Failing to invest in long-term, brand-building strategies like SEO is like gambling with your marketing budget. You’re left relying on short-term tactics that can be costly and less effective over time. And when the ad dollars run out or your competitors outbid you, your online presence vanishes.
4 Unexpected Ways SEO Investment Pays Off
- Optimizing for search drives more foot traffic and calls to your location through map and knowledge panel results.
- Following SEO best practices improves the user experience, increasing engagement and making your website more accessible.
- Brands that are highly visible on search engines are regarded as more credible and trustworthy, fostering long-term customer loyalty.
- You can use SEO strategy on social media platforms, not just traditional search engines.
In contrast, investing in SEO is a commitment to sustained growth rather than a quick fix. It requires ongoing effort, expertise and patience, but the results compound over time, gradually increasing your site’s authority and visibility. You don’t need to keep increasing your budget to see continuous improvement; consistency with an SEO strategy naturally leads to growth.
Moreover, if you need to pause your SEO efforts, your existing search rankings can hold steady, unlike paid campaigns that disappear once the funding stops.
Why Startups Need to Invest in SEO
SEO increases your website’s visibility in organic search results, attracting more traffic, which can convert to leads or sales with an effective content strategy. Leads that come in through organic search have a 14.6 percent close rate, compared to just 1.7 percent for outbound leads. If your competitors invest in SEO and you don’t, they will capture market share that could be yours.
SEO Has Amazing ROI
When was the last time you bought something? I bet you Googled it at some point in your journey and clicked on one of the first three organic results. That’s why 61 percent of marketers report that organic search has the best ROI and generates more leads than any other marketing channel – it works.
Organic search results are viewed as more credible and attract the majority of user clicks. On average, the first organic search result on Google has a click-through rate (CTR) of 39.8 percent, compared with Google Ads, which have an average CTR of just 2.1 percent.
That’s not to say that paid ads aren’t valuable. Use them to complement your SEO strategy to support long-term business growth. As your website climbs in organic search rankings, you can gradually reduce your PPC budget or target it specifically at searchers in the later stages of the buying process.
Investors Love SEO
If your startup is seeking funding or preparing for a sale, securing top search rankings and implementing effective SEO processes can appeal to investors. Having established website authority and a long-term SEO strategy with scalable processes demonstrates a solid foundation for sustainable growth and serves as a competitive differentiator.
In contrast, relying heavily on paid marketing tactics may lead investors to view your strategy as an ongoing expense rather than a valuable asset. Think of investing in SEO as a down payment on a home, while paid tactics are more like renting an apartment month to month.
How to Start Investing in SEO
Whether you plan to handle SEO in-house or outsource it to a freelancer or agency, the person overseeing the strategy must be qualified to do the job. A competent SEO strategist should confidently answer the following questions:
- What steps will you take to optimize my website?
- Can you incorporate multiple audiences into your strategy?
- What tools do you use for keyword and competitive research?
- How will you track and report the results?
- When can we expect to see measurable outcomes?
- How have your efforts affected organic traffic, leads and conversions on previous projects?
Even with expert guidance, SEO is a collaborative process. Consult with your SEO strategist to determine the priorities of your keyword strategy.
For instance, a healthcare startup might target multiple audiences, such as doctors, practices and patients, and various conditions like arthritis, nerve issues or limb differences. Consequently, the site should be well-organized into clear, interlinked sections. Creating these sections, known as content hierarchies, will be your initial goal if not already established. Then decide which sections to develop and optimize first.
Your approach should be shaped around your goals, budget and timeline. Consider these factors to determine which keyword categories to prioritize:
- Which audiences are most likely to convert and offer the best revenue potential?
- Are some keyword categories more competitive? You might want to target easier keywords first to build SEO momentum early on, or start with the most challenging to lay a strong foundation.
- What relevant keywords are you already ranking for but aren't highly visible? Target the low-hanging fruit — keywords in positions 11-30 — before going after new terms you don't rank for yet.
- Is local search important to your business? Are some locations less visible or have more revenue potential? Prioritize accordingly.
Once you’ve determined your priorities, begin optimizing and creating content to help your target audiences and improve keyword rankings. After gaining traction, move on to optimizing other sections or targeting keywords for other audiences, locations, products or services.
An aggressive SEO strategy aimed at achieving rapid results typically involves publishing multiple pieces of content each month, implementing on-page optimizations, making technical SEO enhancements, link building and cleaning up your site hierarchy.
However, even startups with limited budgets can collaborate with an SEO specialist to create a strategy and make incremental progress each month. Publishing just one piece of content per month is better than none at all. Within a year, you’ll have 12 pages that are building authority, earning backlinks and addressing user queries.
SEO is a long-term strategy, and the journey to climbing search rankings goes faster than you might expect. Start now. In six months to a year, you’ll be glad you did.
