Search engine optimization (SEO) has been around for years and has remained a topic of debate among digital marketing experts since its introduction in 1998. It is a question we hear all the time: is SEO still worth it in 2024? The answer is yes. SEO is an essential part of any digital marketing strategy, and it can help businesses of all sizes expand while maximizing their ROI.
Organic search campaigns remain a powerful driver of business success. But with search algorithms constantly evolving, some may be skeptical if SEO is still an effective strategy.
In this blog, we will discuss the question of SEO's ongoing value and provide you with the knowledge to maximize your return on investment (ROI) through organic search campaigns.
What Is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Search Engine Optimization, often abbreviated as SEO, is essential for online visibility. Users practice a range of SEO techniques to boost their site's visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs).
SEO is responsible for improving your website's ranking in search engine results for relevant searches, which can drive more organic traffic to your site.
Pros of Investing in SEO
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Boost Online Visibility: It is estimated that the first page of Google search results (which is ranked organically, not paid) receives 30% of clicks, while the click-through rate for the top three pages remains between 60% and 70%. This means that achieving the first ranking on Google SERPs is an effective way to make your site visible to a large audience. This is achievable with the implementation of the best SEO practices.
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Improve User Experience: Google focuses on content that relates to the audience preferences of the modern era. As you may recall, in 2020, Google introduced the concept of 'mobile-first indexing' to provide mobile users with a personalized viewing experience instead of prioritizing desktops. Your page loading speed also affects your ranking, which can result in users having a poor browsing experience. Various SEO techniques help improve the user experience by enhancing your website's speed.
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Cost-Effective: There is a vast difference between the cost of SEO and PPC (pay-per-click). If you compare both of them, you will find that SEO is far more cost-effective than PPC. Another example of cost measurement is comparing the expense of generating traffic with PPC versus the overall spending on driving organic traffic through SEO.
Did you know? A whopping 60 to 70% of users are drawn to click on organic search results over paid ones. Why? because they perceive websites ranking organically as trustworthy, while they view paid marketing sites with skepticism. Organizations that solely trust the strength of SEO can slash expenses on paid ads while generating the same amount of traffic as PPC does.
How Much Does SEO Cost?
The cost of SEO varies depending on the specific needs of various organizations, which are often influenced by the industries they serve. While some SEO professionals offer opinions on the ideal budget for SEO, it's important to recognize that it can't be the same for everyone.
The experts suggest allocating approximately 25% of your PPC advertising budget towards SEO, while others advocate investing between 5 to 10% of your business's total revenue into SEO efforts.
Reasons Why Some Interpreters Avoid Investing in SEO
We have outlined a few reasons why some individuals shy away from investing in SEO. However, these reasons seem baseless when considering the great return on investment that SEO offers.
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The cost of SEO is exceedingly high: Is SEO costly? Indeed. But is it a worthwhile investment? Absolutely! As mentioned earlier, SEO not only garners more traffic but also establishes greater trust compared to paid ads, which typically incur higher costs per click.
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SEO takes a considerable amount of time to give results: Absolutely, SEO results may not be immediate, often taking months to materialize. However, it's a strategic investment for long-term growth. While a costly paid ad campaign might offer quick traffic boosts, SEO is far ahead in terms of brand establishment, cultivating a loyal customer base, and maintaining a long-term relationship with customers.
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SEO experts engage in implementing shady tactics: SEO experts are aware that there is no shortcut in SEO. Google's algorithms have undergone constant refinement to prioritize valuable, high-quality content over clickbait tactics. Keyword stuffing is also obsolete in effective SEO strategies. Essentially, modern SEO revolves around aligning your content with the interests of your target audience.
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SEO requires managing multiple tasks at a time: SEO encompasses a lot of activities that need to be implemented correctly. Sometimes you may feel burdened when it comes to taking care of all aspects of SEO. However, they play a significant role in driving organic traffic, thereby maximizing ROI. Nowadays, there are multiple SEO tools available to streamline your SEO tasks while providing desirable results.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) will replace SEO: There is no doubt that AI has the capacity to automate tasks that often require human intervention. There is a lot of buzz that AI is soon going to replace SEO. One never knows.
Some believe that AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini (formerly Bard) can generate human-like content in mere seconds. However, we challenge such claims. While it is true that AI can generate content, it lacks emotions, depth, and knowledge. This content is like a body without a heart.
AI-generated content never helps your website reach the target audience until it is optimized based on SEO guidelines. While the future of AI remains uncertain, one thing is clear: SEO remains the key to enhancing the reach of your brand.
Key SEO Tips to Maximize ROI
Here, we have given a few effective SEO tactics to get more organic traffic.
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Improve Page Speed: Improving page speed brings more organic traffic to your site. Pages that load quickly are given first priority by search engines due to their emphasis on user experience. For further improvement of your page speed, start compressing images on your pages, which can be easily carried out using image compressing tools.
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Provide Relevant and Informative Content: This is the most effective SEO technique to secure the first ranking on SERPs. According to SEO algorithms, your content should be informative and not misleading to the audience. Provide content that the audience can easily connect with and relate to.
Ensure your content is well-written and plagiarism-free. The more high-quality content you have, the more organic traffic you can attract.
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Focus on Technical SEO: Certain elements of SEO operate behind the scenes, concentrating on technical matters that influence the understanding of your page through software analytics tools such as Googlebot. Googlebot crawls your web pages online and assesses their relevance to search queries.
Technical SEO includes:
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SEO-friendly site structure
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XML Sitemap
- Canonical tag
- Robots.txt
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User-friendly URL structure
Technical SEO helps your website rank higher on the Google organic search results page.
Does SEO Still Work?
Yes. SEO still works and will continue to do so. There is no doubt about it. Although SEO is a time-consuming and complex process, one cannot deny the fact that it is an effective means of reaching the target audience without meeting them physically. The inception of SEO changed the way people approached markets in the past.
Keep in mind that SEO is a long-term process, you can’t expect immediate results. Don't get disappointed if you fail to achieve the output you hoped. Investing in the right SEO tactics will result in a great return on investment (ROI).
Implementing SEO and PPC strategies can lead to significant improvements in ROI, although studies suggest that SEO tends to offer a higher return on investment compared to PPC.
