Is SEO worth doing for your business in 2021?

Are you thinking about doing Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) but wondering whether it’s worth paying an agency to do it?

Sure, you can do SEO yourself, but SEO is complicated and constantly evolving.

SEO creates ‘organic traffic’ to your website, which is when visitors find your business as a result of an unpaid search result.

Did you know that more than 50% of all website traffic comes from organic search? That’s more than the traffic generated through paid ads and social media combined.

So what are you waiting for?

Keep reading to learn more about SEO.

SEO has no traffic ceiling

There is no limit on how much organic traffic that you can get from Google, but there is with social media. According to data from Shareaholic, Google Search overtook social media in the percentage of overall traffic it delivered to a website in 2017.

When you’re doing social media marketing, you need to get people to stop scrolling through their feed and grab their attention enough that they click on your link. However, when people are typing a search into Google they are looking for specific information.

The user intent is completely different.

That being said, you need to get your content to rank high in Google before your business or organisation starts seeing more traffic being driven to your website.

SEO traffic is the most profitable

People who are searching for a specific product in Google Search such as ‘toaster’ already know that they want to buy a toaster and they just want to find the right one.

You are much more likely to get that person to buy your toaster through Google, rather than trying to promote it as an ad on social media.

Many people dislike ads because they find them annoying, so they’ll just end up scrolling straight past it.

Organic searches have a much higher conversion rate because of the level of intent.

SEO builds brand awareness and credibility

People trust Google to give them the best information that they can find on the internet.

So ranking high in Google Search, not only drives more traffic to your website but you look like a reputable source.

The higher you rank (especially on the first page of results), the higher the chance of someone clicking on your website.

Backlinko looked at data from 5 million Google searches and found that even moving up one position in search results will increase the click through rate by 30%.

It’s worth investing the time and money in SEO because you can rank higher organically.

Lots of people block Google ads on their computer or skip straight past them to the organic results, so it’s worth creating high-quality content to build your brand name.

SEO is a mature industry

When SEO first became a big marketing strategy for companies to get noticed, some business owners thought it was a passing trend rather than a necessity.

Over time, with many businesses increasing their web traffic through successful SEO strategies, it’s become clear that SEO is here to stay.

While SEO has evolved a lot over time and will continue to change, it’s clear that more and more businesses are choosing to invest in SEO.

Local SEO is great for small businesses

When people want to find something that’s close to them, they pull out their phone and search for what’s nearby.

For example, you’ve finished dinner with a friend and now you want to go to a local pub so you search on Google to see what’s near you.

Over 50% of local SEO searches that include the words ‘near me’, result in an actual visit.

So if you’re a small business owner, you can easily beat the competition by using SEO to connect with people in your local area.

Most consumers do research before buying

According to GE Capital Retail Bank’s study on shopping habits, they found that up to 81% of consumers do research online before physically going into a store.

Nowadays, it’s simply not enough to have a functional website.

You need to provide relevant content that your customers are regularly searching for, which can only be done through using SEO.

If visitors cannot find your website because it’s buried five pages deep in search results, then you’re losing out on a lot of business.

By optimising your website with high-quality content using a successful SEO strategy, more people can find you and are more likely to become long-term customers.