There’s a good chance that if you are searching for whether search engine optimization services are worth it, you have a basic idea of what these services can do for you. Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is basically all about making sure your website is near the top of the list when users search for the product or service you offer. Obviously, this is great for your bottom line, but achieving it may not be so straightforward. Building SEO is a difficult business, and it may not always turn out exactly as planned, so let’s take a look at what SEO services can offer you and then see if they are worth it.
What Can SEO Services Do for Your Business?
Well, first of all, they can help you to boost your search results, and this is not an easy feat. There are more than 1.7 billion websites, and standing out among them—your competitors in particular—takes work and many months, particularly given that more than 90 percent of searchers never look beyond the first results page.
There are many techniques involved in ranking well on search engines, most importantly on Google, and these are constantly changing as the search engines’ algorithms are updated. Even if you spent a year or more learning about how to boost your own rankings, this knowledge could become out of date nearly as soon as it is acquired if you don’t continuously work to stay on top of new developments. A few years ago, it was all about building links, then the focus shifted to keywords, and now links are back in fashion again. Not to mention that there are other factors that influence rankings, such as image optimization and social media. The fact is that it takes a lot of work to ensure your SEO stays optimized.
Plus, unless you are an expert at designing web pages to integrate images and links, keep in mind that website loading speed has become a key factor in Google SEO rankings. An SEO service can optimize your web pages to ensure they aren’t penalized.
SEO Services Can Boost Your Revenue
SEO is all about bringing in traffic to your website by making sure it ranks well for relevant searches, and when done well, your business website may find itself with enormous traffic. However, it is important to consider that this in and of itself does not translate to revenue. Revenue will generally come from those visitors actually choosing to purchase your products or services, which requires targeting the right audience and ensuring your website is designed to funnel them to a sales or contact page.
This requires a well-thought-out strategy to ensure that customers have both the incentive to buy and an easy way to make the transaction. This means prominent contact information, a well-designed call to action, and quality content. Otherwise, no amount of traffic is going to help your website.
SEO vs. Advertising
Another important thing to consider is choosing between SEO and simply paying for web traffic. This is a tough question because if you are looking for quick results, then paid advertisements such as Google ads or, as they are often known, pay-per-click (PPC) are definitely the better choice. However, if you are looking for long-term results with a better profit margin, then SEO is the way to go.
People don’t trust ads, and with the growing use of ad-blockers, many people simply won’t see them at all. With PPC, your website can be at the top of the Google results, but more than 70 percent of searchers will simply scroll right by these promoted returns and look for the organic—or unpaid—results.
Not only are these results more likely to be chosen by customers but they also provide a better profit margin. Every time someone clicks on a paid result, the website pays a small fee regardless of whether it results in a sale. Plus, studies have shown that organic results are more likely to result in a sale than a PCC, again because visitors trust ads less than organic results.
Here is a visual to help you understand the difference.
Working on your search engine optimization is much like driving your car on a highway. All the vehicles around you represent other websites. When you are paying for SEO, it is like you are standing on the gas pedal and passing others. Some other vehicles also have their gas pedals down. Once you stop doing SEO, you have still made progress—you car doesn’t stop right where it is. It will slow down and others will pass. On the other hand, if instead of SEO you have paid for Google ads or Facebook ads, it would be like being towed, and once you stop paying for those ads, you don’t go anywhere. You have no gas left, no momentum; you’ve just stopped dead in the road.
SEO Services are a Compounding Investment
SEO is an investment both because you will need to pay into it to achieve returns and because these returns will grow with time. You will often pay $1,000 to $5,000 every month for search engine optimization services, and at first, traffic may only grow slowly. However, within three to six months, chances are you will see your traffic grow significantly, and your conversion of visitors to sales will climb as well.
The best part of SEO is that as your website grows in popularity and visitors, its success compounds as many customers will remain and choose your services again. As new content and links are added to your website, they will build on your old content, resulting in more and more returns, easily repaying your initial investment.
Are You Ready to Step on the Gas?
So, are search engine optimization services worth it? The answer is a solid yes! However, it is a big decision that requires a significant investment. It may not be right for every business, especially those looking for quick returns. But, if your business is ready for a long-term investment that can boost your traffic and revenue considerably, SEO optimization can take your marketing to the next level. Ready to chat? Contact us today!
