Search Engine Optimization commonly called “SEO” is one of the fundamental components of a digital marketing plan. It is an essential tool that enables websites to generate optimal user traffic that further helps to achieve marketing and commercial goals such as increasing product/service awareness, providing persuasive and informative messages, improving sales conversion rate, etc. In digital marketing SEO works as a bridge between the user and the specific platform as it facilitates marketers to effectively attract their targeted audience to digital platforms (e.g., websites).
Essential Elements of a Digital Marketing Plan
Although SEO holds a greater value among various components of digital marketing. It is not the only one to be taken care of. Along with SEO, a digital marketing plan consists of various other essential elements such as social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, etc. that together turn it into an achievement-driven plan. A perfect digital marketing strategy is one that is a balanced blend of all its elements. Marketers have to ensure that the blend consists of all the elements at optimum levels so that desired marketing objectives can be achieved.
Obsession with the SEO and its effect
Obsession with a single component such as SEO (that nowadays is excessively utilized by digital marketers) can have negative effects on goal achievement rather than contributing positively. It is important, that before spending a major chunk of the allocated marketing budget on bombarding the websites with optimized keywords or purchasing links for SEO, marketers and business owners clear misconceptions associated with it and be aware of its negative effects when done excessively or wrongly.
SEO is one the most sensitive tool among the components, when it goes even slightly wrong, it can cause some irreversible damage to the websites that can cost a fortune. Some of the severe damages associated with overdoing or incorrectly doing it are loss of top rankings, getting irrelevant audiences on platforms, penalization by search engines, and most dangerously permanent bans. All these adverse results are produced upon violations of policies defined by search engines detected through AI-based systems, that’s why sometimes minor and unintentional non-compliance can have serious consequences. Prioritizing SEO also hurts digital marketing plans in the form of a disturbed and messed-up budget allocation.
Common Misconceptions Associated with SEO
A great number of misconceptions found about SEO lure business owners and early marketers to list it over other crucial components which affect the overall efficiency of a digital marketing plan. Some common misconceptions found are that search engine optimization shows immediate results in the shape of increased traffic and improves the conversion rate. However, on the contrary, the process is time-consuming, sometimes may take months to reflect results, and does not guarantee an increase in conversion rate at all. Some platform owners also believe that SEO is all about keywords and excessive insertion of relevant keywords will improve their website ranks, without realizing that if it gets detected by AI-based systems platform can get penalized and banned.
Re-evaluate Digital Strategy with a New Mindset
Re-evaluation of digital strategy with a new mindset is the best approach to take proactive measures and assess the severity of consequences that may possibly arise from the obsession with SEO. Throughout the evaluation, It is important to realize that in any digital plan each of the elements has a different role, different objectives, and different levels of effectiveness. One element cannot be replaced by other or cannot compensate for the gap created due to the absence of some. Therefore, the decisions about elements that need more attention must have a technical and scientific approach and should be aligned with the marketing goals, allocated marketing budgets, defined target audience, and nature of the business. Prioritizing only one (or two) components based on personal preference, market trends or misconceptions may sometime lead to accidental success but will hurt in long run.
Expert Opinion Matters
Rather than relying on misconceptions or following market trends, considerable and smart action for businesses would be to seek expert advice while designing a digital marketing strategy. Sidat.net is a renowned digital marketing platform that helps businesses to transform their digital strategies through modern tools along with an in-depth understanding of their application. Sidat is providing support at various levels from planning to execution of a fruitful marketing strategy.
