SEO: Is it Worth the Effort and Expense?

As we’ve discussed before, SEO isn’t cheap.  If you take on the responsibility yourself, you’re making a huge time commitment (and as any good business person knows, time is money).  And if you hire a qualified search engine optimization specialist, you could be looking at thousands or even tens of thousands a month or more depending on how aggressive a strategy you choose to employ.    

If you’re running a start-up or small business, you may ask yourself, “Is it really worth it?” 

Ask anyone with online marketing experience, and they’ll answer quickly and enthusiastically, “Yes!”

Search engine optimization may be expensive.  It may take time to achieve solid results.  And it may involve lots of tweaks and even some big changes from time to time.  But it’s absolutely worth it.

Good SEO is worth it, that is. 

First, consider what high quality SEO really means. “Content is king” has always been an industry catchphrase, but now more than ever, marketing premium content is by far the most important aspect involved in optimization.  As the search engines become smarter and more adept at discerning what is (or isn’t) good quality, sites that produce content spam or fail to product fresh content at all easily fall by the wayside.  New SEO strategy means writing and producing great articles, videos, infographics, and other shareable content and then marketing that content to the right audience.  Media strategy is a huge part of the equation, and good SEO depends on it.   

Now that we’re on the same page, let’s take a look at what good SEO can do for your business.

Top Placement in Organic Search Yields Traffic:  Studies have shown that the pages that rank in the top 3 organic search positions get about 60% of all clicks received for a given search, and the very first result gets the majority of that 60%.  Typically, those high-rank pages are also receiving more traffic than their paid-search competitors, since searchers often train their eyes to ignore paid search ads in favor of organic search results.  Getting to the top takes time and consistent effort, but once you start ranking there for terms related to your products and services, you can expect a big payoff.

Not Just Traffic, But Qualified Traffic:  Just getting a ton of clicks to your site wouldn’t justify the expense of SEO.  However, people who find your site in Google’s organic search results are already interested in your products and services – they actually sought them out!  Plus, the fact that you show up at the top of the search results gives potential customers an immediate sense of confidence in your company.  Present them with a stellar website, and sales will soon follow.

Not Just Qualified Traffic, But Long-Term Results:  As we’ve said, SEO is a long game.  Your site isn’t going to rank for major search terms overnight, but over time and with consistent work, it will do better and better.  As long as you stick to white-hat (ethical) practices based on producing and sharing high quality content, your rankings are only going to improve with the passing of time.  While we wouldn’t recommend cancelling your SEO plan or ceasing your efforts at any point, good SEO is durable.  The ethical practices that continue to be promoted in Google’s frequent algorithm updates don’t change over time (Google just gets better at weeding out the scammers), so if you hire a reputable SEO company, you can expect lasting results. 

Have we convinced you yet?  To put it simply, unless your business is so notorious that you couldn’t possibly bear taking on any new customers, search engine optimization is for you!

Get in touch with us today to learn about our SEO and content marketing plans.

by Jess DelBalzo, ImageWorks Creative SEO Manager.