There is often an assumption that having good Google ranking equates to instant business success. Is this true? And, if your rankings really are so important for business, what does it mean when you are not right up there at the top of the search results pages?

In a world that is increasingly growing technologically every single day, a business that is NOT online may as well as be invisible. Sure, you may continue to get foot traffic. If you have a winning business that has plenty of word of mouth advertising, you may find that you do not need to do any other promotion at all. Some businesses are lucky enough to succeed with little to no promotion. Sadly, for most businesses, online visibility is essential to be found. Businesses that are internet based – online shops, service providers, booking platforms and even regular shops who want a greater chance of being found by customers – all need the web to survive.

Your ranking in Google and other search engines makes all the difference when it comes to being found online. As very few users bother to scroll to the second page of search results, a lower ranking can mean being overlooked entirely for your competitors who appear on the first page of search engines such as Google.

How Google Rankings and Solid SEO Help Your Business

What does this mean for your business? How does SEO help you get ahead of the pack?

Some of the ways that a good Google ranking can help your business thrive include the following:

• Better opportunities.

There are 10 results shown on the first page every time that anyone searches for any given term. Those top 10 results are shown based on many factors, from PageRank to how relevant the information on the page is, what sort of SEO strategies the site has in place and the quality that Google deems the page to be. High search results ranking means that you can be found by potential customers, without too much effort, when customers enter a search term that relates to your page or site. For example, if you are offering organic oranges in Durban, anyone searching for organic oranges in the Durban area will be able to find your business on the first page of the results. That means more opportunities and more business.

• Better website traffic.

Websites in the top rankings typically bring in more traffic than those in the lower end of the spectrum. While this sounds obvious, it also shows how important is it to your website’s success that you have a good ranking. This is true in Google as well as other search engines such as Bing and Yahoo!.

• Increased authenticity.

In addition to bringing in more traffic and business opportunities, a good ranking can also increase your reputation and authenticity. Visitors on the web often trust top ranking sites in the search results to provide a high level of content and quality. The top listings are seen as superior, and often enjoy a higher level of authority and trust over low ranked sites. It is estimated that the top 3 organic rankings can get up to 75% of all of the traffic for any specific search term. So if 100 people search for “green lollipops”, then 75 of them will visit the top three organically ranked search results. This means that if you are lower down, its not good news.

• Enhanced image.

On a related note, a high ranking also improves your brand image. Internet marketing is highly competitive. A site that has a great ranking can look like a more viable choice over a similar site that has a lower ranking. Just be sure that you maintain the highest possible level of quality so that you don’t leave potential customers hanging once they arrive on your site.

Don’t make clients search for you – rank well and they can find you easily.

Achieving a good Google ranking is not always as easy as it seems. It does not happen overnight either, and often requires a great level of patience, work and dedication. If you’re serious about getting ahead in the search engine results, contact us today and let’s start chatting about you can take your SEO efforts up a notch.