The whys and hows of SEO for online businesses in Cyprus

In today’s modern, fast pacing world every business person needs to ensure that their business, besides all its other assets, also has a purposely designed, fully – functional website, which is SEO friendly to the greatest possible extend. This forms the basis of any solid digital marketing strategy and ensures that a business gains visibility and stands to earn customers, whenever a relevant search is performed on a search engine.

In other blog posts we have at length discussed the numerous benefits and advantages to be had for any entrepreneur following a solid SEO strategy. However, we realize that many Cypriot entrepreneurs, who are less accustomed to the wonders and realities of online commerce and the digital world, still need some convincing and want the basics behind the need for SEO explained in a few words, using simple language and avoiding confusing technical terms.

Since we have often received such requests our team of resident experts has prepared the following brief overview, explaining why, you as an entrepreneur wishing to operate online in the Cyprus market, need to resort to SEO and what you have to gain from doing so:

The first obvious gain is a huge improvement in the ranking of your business website by search engines when relevant web searches are performed. Since search engines use specific algorithms to rank sites that are similar, optimizing your site so that it ranks high in relation to particular products, services or keywords becomes of crucial importance. Ranking high and ranking over and above competitors, especially local ones, requires an effective SEO strategy via your website and social media that is designed and executed by real professionals in the field.

The second obvious gain to be had through SEO and the subsequent improvement in rankings is the immense impact this will have in creating and maintaining brand awareness and building a solid reputation for your offering. Having an online presence for your business as well as using social media profiles are two of the most effective methods of making your products or services known to a very large number of people at a very short time. Especially in a relatively small market, such as Cyprus, and with over 80% of Cypriots having a Facebook account, a business which has an online presence and a social media presence boosted by SEO strategies is bound to gain hugely in visibility and credibility and almost certain to see its reputation and the awareness of prospective clients around its brand grow big, fast!.

Obviously though SEO and better ranking positions in search engine results’ pages, your business website will dramatically increase its traffic. Especially if you manage to appear high in the first page of the results, because people tend to click on those results that appeat on top and usually ignore all others. However, increased traffic also brings another indirect benefit, namely increased interaction with customers through their questions, inquiries and comments. Even if not all of them convert into actual purchases, interacting with prospective clients online gives entrepreneurs a chance to gain valuable feedback, which is of huge importance as a tool for improvement.

Therefore, since SEO will bring higher traffic, more visibility and inquiries and a chance to improve on the offering, then a realistic expectation to be had is that through SEO, your business will also experience an improvement in sales and profits, which is after all the bottom line of any business venture.

Having demonstrated briefly and simply, how much you stand to gain from properly designed and executed SEO techniques for your website and social media profiles, let us now briefly discuss how you can get this done. Obviously you could try reading up on SEO and trying to DIY the whole thing. However, we would not recommend this as an option since a fair degree of technical expertise is required and thus SEO is better to be dealt with by experienced experts. This is mostly because search engine optimization is a challenging field, since search engines keep changing, updating and adjusting their ranking algorithms and SEO experts need to always stay on top of such developments and also adjust their SEO methods and tactics accordingly.

Nicely put, since effective SEO is bound to increase site traffic and thus site revenue, it is only fair that you pay to hire a professional to handle your SEO. Despite its small market size and relatively lower levels of computer literacy, the Cyprus market does boast an adequate number of professional firms that could undertake to fulfill your SEO needs. Since choosing the right company to help you with SEO is entirely up to you, here’s a few, brief tips on what to look out for when searching for the most appropriate SEO experts to hire.

Although it might sound cheeky, when looking to hire an SEO service provider you should check their own SEO, i.e. not just their actual ranking, but also what they are doing in practice to achieve better rankings. If they claim to be able to help your site rank higher but they cannot do the same for their own company site, then perhaps they are not so right for the job!

Another thing to consider when trying to find the right SEO experts to hire, is their company portfolio, which should ideally reveal some of who their partners are, case studies they have worked on, as well as online reviews by previous customers. Keep in mind however that sometimes clients have reasons to want to keep their names private, so any lists you may find of the SEO provider site may well not be exhaustive.

As with every purchasing decision, the price you will be called to pay for the expert SEO services is an important factor to consider. However, keep in mind that although you have to ask for competitive prices, sometimes a low asking price means a lower level of service and since effective SEO will bring you more revenue through increase traffic and sales, then perhaps it makes sense to pay a bit more if it will prove a good return on investment.

Obviously, another factor to consider is the SEO provider’s reputation and credibility as a company, which you can also verify by researching the actual firm as well as asking for and searching for recommendations from previous or existing customers, probing their degree of satisfaction and thus assessing the company’s effectiveness.

Last, but definitely not least you need to check out the actual type and kind of SEO services provided by the provider to assess whether they suit the particular needs of your own business and your own site. Not all SEO firms can cater equally well for all types of SEO services, some are better at link building, some at copywriting, while others can better handle pay per click campaigns. Study the company’s site and find out what they have to offer you, but don’t stay with what you read only. Ask for a consultation and let the experts explain what they have to offer and what they can do for your own business’ growth through SEO.

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Posted by
George Milios

George Milios

Lead Generation & Business Growth Specialist

Helping Companies Scale their Organic Traffic & Conversions over the long-term by implementing strategies that work. In addition, George is an avid cryptocurrency researcher, advisor, investor, and trader.

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