What Is SEO? And How Can It Help Businesses in Thailand?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to the processes undertaken to ensure a website is ranked highly whenever certain terms are entered into search engines like Google and Bing. SEO focuses primarily on organic search results, not paid ones. With a high ranking, the website can secure better visibility and capture more web traffic. With more web traffic comes more opportunities to engage with only users and hopefully convert them into paying customers.
Over the last few years, e-commerce has grown to become the most increasingly important market for retailers. This is thanks to internet access and its use rapidly growing, particularly during this time of the pandemic when many people have become stuck at home.
In 2020, more than 2 billion people bought their goods and services online, with these sales figures exceeding $4.2 trillion globally. In Thailand alone, this revenue is expected to hit over $22 billion with user penetration of e-commerce platforms likely to reach 43.5 million by 2025.
As fewer people spend time in brick and mortar stores and opt to go online shopping, it has become important for businesses to build their online presence to keep maintaining and growing their revenues. Given that this impact is global, few businesses in Thailand cannot afford to be left behind. Here is why hiring an SEO company in Bangkok makes sense for most businesses.
Web Traffic
As said, SEO tactics are targeted at boosting website ranking. With this higher ranking, more online users are likely to click through and discover a business and what they have to offer. These then become leads that can be converted. This means turned into paying customers.
It is mainly about ensuring your SEO connects with the target market that is more likely to be converted. Part of SEO works lies in developing a good website and e-commerce platform that meets the demands of the targeted consumer. It will need to relay valuable and relevant information in a way that is user friendly.
SEO work is multifaceted and seeks to ensure that online users are drawn in and become motivated or persuaded to make that purchase. This is naturally beneficial to businesses as it helps them to grow their sales and profits.
Trust Building
Websites that have a high organic ranking are better trusted than those that pay to appear on a top page. People have become increasingly computer savvy and are aware that organically top-ranked sites are granted this privilege because they are considered the best of the best. This is because of the strict rules and algorithms that search engines use in determining rank.
It is also why the majority of online users will focus on just the top pages when searching. They rarely go past the third page with most clicks going to the organic results. These top results are the ones considered to be more credible and with the most authority.
For Thailand businesses that want to attract more online traffic to their sites, it is vital to build organic rank so that consumers can trust what your brands have to offer. This is often a slow process, but well worth it as once you reach the top, it is easier to retain ranking, especially if using a good SEO firm to manage this marketing.
Emphasised User Experience
SEO work does not end when an online user lands on a site. It carried on when they click to other parts of the site to reach the information they want or execute the transaction they are interested in. The shorter the amount of time and fewer clicks it takes for them to get to what they want, the better a user experience they will have. Not only does it make it easier to convert them, but the brand also becomes more memorable, increasing the likelihood of repeat business.
From page loading speeds to navigation bars, SEO efforts take multiple approaches to help ensure a good user experience. Search engines also tend to boost the ranking of sites that offer this good experience whenever they deploy crawlers to go through how sites are laid out.
Local SEO
The majority of Thai businesses are targeted at the local market. This makes local SEO highly relevant as this is what drives the growth and success of small and medium sized businesses. Local SEO helps to optimise online marketing efforts so that businesses are more visible to the market in their vicinity.
This is done through various approaches including careful choice of keywords, using local citations, backlinks to sites with a local following, and regional listings. Ensuring that your business is traceable on map apps and building a presence on locally used review sites can also help. The more locals can easily trace your business and learn about it, the more likely they are to take an interest in it over competing businesses with not as good local SEO.
Edging Out the Competition
Being ranked highly on search engines automatically gives a business an edge over its competition. Since an increasing number of consumers makes their buying decision off of information viewed online, you will want to try and make your brand visible and ensure the channels you use offer valuable and relevant content. the more it answers their queries, the more likely the online user is to choose your brand to deliver the product or service they are searching for.
Just as with any other market, Thai businesses continually see new entrants and it is vital to ensure you can hold on to your existing market share and grow it for success. To effectively compete with others in the same segment, you need to boost visibility and the value you offer consumers. SEO will help get you there.
Affordability
Many businesses lack a big budget that they can dedicate to marketing. More so for those in the SME sector in Thailand. SEO remains the most affordable and cost effective option for promoting their brands. While much of the work can be done without needing to spend money, those that do opt to improve their odds by engaging an SEO firm will often find their deals affordable. They enjoy excellent value for money as the results that are gained from good SEO work can more than compensate for whatever cost expended.
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