The average marketing budget for businesses is around 8% of their revenue, and with an ever-changing marketing world, many businesses are wondering how to spend that marketing budget. Should they spend more on ads? More on influencers? Or more on search engine marketing (SEM)?
SEM is your mix of paid search advertising and organic search engine marketing, and when used together, you could develop a long-lasting, lucrative, and affordable marketing strategy. That’s where we’d invest the bulk of our budget (and have, or else you wouldn’t have seen this article).
So, what is organic search marketing and what do I need to get started? We’re glad you asked!
1. What Is Organic Search Marketing?
Organic search in digital marketing is the traffic that finds you, not the other way around. When somebody searches on Google (or other search engines), finds a page on your site, and clicks on it, that is organic traffic.
In that context, organic search marketing is how companies seek to have their websites shown on these relevant search results, primarily through search engine optimization (SEO). This is the process of optimizing your content so that Google’s algorithm will rank your website higher in relevant search results.
Also, organic traffic has plenty of serious benefits to your digital marketing strategy. Not only does it help diversify your website’s traffic, but the quality of the traffic itself is much higher.
Think about it. When you search for something on Google, how often do you skip over the ads on top in favor of the organic results? We all do it.
Well, when users click on these organic results, they start out on an initial note of trust, which can generate higher conversion rates, build positive brand associations, and brand loyalty over time.
2. Organic Search Starts With Your Website
The quality and usability of your website will make or break your organic strategy. Google and other search engines use over 200 factors to determine your site’s ranking, and almost all of them relate directly to your website.
From Google’s perspective, it would reflect poorly on their search engine if they were constantly matching users with low-quality websites. For that reason, their crawlers will index sites and rank them based on factors like:
- Page loading time
- Mobile usability
- Linking structure
- Page structure
- Navigation system
The list goes on, but these are some of the most important aspects. Moreover, your website acts as the center of your entire digital marketing strategy and the foundation for your organic marketing strategy that you can build upon over time.
As a bonus, when optimizing your website for organic traffic, you should notice a boost to your paid traffic and other digital marketing strategies, as they all depend heavily on your website.
3. Competition Is Still Limited
Believe it or not, there’s nothing holding you back from ranking, even if your competition has an enormous headstart. Any business can build an SEO strategy and it’s easier now than it will ever be.
The reason is that around 70% of businesses still don’t have an SEO strategy. Especially if you’re competing at the local level, you should have a fairly easy time getting ahead.
4. It Takes Time to Develop
Unfortunetely, organic search engine marketing is different from paid marketing in the time it takes to come to fruition. While paid advertisements can have instant payouts, organic search is more of a long-term strategy.
Consequently, we always recommend diversifying your digital marketing strategy rather than keeping your eggs in one basket. Paid search can easily fill in the gaps while you build your organic strategy.
5. Payoffs Are Huge
Yes, it does take time to build an organic search marketing strategy, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t worth the effort.
Not only are the payoffs of a successful SEO campaign potentially massive but they’re long-lasting. Unlike PPC campaigns, you don’t have to continue to pour money in to receive clicks.
Instead, you have to build the foundation for your site, follow up with killer content marketing, and you could generate high levels of traffic for little to no ongoing expenditure. Once that content is on your site, there’s no limit to how much it can earn, and you’ve already paid for it with time or money.
6. Costs Are Unbeatable
While most companies will invest some funding into their SEO strategies, building organic traffic can be entirely free. If you are willing to take the time to learn how SEO works and build a strategy from scratch, you can build long-term traffic without spending a dime.
Again, that’s not always how it plays out, but it is entirely possible and practiced by many successful entrepreneurs around the world.
7. Help Isn’t Too Pricey
Now, if you do choose to pay for organic search marketing services, you can consider it a “buy once, cry once” type of investment, meaning that once the relatively small fee it’s paid, you can earn an unlimited amount for as long as possible.
With companies like Direction in DC, you can start ranking ahead of the competition in no time. While DIY is an option, the field is getting more competitive as time passes, and starting your strategy with a solid foundation could make a world of difference.
Start Ranking
Now that you know the benefits and nature of organic search marketing, the sooner you start your strategy, the soon you can acquire these benefits. Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint.
However, appearing at the top of one high-traffic search result is enough to keep a business afloat for years to come, so start your strategy as soon as possible!
Start today and keep reading our blog for our latest digital marketing tips!
| 
Fetching the Best Small