There are over 1 billion websites in the entire world. Out of these, only 200 million are actively getting search traffic from the search engines and only a fraction of those are showing up on the first page for organic search results.
If you’re not one of these actively getting traffic from organic search results, then you might wonder how you can get your website more search traffic. While making your website stand out in search results can seem difficult, with a solid organic SEO strategy, there is hope.
This article will go over different SEO tips and actions that you can follow to get the most organic traffic and outrank competitors in search engines. Read on to explore these organic search tips and SEO strategies in order to achieve first-page search results and increase your website traffic.
What Is Organic Search?
Organic search is the amount of search traffic you’re receiving from natural search or traffic sources that are not from paid advertising. The typical search engine results page (SERP) has;
- About 5 paid ads at the top of the page (Google Adwords)
- Below that a map (followed by 3 listings) with “local results” that are served through “Google My Business” listings
- Then 10 organic search results listings
- Finally, at the bottom of page 3 to 5 more paid ads (Google Adwords)
Typically the top 10 organic listings on page 1 account for over 90% of clicks from searches, with each spot getting fewer and fewer clicks. In the last study our team did the results were:
- Search Result Number 1- 29.6%
- 2- 13.1%
- 3- 9.2%
- 4- 6.5%
- 5- 4.9%
- 6- 3.6%
- 7- 3.0%
- 8-2.6%
- 9- 2.2%
- Number 10- 2.1%
Anatomy of Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
Search engine optimization is what someone types into search engines, and if you have that keyword on your site, a Google search might show them your website.
Google ranking has to do with website (on-page) optimization, load time and Google compliance, code quality, incoming links (off-page optimization), domain authority, user location, device, and search queries. Most search engines have their own algorithms to determine website placement like Google, Bing, and Duck Duck Go but some serve results from the primary search engine like Yahoo currently serves results from Bing.
Organic search is important since it’s highly targeted by user intent, which means it’s more likely to convert to sales or leads than other forms of traffic. This is due to the person typing a keyword into the search for exactly what they’re looking for, and if you have top placement for that keyword they will likely land on your website to find what they’re looking for.
Inbound marketers will tell you, to get the biggest share of click-throughs from search, you’ll want to appear within the top 5 positions in search results which collectively account for 42 plus percent of the click-throughs. Most people will stay on the first page of results and click on one of the first websites that appear in the organic results.
Paid Search
Paid search is where you have ads on Google, and or Bing, etc. The traffic will only continue through this format for as long as you’re paying for ads.
In this option, you’ll pay when someone clicks on an ad and views your website. The price you pay for it depends on competition, keywords, ad quality, landing page quality, and other factors. Keep in mind that the price of paid ads can add up fast due to competition which makes the organic search traffic even more vital.
Both Google and Bing have DYI management, reporting, and tracking for paid ads (PPC), but it can also be augmented with Google Analytics for a more granular look into what site visitors do after they click your ad.
1. Affordable
Whether you have a limited budget or not, organic search means unpaid traffic if you’re doing the work yourself. You can hire a copywriter or digital marketing agency to spruce up the content on your page in order to increase traffic even more.
The thing to remember is that, if you are paying for PPC ads or to have someone work on your SEO, the PPC ads stop immediately when you stop paying for website traffic, but the organic search listings, will stay for long after you have stopped paying an Agency to do your SEO.
2. Competitive
There are many advantages to ranking at the top of the search engines, including;
- You can rank search terms that are specific to the product or service your selling, so you increase sales and leads conversions
- There are no limits to how many search terms you can optimize (use a blog or FAQ section on your website) and the more terms you rank for the bigger your market share over your competitors
- Using the right content on your site can push down the competition in search engines. This is a way to increase your online presence, decrease your competitor’s presence, as well as move up in the search results to get a higher click-through rate (CTR).
3. Longevity
Paid ads will stop traffic once you stop paying for it, but once you work on your organic traffic, it has the potential to stay for the long term. While it might take longer to build organic search placement than paid traffic, it’ll be worth it in the end since it can last.
Although Google tends to steadily make algorithm changes that can affect your placement, major changes that dramatically impact placement only typically happen a few times a year, so, organic search results can be the gift that keeps giving over a long time!!
4. Higher Credibility
60% of site traffic is organic. Many don’t click on the paid results (typically around 9% of search queries go to paid placement) simply because users find the organic search rankings more “credible”.
When you show up in search results, it’ll increase your trust with potential customers. If you don’t have that online presence, your competitors get a boost in sales, traffic, and or leads and you miss out on the opportunity to grow your business.
5. Different Investment Strategies
Once you have a following from organic traffic, you can decide if you’ll take a short break. While a short break might be OK, avoid taking a longer break since that can decrease the amount of profit you’re seeing.
It also gives you the opportunity to instead place more money into paid ads. When your website is already generating organic traffic, it shouldn’t lose a large amount of traffic by doing so.
6. On-Page Optimization
You can receive free organic traffic with various methods across your website including links, headers, meta information, and keyword density. This helps Google better understand your business.
7. Guest Blogging
Writing content on someone else’s blog and having a link back to your site is a great way to increase traffic to your page. You can write in your niche, include a link in the content, and reach a brand new audience.
This is an organic way to gain new customers and followers. First, take a look at different websites and see if they offer guest blogging. Try to find websites that have large followings such as magazines or other large businesses.
You’ll want to guest blog consistently over time in order to enjoy this organic traffic option. This will lead to an increase in growth and sales over time.
8. Higher Conversions
Use keywords throughout your services and product descriptions. Website copy is important with organic searches and can lead to an increase in conversions. Ranking well in searches due to having high-quality keywords will lead to an increase in the traffic to your site.
Quick Rules for SEO
When you produce content, you’ll want to ensure that it’ll meet the needs of your prospective customers. First, provide content that they’ll want to read, and have the content be around keywords.
Next, ensure that your content is original and doesn’t copy others. It needs to be based on facts in order to show yourself as an expert in your field.
Why Organic Search Is Becoming More Important
Now that you’ve explored why organic search is becoming more important, you should have a better idea of how to implement it. Are you dreaming of having an increase in traffic, but you aren’t sure what to do next?
Do you wish to have a digital marketing strategy that’ll give you a boost in traffic? Contact us today, and we’ll come up with an action plan that meets your needs.
Allan Todd is CEO of Pagecafe Digital Marketing. In 2022, Allan teamed up with Infront Webworks to provide digital marketing, website design, content marketing, SEO and strategy and solutions to local businesses. Allan lives in Colorado Springs.