Word-of-mouth referrals and direct sales pitches can be effective, but according to the Earnest Agency, 81% of B2B purchase cycles start with a web search. For your firm, the ability to stand out with natural search results may well be the tiny bump that determines if you close that next deal–or not.
If you’re still not convinced, here are a few more stats for you:
- 90% of buyers say “they’ll find you” online when they decide to find relevant investment firms.
- A survey conducted by Axial found out that a whopping 92% of business owners conduct a basic internet search on a firm before they give them a call.
- Up to 57% of B2B marketers say that SEO has the biggest impact on lead generation (over all other marketing tactics).
What can we learn from this data? SEO matters, especially for investment firms.
And we’re just scratching the surface. Let’s take a deeper dive into why you should focus more on SEO, as well as how you can make sure your efforts pay off.
Why You Should Care
Start with the basics: SEO’s main purpose is to improve your ranking on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). SERPs determine your organic brand visibility and can make the difference between landing a client or closing a deal.
Consider this: 91.5% of searches never go past Page 1 of Google. If you don’t rank among the first 10 pages for a particular keyword, you’ll lose out on a tremendous amount of awareness for your brand.
The higher up on page 1 you are, the better chance you have of getting business, pure and simple. High SEO rankings inspire confidence in your clients.
How to Use SEO for the Most Impact
If you’re thinking SEO isn’t a straightforward tactic, you’re right. Like all effective marketing strategies, it’s a marathon, not a sprint. In order to reap the sweet fruits of S
EO, your SERPs need to go up. To do that, you need to leverage several “hacks” we’ll discuss next.