With all the changes in search engine algorithm, artificial intelligence and other related technologies, it is only fair to wonder, is SEO still important? Well, the answer is a big YES. In fact, SEO is now more important than ever. In case you doubt this, here are 5 reasons why SEO is very important in 2018.

The number of searches that Google has to process on any given day has grown exponentially over the years. Currently, google handles 3.5 billion web searches a day. This increasingly competitive online market means that you have to work harder for your page to rank high. This makes SEO not only important but also highly critical in 2018 and beyond. In fact, it’s the only way to stay visible in an increasingly crowded internet.

Unlike in the past, more people now do their online search through their mobile devices. This makes the mobile search market quite competitive, and only the most aggressive win. To ensure that you win and stay competitive, you have to use SEO. It is SEO that enables you to improve your business ranking on mobile search, giving you the competitive edge you will need to survive and thrive in 2018.

Every day, companies are aggressively trying to rank better on search engines. If your business is ranking well today, it might not rank the same tomorrow. That’s because your competitors too are doing everything they can to rank better than you. This means that you have to continuously invest in SEO for your business to stay at the top. Any hesitation on your part can lead to loss of your spot on search engines, which in turn means, a loss of business. In essence, the fact that you need SEO to continually stay competitive, makes very important in 2018 and beyond.

With each passing year, consumers are moving most of their purchases online. This is quite visible in the way online retailers like Amazon have grown over the years, while their brick-and-mortar counterparts like Sears close down. This growth in online shopping means that more businesses will try to improve their ranking online in order to remain competitive. How will they do it? SEO! It’s the only way that a business can improve its ranking on search engine. That alone should tell you that SEO is not going anywhere! If anything it will become more important in 2018!

One of the ways that consumers rank the credibility of a business is through its ranking on search engines. The better the rankings, the more credible it looks, and the more sales it makes. Based on this knowledge, businesses will continue to invest heavily in SEO, in order to continually increase their credibility in the eyes of consumers. This makes SEO quite essential to online businesses in 2018.