Consider this: “Google handles over 3 billion searches per day (Search Engine Land).” This equates to over 1 trillion searches per year. And, that figure is growing as more and more people and businesses go global and leverage the World Wide Web.

Even if a fraction of online users search for your small business, you’ve got a huge audience out there that is actively seeking products and services like yours. Let’s say you’re able to reach out to a fraction of that fraction successfully, you’ll still manage to boost brand awareness and increase sales.

Sound fascinating?

But wait; here’s the catch. There are many other businesses, just like yours, competing for the same target audience. So, you’ll have to make your way through the online competition to be noticed.

How will that happen?

Well, one of the best tactics is search engine optimization, also known as SEO.

Now first, we have to be aware of how SEO works in the online search community, and why you need SEO for your digital marketing campaign, before you start searching for an affordable SEO company.

Digital Marketing and SEO

Similar to offline marketing, digital marketing has organic and paid forms. While paid forms can be influenced, organic cannot. SEO falls under “organic” marketing. From the perspective of a person performing a Google search, organic results are perceived with greater value than paid search results. That doesn’t mean paid search isn’t of value, but push marketing doesn’t always rank in credibility.

For example, if you conduct an online search for “affordable SEO services Los Angeles” on Google what results will consider first? Paid or organic?

You may wonder, “Doesn’t SEO influence organic search?” Yes, in a way. But, the goal is to get to the top ranking by proving your credibility. SEO is a combination of on-page and off-page activities that can improve your website’s user experience, offer relevant, helpful content and easy accessibility to your products and services.

The significance of SEO in digital marketing is like registering your business in the Yellow Pages, offline. Yes. If you’ve been doing business for a while now, you’d known how important it was to get your business listed in the Yellow Pages directory, because every home owned a Yellow Pages directory. Today, when we need information, or help with anything, it’s Google we refer to instead.

This is another reason, among many, why SEO is an important part of your company’s marketing mix.

This article has been edited and condensed.

Jeff Williams is a short story author, freelancer, and columnist for various newspapers, magazines, editorials, etc. He is an active content writer for SeoTuners and various social media, SEO and digital marketing blogs. Jeff believes that blogs are the best way to reach a maximum number of people where one can share one’s views and thoughts. His love for tea and different cultures keeps him busy. When he is not working, he likes to play guitar, dance, and travel far and wide. Connect with @seotuner on Twitter.

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