Is SEO Worth it?
In this age of over saturation of content, people are losing on a lot of profit thinking that SEO isn’t relevant anymore. And you might be too!
That’s because according to recent studies, about 53% of all incoming website traffic comes from organic search, and only 27% comes from paid search.
If you want your website and business to succeed, it’s a good idea to give the necessary attention to the best SEO practices, that are sure to bring you to the top
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is about optimizing your website and/or webpage so that it ranks at the top of Google for a specific keyword. It is all about bringing visibility to your site, and driving in new potential customers. Is SEO worth it for your business? The answer is a resounding YES! However, it’s important to know what SEO is, and what it is not.
SEO is about:
- Satisfying the searcher’s intent.
- Matching the 3 C’s of search intent: Content type, content format, and content angle.
- Giving your page the appropriate structure with headings, links, and digestible content.
- Building a solid lineup of backlinks.
SEO is not about:
- Stuffing exact-match keywords. If it was that easy every content would rank for #1
- Using a keyword a specific number of times.
- Meeting a minimum word count.
- Getting as many links as possible.
What are The Benefits of SEO?
SEO is a crucial aspect of making a successful website. This is because SEO is what will make your website, and therefore your business, visible to the world. If the best website has no visibility, it’s a dead website.
Below I will be sharing some of the most the top reasons why you should prioritize SEO for your business’ site. Additionally, if you want to learn more about great SEO, check out ahrefs’ tutorials, since they have lots of valuable information.
1. SEO increases visibility, and brings results
As I mentioned before, SEO is the thing that will bring traffic to your website, and your business. Of course, web design is extremely important. You want intuitive web design, and you want your website to have a visual identity that stands out from the rest. But it is only with SEO that you’ll be able to get that visibility. SEO will allow you to actually show how good your web design is, and how good your business is
2. SEO keeps your website relevant
Not only is SEO important to kick-start your website, it is the most essential tool to keep it relevant. As time goes on, people begin to search for different things. No matter what topic your site covers, or what product it sells, people’s interests are constantly shifting. That is why it’s important for your website to do the same. To do this, it’s important to constantly check what your intended audience wants to know. See if their search interests changed, and then change your content to answer their questions. We’ll go more into how to do that in a future blog.
3. Targets the right audience
One of the biggest mistakes people make when it comes to SEO is that they do not focus on an audience. To target the right audience, you must focus on topic relevance, and search intent. If your site is getting no traffic, this means you should either target a different audience, or change the contents of your site to reach the audience you were already targeting. As for search intent, you want to make sure your site answer the questions your audience is searching for. If your site is an online store, make sure you’re clear about things like prices, reviews, different items. Also, make sure to include text that shows your site is an online store. If your site is a blogging site, make sure your site targets on answering questions that your audience is actually asking, and providing information on whatever the topic is. Your text should reflect a conversation that the user would want to have.
4. More leads and sales
When you target the right audience, it is only natural that your leads and sales will increase. Nailing this part of SEO will guarantee you get a steady source of visitors that will actually be converted to customers, clients, subscribers, or whatever is relevant for your business. According to Public Media Solution, 14.6% of visitors who find an ecommerce site through organic search will make a purchase, or at least fill out a form. Additionally, a study conducted by GE Capital Retail Bank found that 81% of consumers do online research before buying a product or service.
5. Targets your competitors
No, I don’t mean advertise to your competitors. What I mean is, watch your competitors. See what keywords they’re ranking for, what pages from their site are the most popular, what audience they’re reaching, and more. If you can find out what is working for your competitors, while also looking at points of weakness, you will be able to outperform them. There are some SEO sites that give you tools to do just that. In ahrefs, you’re able first find which sites are ranking the highest for a keyword you might want to target, using the SERP analysis on the “Keyword Explorer” tool. From there, you can paste the link of that site into the “Site Explorer” tool, and see multiple useful stats to help you determine what to do next. There are also other sites like Semrush and Moz, all of which offer similar functionalities.
6. SEO brings you money
It is only when you target the right audience, that important results will come in. SEO is about numbers, but it can be easy to make them about the wrong kind of numbers. It should not simply target viewers and clicks, but rather how much of those are being converted into sales, subscriptions, sig-ups, or however success can be measured in your business. This can only be done, however, if you have the right expertise and patience to do effective SEO research, which is one of the things that we at UXlevate specialize in.
7. SEO saves you money
When you invest in SEO, you’ll be increasing the organic traffic of your website, keyword being “organic”. This means that your website will be getting more views and new visitors everyday, without having to pay a cent. Additionally, a study made by GroupM UK and Nielsen reported that 94% of users click on organic results, rather than paid ones, showing that investing in your website’s SEO brings a much higher likelihood that users will want to explore your site.
Potential ROI From SEO
When SEO is done carefully, it is a process that will definitely bring in more money to your business, and is worth the investment. Below, we’ll provide some general SEO ROI metrics, as well as the industries that get the most ROI for SEO.
General SEO ROI Stats/Metrics:
- Currently, businesses can expect to get $2.75 dollars in profit for every dollar spent on SEO
- While ROI from SEO can change, it has consistently been in the range of 200% to 500%.
- A high quality SEO campaign can get you an average ROI of 748%.
Top 10 industries that get the Most ROI for SEO:
| Industry | ROI | Time to Break-Even |
|---|---|---|
| Real Estate | 1,389% | 10 months |
| Medical Device | 1,183% | 13 months |
| PBC Design and Manufacturing | 1,101% | 11 months |
| Financial Services | 1,031% | 9 months |
| Higher Education and College | 994% | 13 months |
| Industrial IoT | 866% | 6 months |
| Pharmaceutical | 826% | 9 months |
| Manufacturing | 813% | 9 months |
| Biotech | 788% | 8 months |
| Solar Energy | 770% | 9 months |
Conclusion
So, is SEO worth it? YES! SEO Research is an essential part of making you website and business succeed. It is not the cherry-on-top, but rather the cake itself. A beautiful and innovative business hidden in the deep list of google search results, has less value than a crappy website that manages to put itself out there.
If you enjoyed this educational blog on SEO, consider sharing this page to your friends and on social media. If you have a website or a website idea, and would like for us to take care of your website design, SEO, and all other web related things, get in touch with us. We’d be happy to do business with you!
