Is SEO Worth the Money?

As a marketing manager or a business owner, you want to keep up with the latest digital marketing trends. But a part of you wonders whether SEO is still worth the time and money you must invest in it? After all, keeping up with Google’s continuously evolving algorithm is no joke. And paid advertising can get quicker results. Then there are some who proclaim SEO is dead.

So is SEO really worth it?

Yes, it definitely is! There’s no denying the value of a top spot in the Google search results. But the big question is whether SEO is worth the money being spent.

At the same time, it’s important to understand that SEO is not some magical solution! It’s a science, a constantly evolving strategy that calls the expertise of an experienced professional to identify trends, patterns and issues.

So if you are wondering whether SEO is worth the money, read on.

Is Your Website Visible in the Search Engines?

Let’s begin by doing a quick search in Google for some of your target keywords.

Does your website show on the first page of Google search results? Is it invisible? That’s not a great sign!

If you cannot find your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs), then your target customers are unlikely to find it. Given that more than 91.5% of search users do not look past the first page of search results, you are losing valuable traffic and customers if you are not on the first page of the search results. In fact, more than 30% of people click on the first listing in the search results.

So What can Search Engine Optimisation do for Your Business?

An SEO campaign improves your visibility in the search engines, driving quality traffic to your website, which leads to higher conversions, leads and sales.

And how does an SEO agency improve your search rankings? By optimising your website for user experience and ensuring search engines can find your website for relevant search queries.

In order to improve your sales, your website should be optimised for conversions too. Simply having people visit your website isn’t enough. If your website does not have calls to action (CTAs) or the contact information is invisible, you will have a hard time converting the traffic into leads and sales.

Some may say that paid traffic is a better option as it delivers quicker traffic. But for some, the quality of traffic is the biggest concern. And for yet others, cheapest traffic is the best option.

So in order to answer the question: “Is SEO worth it?”, you must consider the following three aspects and consider what’s important to you:

Speed of Traffic

If the speed of traffic is your biggest concern, then SEO might not be your best bet initially.

There are no shortcuts to ranking quickly in the organic results. When you carry out an SEO campaign, you are essentially working on earning popularity. When a site/page goes live, it’s only one of hundreds of thousands of websites that have gone live that day!

So if you are hoping to generate traffic to your website quickly, SEO may not be the route you want to take. It’s a strategy that takes 6 to 12 months for the results to show up. But the wait is worth it for the kind of results SEO can deliver as you will see below.

Quality of Traffic

This is where SEO scores over paid ads. People do not inherently trust ads. Many people are averse to ads and many people use ad blockers to steer clear of them.

In fact, more than 70% of users ignore ads and head straight to the organic listings in the search results. People trust organic results more than paid ads. This trust has immense value. Your visitors recognise that your website has earned its place in the organic results and has not paid for a boost.

So long as you are targeting the right keywords and offering immense value to your visitors once they land on your site, your conversion rates are likely to be higher for organic traffic compared to paid visitors.

So coming back to the question: “Is SEO worth the money?”, the answer is simple and straightforward – if the quality of traffic is important to you and you want to convert a higher percentage of the traffic, then SEO is absolutely worth it!

Cost of Traffic

When it comes to paid ads, you are essentially paying for every click. And the cost per click will depend on the industry and how many other businesses are competing for a slot.

You could spend as low as $1 or as high as $1 for a click with paid ads.

However, SEO services don’t charge you for every click. The organic traffic flowing to your website is absolutely free. All you pay is for the work the SEO agency does to boost your website’s visibility in the organic search results.

So, for example, if you spend $3,000 a month on PPC, an SEO campaign can allow you to bring down your PPC spending and begin generating free traffic through organic search.

So if you ask whether SEO is worth the money, the answer is clear. If you are looking to lower your cost per click, SEO is definitely worth it.

Conclusion: SEO is an Investment, Not a Cost

So if you are wondering how much SEO costs, you’ve already begun on the wrong note. SEO is an investment that will deliver multi-fold returns over time.

And you can choose to invest as much or as little as your budget allows. The amount you invest in your SEO campaign from month to month will depend on your budget, your goals, your strategy and the SEO agency.

At Numero, we offer SEO plans to suit every budget and goal. Get in touch with us today to discuss your SEO strategy. Better yet, claim your free SEO audit and we will send you an in-depth report outlining the gaps in your current SEO strategy and how we can plug those gaps to help improve your online visibility and win more customers.