Other key findings of this research have shown that generating website traffic has been the biggest marketing challenge and paid advertising was named the “most over-rated” marketing tactic.

In 2016, $65.26 billion was spent in search engine optimization. This number has risen to $72.02 billion in 2018 and it’s expected to jump to $79.27 billion by 2020. Of this, only one third is spent by bigger companies, while the majority is spent by startups and small local businesses.

Other methods just cannot compete with the conversion rate that follows effective SEO practices. However, this conversion rate can only occur when the correct strategy has been employed.

Most people make the mistake of believing that what’s on your website is the key to SEO. Instead, SEO stats show that backlinks, social signals, social media, directories, and many other “off-page” practices will prove to be even more valuable than you ever thought possible.

The idea of relevancy is more important than you realize—it also plays a role in the algorithm used by Google. They actively push websites that are deemed to be the most relevant for keywords, so incorporating that into your SEO strategy appears to be just a basic idea.

If you’ve asked yourself: “Is SEO important in 2019?”, here’s the answer. The fact that such a high percentage of people use search engines to then land on your website shows that you need to be high up on those results pages and be as relevant as possible.

The importance of choosing the correct search terms and keywords for your SEO campaign will become even more vital with voice search. Including image alt tags for each image on your website, with the correct keywords once again, will also help elevate your position on the results pages.

According to the latest keyword statistics, it’s clear that people are more likely to search by asking a question or making a statement than just use individual keywords. This approach involves what is known as long-tail keywords, and not including them in your SEO strategy means you are missing out on 50% of the total number of searches.

Organic search involves people using terms or words for whatever it is they’re looking for. SEO is designed to make your website more visible for individuals searching with those terms. This stat alone shows the importance of SEO and what you could potentially be missing out on should you not implement the correct strategy.

It has long been accepted that visual content will elicit a better response than the written word alone. It catches the eye quicker than plain text, and people are able to quickly ascertain whether or not video content will be relevant to them. Making sure that video content is correctly optimized from an SEO perspective is, therefore, vital.

Blogging SEO has already proved to be an effective tactic. Additionally, this approach has the added bonus of taking advantage of the previous links and SEO work that’s been done on the old blog post while also using newer methods to push the content higher. Adding images should pull in even more attention thanks to the role that visual content plays in attracting people.

SEO facts and figures have shown that using one single approach is not going to be sufficient. Instead, combining these techniques with PPC ads will certainly increase interaction, since the ads will be displayed to those who will find it the most useful or helpful.

Have you ever wondered how effective is SEO? Now you have the answer. Namely, organic SEO is considered more trustworthy than paid ads by the individuals carrying out the searches. There’s a sense that companies can buy their way into the position without it being the best option for a consumer, which leads to people paying more attention to the organic results than the paid ads.

Companies that stress paid ads as the way to go are pushing marketers in the wrong direction. While there’s a place for them in online marketing, the majority of a marketing budget should go towards improving organic results via effective SEO practices.

This shows why SEO practices and techniques should be focused on primarily Google’s algorithm. Google’s dominance in the market means your budget should be spent here, even though it’s also where the greatest competition can be found. Also, with Google stressing that websites should be mobile-ready, and with 96% of smartphone traffic going through their website, ignoring that will be a disaster for your campaigns.