Bing, or Yahoo. Many people tend to click on the first few entries they see when they start looking for something online. Therefore, the more your website shows up on the list, the more people will come.

For instance, if you had a bakery in your city, then it stands to reason that you'd like those people searching on Google for "best bakery in [your city]" to find your website at or near the top of the results. SEO makes just that happen by optimizing content, structure, and how well your website matches what people are looking for.

2. Why SEO is Important for Digital Marketing

SEO is a big thing in the world of digital marketing. Here’s why:

a. Organic Traffic:

Online marketing is also done to build traffic or visitors to your website. SEO contributes free, organic traffic. Organic traffic is that which comes from search engines without any pay for advertisements. The more optimized your website is to search engines, the better chances of it ranking higher in search results, hence bringing more visitors your way.

b. Cost-Effective:

SEO is one of the most cost-effective ways to market your business online. While ads can get you quick results, they can also be expensive. SEO, on the other hand, doesn’t require a big budget. Instead of paying for clicks or impressions like you would with Google Ads, SEO focuses on improving your website to naturally attract visitors. Over time, this can give you long-term results without having to keep spending money.

c. Building Trust and Credibility:

When your website is at or near the top of search results, it builds the level of trust with potential customers. The tendency is to trust sites at the top of the search results because users believe them to be the most authoritative and relevant. Different forms of good SEO include high-quality content development, backlink acquisition, and user experience improvement that helps increase trust and credibility for a business.

d. Targeting the Right Audience:

SEO lets you attract people who are actually searching for the thing you sell. For instance, if someone is seeking "cheap web design services," and indeed you offer it, then there is a higher possibility that they would visit your site. Through SEO, you can very well target the keyword that a customer uses in finding, therefore increasing the chances of attracting visitors who really become clients.

3. How SEO Fits into Digital Marketing

SEO is one part of the larger digital marketing puzzle. Let’s look at how SEO works alongside other digital marketing strategies:

a. Content Marketing and SEO:

Content marketing is primarily about the creation of valuable and relevant content for an audience. This could be in the form of blog posts, videos, infographics, and much more. SEO helps make sure that content gets found by the right people. For example, if you publish a post on "how to bake the perfect cake," SEO techniques such as using the proper keywords, optimizing images, and adding internal links can help assist that post rank higher on the search engines. And consequently, more traffic will be directed to your website.

b. Social Media and SEO:

Social media is not going to affect rankings within SEO directly, but it will certainly bring a lot more traffic, again indirectly benefiting your SEO. When your content is shared with social media, then the more visits to your website, and the more likely that your site will rank higher. Moreover, the social media profiles also rank in search results and therefore increase the presence of your online profile.

c. Email Marketing and SEO:

Through the digital realm, email marketing can complement SEO. If you have an optimized blog post or landing page, your email list will be there to drive traffic towards it, and the more people who visit your content, the more search engines are getting signals of its value - which will raise your rank.

d. Paid Ads and SEO:

Paid ads, such as Google Ads, may give you traffic right now. However, SEO gives you long-lasting sustainable results. What some businesses take advantage of is using paid ads to give quick visits while SEO keeps your website attracting people after so much time. In fact, the running of paid ads combined with an improvement in SEO is a great way to get both short-term and long-term traffic.

4. SEO and User Experience (UX)

A big part of SEO is improving your website’s user experience (UX). If your website is difficult to navigate, slow to load, or doesn’t look good on mobile devices, visitors are less likely to stay. Search engines want to give users the best experience, so they prioritize websites that are easy to use, fast, and mobile-friendly. This means that good SEO isn’t just about using the right keywords—it’s about making your website better for the people who visit it.

5. SEO is Always Evolving

One thing to remember is that SEO isn’t a one-time fix. It’s always changing as search engines like Google update their algorithms. What worked a few years ago may not work today. That’s why businesses need to keep updating their SEO strategies. Whether it’s improving content, adding new keywords, or staying up-to-date with the latest trends, SEO requires ongoing attention.

Conclusion

SEO has become an essential part of digital marketing because it helps businesses attract more visitors, build trust, and ultimately grow their online presence. With the rise of search engines like Google, having a website that is optimized for search is no longer optional—it’s necessary. Whether you’re running a small business or a large company, SEO should be a key part of your digital marketing strategy.

If you haven't started yet, now is the time to practice SEO. With the right SEO strategies, you'll be able to reach your target audience without increasing your expenses and increase your online visibility.

In the digital world, SEO is your gateway to success!