SEO is a critical factor when it comes to driving website traffic. Without site and content optimization for PC and mobile, it would be very difficult for you to get traffic from organic searches.

Here are 10 important benefits that a proper SEO campaign can do for your website.

• Proper optimization leads to better rankings and a better user experience

User experience is an important ranking factor. Most search engines want to see good user signals, mobile-friendly designs and the right integration of different relevant content types. But it’s not just the search engines who like this; users can also get a great experience from these elements. By pleasing search engines, you please your users in return. Pleased customers also mean a higher conversion rate.

• Organic search accounts for as much as 64% of all website visits

Studies by Conductor shows that organic search accounted for as much as 64% of all referral traffic or as much as 310 million visits to 30 websites come from organic search. Though some may argue that social media gives more referrals, there is no doubt about how important SEO is for your website.

• SEO leads have a higher close rate

According to Search Engine Journal, SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate compared to the 1.7% close rate of outbound leads. This data makes a lot of sense knowing that searchers who are looking for certain products or services are most likely going to do business with companies that they seek. Companies that try to attract clients through outbound marketing strategies cannot expect the same results.

• Inbound marketing methods like SEO can give you more leads

According to last year’s State of Inbound Marketing report, many marketing companies today say that inbound practices are their primiary source of leads. This report also states that SEO is the number one source of lead especially among marketing professionals. This is why you need to ask this: if you are not getting leads from search, who then is capturing valuable leads?

• being able to rank in local searches can directly turn into visits and sales

Optimizing your site for local search is critical for local businesses. More people are using local search queries so they can pinpoint local business, find exact locations and other important information.

As a matter of fact, Google states that as much as 50% of consumers who do local searches on their mobile device will go to that store on that same day. Local mobile searches also leads to higher sales per day.

• Professional marketers rank SEO as their most effective digital marketing strategy

According to the State of Marketing 2015 report, most of the professional marketers who use SEO and SEM in their marketing strategy find it very effective.

• SEO also increases brand credibility

Ranking well in search results will signal consumers that you are one of the top players in the industry.  Ranking low in search results will also make searchers assume that you are a new business.

• SEO is a hassle-free strategy

Email marketing and social media marketing can be very effective, but they do require continuous effort.  You need to continually put new content if you want to stay on top in social media. With SEO on the other hand, as soon as a page gets optimized, you can relax and let it rise on its own merit. Though this depends on certain factors, a business that has laid a good SEO foundation for a page has basically half won the battle.

• Not being on the 1st page is like not getting any visibility

A lot of business owners think that being anywhere in the search result is good enough. They simply do not understand that as much as 71.33% of clicks only happen on the first page. Maintaining your website and making sure that the content is optimized is crucial if you want your business to be seen.

• Most consumers research online before going to a store

According to the GE Capital Retail Bank, 81% of shoppers do online research and comparison before making a purchase. Some studies would even put this number higher for B2B buyers. Getting ranked on the first page is crucial if you want to connect with clients who are actively searching for products and services.

What do you think are other benefits of having SEO for your business? Share your thoughts below!