Sales always have a voice. Income is growing, and nothing else is failing.
But now, many companies are having a near-death experience because the sales landscape has changed dramatically.
Years ago, a salesperson had a valuable Rolodex. The salesperson nurtured the relationships he demonstrated with calls, visits and more chances. They met at conferences, happy hours and golf outings. Even the biggest clients would be invited to company parties and perhaps retreats.
Of course, the Rolodex has changed to CRMs and the like. But now, it is not so useful. The value of a list of vendor names is essentially gone.
What changed?
The COVID-19 pandemic suddenly forced sellers to change their behavior. They could no longer meet clients in person. They discovered that clients who work remotely no longer have a receptionist they can message in person.
The names they carefully collected no longer answer their phones. But people often answer e-mail messages and voicemails.
It’s basically a game of tag to find someone until they give up or surrender.
As a result, relationships often ended.
Sales networking is not as valuable as it once was.
So a salesperson who used to rely on relationships, meetings, conferences and calls is suffering. And where the salespeople still have a loud voice, that voice is now muffled. The lead sources have dried up and their income is taking a huge hit.
Who’s to blame?
If sales can’t meet their numbers, everyone in the company will be affected. So Sales Management looks and demands an explanation.
Of course, it’s the Marketing’s fault. Their job is to provide instructions.
Or it’s the Management’s fault. The company should have seen it coming.
Sales executives should know that their outside sales force will suffer, and the company should invest more in digital lead management. They should have a survival plan to target new prospects. Their website should have been taken to new heights instead of relying on something that was about to die.
Most salespeople can’t spell SEO or PPC. They never wrote content. So when it comes to the company website, they often have a “build it and they will come” expectation (after all, the internet is free, right?).
To protect them, for a long time, an outside sales force could be relied upon to increase revenue. The sales processes got results. So, the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to marketing should work.
So, surprise – your outside sales team is no longer effective.
And so the business suffers.
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What to do?
How do you solve drying up sales? The answer will vary. Or in SEO mantra, “It depends.”
Somehow you need to generate leads for your sales team. This takes the accuracy of a sharpshooter, and you have many options depending on your budget.
You can buy ads (PPC) and maybe earn some quick wins.
You can buy into the “flood the web with content” approach, with or without a boost from influencers (it might not help, but hey, you gotta do something).
You could buy links (but leave that out – it’s the kiss of death). You could accept content elsewhere as being sold to snake oil SEOs.
Or you can decide that your survival depends on doing it right.
The most valuable salesperson
So far, it is clear that the world is slow to recover from the impacts of the past years. The remote work paradigm is not going away, and sales must adapt. Change is needed.
It is also clear that a cheap solution is a waste of money. And in some industries, the outside salesperson is doomed if you can’t provide a lead.
In today’s sales reality, your company’s website is your most important salesperson.
Do SEO as if your survival depends on it.
And whatever you do, do not hire the cheapest solution, thinking that there is no difference. There is a difference if you want to rank on the first page out of 10 million competitors for any keyword that matters.
Here’s my favorite lead generation analogy: If you want to catch fish, you need to use the bait that the fish are biting and fish where the fish are. In practical terms:
What is simple is not always easy. It may take expert SEO consulting services to help you get that message across to a lot of fish.
Then focus on others, rinse and repeat.
Basically, if you find that your leads are decreasing, it’s likely that your website traffic is suffering. And that is best tackled with SEO.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. The staff authors are listed here.
Bruce Clay is the founder and president of Bruce Clay Inc., a global digital marketing optimization firm that provides search engine optimization, PPC management, paid social media marketing, SEO friendly site architecture, content development, and SEO tools and education. ;
Why is SEO still important?
Clay authored the book “Search Engine Optimization All-In-One For Dummies,” now in its fourth edition, and “Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals.” He wrote the first web page analysis tool, created the Search Engine Relationship Chart® and is believed to be the first to use the term search engine optimization. Bruce Clay’s famous SEO training course is available online at SEOtraining.com.
Optimizing your website for SEO means you have a greater chance of generating organic traffic, which will turn into customers buying your product or service. When people google, they usually do very specific searches, for example, ‘garage specializing in Honda in Walthamstow’.
Is SEO still worth it in 2021?
What is SEO and why is it important today? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. At its simplest, good SEO optimizes your online visibility. This means that the more people see your website, the more your online traffic increases, and the better your chances of providing your product or service to more people.
Is SEO worth it for website optimization in 2021?
So is THIS still a good investment in 2021, and beyond?! Short answer: YES! THIS is more important than ever! It remains one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies that drive long-term results.
How SEO will change in 2022?
The short answer is that SEO is very effective â not only for generating traffic but also leads and sales. Do not be worried. The long answer includes research and data, not just empty statements. Most SEOs also get caught up in search-specific metrics like SERPs (search engine results page), rankings, and organic traffic.
Does SEO matter anymore?
By 2022, expect SEO rankings to become more competitive and provide quality content that will help internet users. Content that only tries to fish for its audience by linking unnecessary sources will not be effective today.
Is SEO Still Relevant 2022?
The fact is that SEO is still important in 2020, even though many of the practices and methods have changed. For example, Google’s BERT 2019 update lit a fire under SEO professionals to focus more on optimizing content based on search intent rather than keywords.
Is SEO still important in 2022?
Will SEO still be relevant in 2022? Yes of course. Although some SEO tactics that were effective in the past stopped working, SEO kept evolving. Constantly reinventing itself to better match the user’s intent, cutting back on the spammy, ineffective tactics to become better.
Does SEO have a future?
Will SEO still be relevant in 2022? Yes of course. Although some SEO tactics that were effective in the past stopped working, SEO kept evolving. Constantly reinventing itself to better match the user’s intent, cutting back on the spammy, ineffective tactics to become better.
What kind of SEO trends look for 2022?
SEO is now seen as a long-term investment for businesses, with returns gradually accruing over time. Many webmasters and business owners consider SEO almost dead due to recent search engine algorithms. They believe that SEO is no longer effective and will never yield fruitful results.
- Here are 10 SEO trends we’ve seen leading the way so far in 2022:
- Advantages of Web Core. MORE ADVISORS FROMFORBES. …
- 2. ‘People Also Ask’ …
- EAT. As search engine algorithms evolve, so does content quality. …
- High Quality Backlinks. …
- Video. …
- AI Content. …
- Long Form Content. …
What is the future of SEO in 2022?
Schema Markup.
Does SEO matter anymore?
By 2022, expect SEO rankings to become more competitive and provide quality content that will help internet users. Content that only tries to fish for its audience by linking unnecessary sources will not be effective today.
What is SEO and how does it impact your business?
The fact is that SEO is still important in 2020, even though many of the practices and methods have changed. For example, Google’s BERT 2019 update lit a fire under SEO professionals to focus more on optimizing content based on search intent rather than keywords.
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.’ In simple terms, it means the process of improving your site to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business in Google, Bing, and other search engines.
What is SEO and why is it important?
How does SEO affect business? How does SEO affect businesses? Search engine optimization impacts businesses by improving your ranking in relevant search results. By ranking high enough, for example on page one, your company can use SEO to drive qualified traffic to your site, which can lead to more leads, sales and revenue for your business.
Why is SEO more important?
SEO stands for search engine optimization—the practice of increasing the volume and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. The ultimate goal of SEO for business is to generate organic traffic searchers click through to your website from a search engine results page (SERP).
What is SEO and why do I need it?
In short, SEO is key because it makes your website more visible, which means more traffic and more opportunities to convert prospects into customers.
How do you impact SEO?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is a strategy to improve your site’s ranking in search engine results. It involves identifying the keywords and phrases your target audience uses when looking for products or services similar to yours, and then working towards ranking well for those searches.
- SEO Best Practices
- Make sure you have a user-friendly and easy-to-navigate website.
- Create unique content that is useful to your audience.
- Use keywords in your site copy that your audience is searching for.
- Create title tags and meta descriptions.
What is SEO and how does it impact your business?
Share your content on social media networks and with industry influencers.
What SEO means?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a digital marketing discipline that has been growing rapidly in recent years. Simply put, SEO is the practice of using search engines like Google and Bing to market your business and get your brand in front of the billions of people who search online every day.
What is an example of SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the process used to optimize a website’s technical configuration, content relevance and link popularity so that its pages can be easily found, more relevant and popular for user search queries, and as a result therefore, search engines rank them better.
What is SEO and how it works?
How they determine the “best” result is based on an algorithm that takes into account authority, relevance of that query, loading speed and more. (For example, Google has over 200 ranking factors in their algorithm.) In most cases, when people think “search engine optimization”, they think “Google SEO”.
What is SEO in simple words?
Well, SEO stands for ‘Search Engine Optimization’, which is the process of getting traffic from free, organic, editorial or natural search results in search engines. It aims to improve your website’s position on search results pages. Remember, the higher the website is listed, the more people will see it.
How can SEO help your business in 2022?
SEO stands for search engine optimization — that much has remained the same. It refers to techniques that help your website rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
- 10 SEO Benefits for Businesses in 2022
- You Can Generate More Quality Leads. …
- You Don’t Have to Pay to Rank Organically. …
- People Trust Organic Fruit. …
- You Can Stay Ahead Of The Competition. …
- This You Can Measure Results. …
- THIS IS A LONG TERM MARKETING STRATEGY. …
Provides Better User Experience.
Is SEO worth it in 2022?
Why is SEO important for your business in 2022? SEO is important to marketing because it helps you reach your target audience online. It is also a great way to improve your brand awareness and build trust among customers. SEO can also be a great way to improve your website’s conversion rate.
Is SEO still important in 2022?
Yes, SEO is worth it in 2022, in the future, in the past, and always. As long as there have been websites and search engines, SEO has been necessary. SEO 10 years from now will probably be very different from SEO today, but you will always need to make sure that your website is sending the right signals to search engines so that you can be found.
Is SEO worth learning in 2022?
Will SEO still be relevant in 2022? Yes of course. Although some SEO tactics that were effective in the past stopped working, SEO kept evolving. Constantly reinventing itself to better match the user’s intent, cutting back on the spammy, ineffective tactics to become better.
What is the future of SEO in 2022?
SEO is a positive career in 2022 as it gives you access to various opportunities. You can work in-house, take on clients, and even start and grow your own websites. In addition, the three most popular websites, Google.com, YouTube.com, and Amazon.com, are the largest search engines.
Will SEO exist in 5 years?
By 2022, expect SEO rankings to become more competitive and provide quality content that will help internet users. Content that only tries to fish for its audience by linking unnecessary sources will not be effective today.
How SEO will change in 2022?
SEO will not be phased out within the next five years as social media and search engines will most likely be together. Facebook has already started doing this: they average over 1.5 billion searches every day. Twitter has done the same; they entered into a partnership with Google.
Will SEO exist in 5 years?
By 2022, expect SEO rankings to become more competitive and provide quality content that will help internet users. Content that only tries to fish for its audience by linking unnecessary sources will not be effective today.
Does SEO matter in 2022?
SEO will not be phased out within the next five years as social media and search engines will most likely be together. Facebook has already started doing this: they average over 1.5 billion searches every day. Twitter has done the same; they entered into a partnership with Google.
Does SEO make a difference?
Will SEO still be relevant in 2022? Yes of course. Although some SEO tactics that were effective in the past stopped working, SEO kept evolving. Constantly reinventing itself to better match the user’s intent, cutting back on the spammy, ineffective tactics to become better.
The short answer is that SEO is very effective – not only for generating traffic but also leads and sales. Do not be worried. The long answer includes research and data, not just empty statements. Most SEOs also get caught up in search-specific metrics like SERPs (search engine results page), rankings, and organic traffic.
Does SEO even matter anymore?
How long does it take to implement SEO? SEO RESULTS TIME FRAME â In general, websites can see results in 4 to 6 months.â â SEO Mechanic. • Many SEO firms will tell you that it takes 4 to 6 months to see results. That is generally accurate, but remember “SEO results grow over time.” Forbes.
Is SEO still worth it in 2021?
Short answer: YES! THIS is more important than ever! It remains one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies that drive long-term results.
Is SEO still relevant in 2020?
So is THIS still a good investment in 2021, and beyond?! Short answer: YES! THIS is more important than ever! It remains one of the most powerful digital marketing strategies that drive long-term results.
Is SEO Still Relevant 2022?
While some traditional marketing methods may be on the wane, SEO is here to stay in 2020. Whether you invested in SEO early on or are just getting started, it can still be a key driver of traffic and results on your website.
Is SEO important anymore?
Will SEO still be relevant in 2022? Yes of course. Although some SEO tactics that were effective in the past stopped working, SEO kept evolving. Constantly reinventing itself to better match the user’s intent, cutting back on the spammy, ineffective tactics to become better.
Is SEO still relevant in 2022?
SEO is changing fast" and it can be difficult to keep up with all the trends and updates. But one thing is certain: the search engines will continue to reward quality content, and you need SEO to make sure your audience sees the content. That leaves the answer to the question “Is THIS still relevant?” extremely important.
Is SEO worth it in 2022?
Will SEO still be relevant in 2022? Yes of course. Although some SEO tactics that were effective in the past stopped working, SEO kept evolving. Constantly reinventing itself to better match the user’s intent, cutting back on the spammy, ineffective tactics to become better.
Will SEO become obsolete?
Yes, SEO is worth it in 2022, in the future, in the past, and always. As long as there have been websites and search engines, SEO has been necessary. SEO 10 years from now will probably be very different from SEO today, but you will always need to make sure that your website is sending the right signals to search engines so that you can be found.
How SEO will change in 2022?
Make no mistake: SEO is not dying, but it is evolving much more than it was years ago. If you’re debating whether or not to invest in SEO for your business, read on to find out why SEO isn’t dying “but thriving” in 2021.
Is SEO really effective?
By 2022, expect SEO rankings to become more competitive and provide quality content that will help internet users. Content that only tries to fish for its audience by linking unnecessary sources will not be effective today.
Do I really need SEO?
Yes, SEO really works. SEO is essential for organic online growth and if you do it right, you will have an incredible number of internet users finding your website quickly. This increases brand awareness and the chances of these users converting to customers.
Is SEO still relevant in 2020?
In short, SEO is key because it makes your website more visible, which means more traffic and more opportunities to convert prospects into customers. Check out the SEO tools you can use for optimal ranking.
Is SEO worth it in 2022?
While some traditional marketing methods may be on the wane, SEO is here to stay in 2020. Whether you invested in SEO early on or are just getting started, it can still be a key driver of traffic and results on your website.
Is SEO still worth it in 2021?
Yes, SEO is worth it in 2022, in the future, in the past, and always. As long as there have been websites and search engines, SEO has been necessary. SEO 10 years from now will probably be very different from SEO today, but you will always need to make sure that your website is sending the right signals to search engines so that you can be found.