SEO or search engine optimization is a complex process of optimizing website content to increase the visibility and ranking of a website. But, why does SEO work? This is a question we often receive from our clients. SEO is an enigma for many small business owners. They know what search engines are, they know that they need to be visible in search engines and they know SEO can help their visibility. But, aside from that basic understanding, SEO is not something most business owners have a really good grasp of. Further, they don’t understand the return they can receive from the investment of SEO.
It is estimated that 53% of search engine traffic is originated through an organic search. This means, on average, over half the users visiting a site found it through an organic ranking or SEO efforts.
So, we’ll take a look some reasons why SEO works for many businesses.
Why SEO Is a Good Investment
Companies make investments all the time. Some invest in billboards, social media, other forms of marketing, etc. Or you can say they invest in people, equipment or software to help their business run smoother. Whether you attempt to rank your site internally or you higher a marketing agency to help you with this, it is an investment.
You are either investing your time, your resources and likely still some dollars. Or, you are investing more money to outsource your site ranking to a professional agency.
SEO is a good investment because in many cases it provides the most return for the dollars spent. Other avenues like paid ads can be great. We provide a lot of paid ad management for Google Ads, but that isn’t always the best choice for every business.
If an ad cost $8 per click and it takes twenty clicks to get a user to contact you and it takes four people contacting you to get a sale…it could be a tough option to see a return. This all depends on your business and your margins. Paid ads will also fluctuate in price. Depending on the competition and the bidding, one day your ads may be more like $12 a click vs the $8 they were the day before.
Search Engine Optimization provides a more fixed cost structure and generally better results. Many of our clients see the greatest return on their investment from organic search results.
If you spend $500 on a print ad for a year, that is $6,000. That is a little light for a good SEO campaign monthly, but in our experience, that money if invested in SEO would deliver a much larger return than the print ad.
SEO Can Be Tracked
Through Google Analytics, Google Search Console and other tools, the ranking of a website can easily be tracked. In the example above with a paid ad in a print medium, it becomes very difficult for a business to track the return or even track the traffic they receive from the ad.
If the ad has a unique URL or a coupon code, that will help businesses track the results, but even with that, there isn’t a very easy way to produce a chart of results and customers.
Google Analytics combined with Google Search Console can provide a wealth of information and data to see what is working and where you site is ranking. For example, Google Search Console lists they keywords your site has appeared for over a specified time, provides the ranking of the site at the time of search and provides the number of clicks for those searches.
Absolutely you can track other forms of advertising, but organic search results from SEO efforts are very easy to compile and navigate.
It Is Content Based
One of the many reasons SEO can be beneficial to a business is the relation to content and information that it has. Search engines crave content, and not just any content, but good content. The more content your site has that is relevant to your services, the better chance you have of ranking in a search result.
Content does take time produce, but whether you are doing it yourself or outsourcing to a digital agency, content is worth the investment.
The articles and posts you have never go away. They site on your website, are indexed by Google and are available 24/7 for anyone searching.
Specific niche articles are also a great way to generate traffic to your site and hopefully business. Content is key in SEO and since sites, by nature, have a need for content, this method fits well.
Conclusion
Search engine optimization can be very beneficial for businesses. It provides a steady price structure, it provides a high return on investment and it is fueled by content, which is already on your site and can be added to at any time.
If you’re considering SEO for growing your business, contact us today for a free evaluation of your site and your targeted market.
