Supplying a top-quality product or service offering is necessary for any business. However, consumers still need to be made aware of these offerings and the needs they fulfill. This requires the implementation of an effective marketing strategy, and in the information age, this can be achieved more effectively than was ever thought possible.

With the advent of the internet, geographical and communication barriers have eroded. Entrepreneurs can communicate with customers instantly through mediums such as Skype, email and WhatsApp, without being restricted by location. With innovations such as drop shipping, online sales and electronic payments via PayPal, business transactions are no longer restricted to brick-and-mortar stores, and the physical presence of buyers and sellers is no longer required.

This means that businesses who were previously restricted to local markets can now expand into international waters. To keep up with the shift towards globalization, it is necessary for businesses to evolve their marketing efforts in order to reach potential customers internationally.

One of the most effective ways of creating international awareness for your brand is through Search Engine Optimisation, more commonly known as SEO. SEO is a set of activities aimed at ensuring that your business’s website appears high up in the rankings of popular internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing. To break it down, this means that when consumers visit a search engine and type in keywords that match the description of your business (or keywords that you specify), your website will appear in the search results. This is an effective way of reaching an international audience, with almost half of the world’s entire population using the internet.

Unfortunately, successful SEO is not as simple as it seems. A mass of businesses of all sizes and industries are looking to reap the benefits of SEO, resulting in high competition for top spot in the search rankings. In addition, not every business owner has the knowledge, skill set or sufficient time to maximize the potential of SEO on their own; effective SEO involves implementing numerous techniques such as keyword reviews, link building, submitting websites to major search engines and reviewing web pages for effectiveness, all of which takes time, effort and experience to master.

Luckily, there is a solution to the above problem, namely utilizing the services of an SEO consultant. SEO Consultants can greatly assist your business’s marketing efforts, as they specialize in understanding the inner workings of SEO, and can thus advise you on the best SEO techniques to employ, the most effective keywords to use, and how to correctly capture your desired target audience.

SEO consultants have the industry knowledge and skillset to gradually grow your business’s web presence and edge out competitors in grabbing consumers’ attention. Furthermore, they carry out the aforementioned SEO techniques on your behalf, so that you can focus on the running of your business. Also important is that effective SEO consultants provide their clients with regular reports detailing the results of SEO activities, meaning that you can determine whether or not your business is on track to meeting its SEO goals.

Whilst each business’s SEO goals may vary, one end-goal that should remain constant among all business types is for their website to appear on page 1 of Google. Now you may be asking if it needs to be Google in particular and if it really necessary to spend the budget needed to be on the first page. The answer to both questions is a resounding yes.

Firstly, Google is the world’s most popular search engine. It is estimated that Google controls over 90% of the mobile and tablet search engine market, as well as about 66% of the total market for all devices. This means that far more potential customers will be likely to find your website’s listing on Google than on any of Google’s competitors’ platforms.

It has also been reported that first page rankings on Google receive 91.5% of Google traffic, meaning that consumers don’t put in much effort into exploring past the first page of search results. Bing, the second most popular search engine, reported that even the positions that websites find themselves in on the first page matters, as those who receive the top listing receive 42% of website traffic, whereas those in second place only receive 11%. This means that whilst it is vital to be on page 1 of Google, the work doesn’t end there.

As can be seen from the above information, SEO has become a vital aspect of any modern business’s marketing strategy, and in order to achieve SEO success, it is imperative to utilize a proficient SEO Consultant who can get your website listed on page 1 of Google.