SEO Research Insights

Introduction

Consumers in the UK are increasingly researching purchases online as phone calls and visits to business premises are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. A recent survey showed that 63% of consumers read company websites before making any buying decisions 1. However, even though there is clear evidence of the move away from face-to-face interactions, further studies show that some sectors are investing less than half in digital marketing than other sectors 2.

This lower uptake of digital marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO) in certain sectors does, however, present an opportunity for companies to get ahead of their competitors because, effectively, the competition is weaker. This could enable a company that does invest in digital marketing and SEO to gain a larger share of online traffic.

SEO Uptake – What Our Research Found

Using a data sample of 32 companies, with fewer than 250 employees, in a single sector in the UK, research by Ditto Digital analysed the website traffic share across those companies. We compared this online traffic with the company size to test the hypothesis that the larger companies would have a larger share of organic traffic to their websites. Interestingly, the results showed that there was not always a correlation between company size and organic traffic in this data sample. Some companies had a much larger than expected share of organic web traffic than companies of a similar size. See the image below.

Image copyright Ditto Digital 2024

We can conclude from our research that certain SMEs have implemented an effective SEO strategy as part of their digital marketing and expanded their customer base to gain a larger than expected market share. The fact that the majority of companies in this sector have not implemented an SEO strategy has meant that those companies who have, were able to significantly grow their market share. Early birds and worms spring to mind!    

The Opportunity

Many SMEs focus on a core local audience when potential customers no longer want or need face-to-face interactions or to visit company premises. Of course, this does not apply to all businesses but a significant number could expand their customer base beyond their local area. Search engine optimisation (SEO) combined with a robust content marketing strategy is a cost-effective way of doing this. It supports establishing a brand in the digital space and provides content to engage with potential customers in a wider geographical area who may not know the company already.

About Ditto Digital

Ditto Digital is a digital marketing company specialising in Technical SEO and Content Strategy. Find out more at https://dittodigital.co.uk  

References:

[1] https://www.fca.org.uk/financial-lives

[2] https://econsultancy.com/digital-marketing-trends-2024/