SEO is one of the most talked about marketing strategies in the 21st century, even more so in the last decade. SEO used to be easy for any company however, in recent years it has become much harder, especially for companies who have very little budget.
SEO is one of the most competitive marketing strategies there is in the digital world, meaning more businesses are exploring this marketing strategy for themselves.
A common question that is asked by a new business or a small company is whether or not SEO is worth it. Let’s find out whether you should consider SEO for your own business.
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What Is SEO?
If you don’t know what SEO means, it stands for search engine optimisation. SEO is where you will optimise your website with content that will help improve your rankings. However, SEO isn’t just about first-page rankings. It is also about improving the user’s experience when on a website. That could mean providing more information about the product/service or it could be how the website functions.
Once you have an indexable website, Google will crawl your website. Whilst Google is crawling your website, it will find out what it is about and whether or not you should be ranking for relevant search terms. For example, if you have a website about construction, it will start ranking your website for construction-related search terms.
Can SEO Benefit Your Business
The whole point of SEO is to increase your organic visibility for several keywords related to your business. If you offer a service, you will want to rank for multiple locations near your primary spot. This is also known as local SEO and it is great for businesses with small budgets to help increase their organic traffic and revenue.
If you are an eCommerce brand, you will want to rank for the different products you have. Additionally, the more pages you have on your site, the better. The reason is simple, you can rank for numerous keywords, helping to increase the organic traffic to your website.
As a small business, you don’t want to target highly competitive keywords. There will be many businesses that will also be ranking for these keywords who have much more authority than you. Try and find a niche that you can target. For example, if you sell tracksuits, you don’t just want to target the word tracksuits. Add something else to the keyword such as full tracksuits or something else that will help the number of searches.
There are many different methods of digital marketing however, there is no doubt that SEO gives you the best return on investment. Yes, you will have to put a lot of money into SEO at the beginning however, after six months, you should see more traffic visiting your website, resulting in more conversions and an increase in organic revenue.
Does SEO Provide A Quick Win
One of the main issues with SEO is how long it can take before you see results. SEO is a long-term marketing strategy however, it will bring much bigger rewards compared to other marketing methods.
If your website is relatively new IE has no authority, and the chances of you ranking instantly are highly unlikely. Therefore, SEO is something you have to be patient with. You can expect at least six months before you see your keywords ranking. It can take even longer before you start to see these keywords on the first page. That is when you will see more organic traffic and revenue generated.
The Cost Of SEO
The cost of your SEO all depends on where you go for it. If you get a freelancer to do your work, you will reduce the costs massively. However, if you want to go with an SEO company, you will spend more.
SEO can cost as little as $100 however, it can also cost more than $2000. It all depends on the level of SEO you want but to get started, it would be better to start at the lower end. Just to increase the basic rankings. Once your website is bringing in organic traffic and revenue, you can then look to spend more.
Is It Worth It?
For a small business, SEO might not be worth it because it cannot provide you with those quick wins. However, if you have money in the bank where you can patiently wait for your organic rankings to increase, SEO must be considered. The rewards that you get from it are much better than other marketing strategies.
Investing in SEO will benefit your company massively so if you have the budget to spend on SEO for 6+ months, it is encouraged.
