The power of SEO is unrivalled! As one of the most cost-effective ways to promote your business and attract consumers to your business. SEO can add serious value to your business in a variety of ways.
But, how is value defined? or how can value be proven?
In this article, we’ll explore how proving the value of SEO can be conducted while also considering how your SEO specialist should be supporting you in seeing such information.
Understanding SEO
To truly understand the value that SEO can bring to your business, you first need to understand it.
What is SEO?
SEO is the practice of optimising your website so that it can rank better on search engine results pages (SERPs) so that you increase the amount of organic traffic to your website. The goal is to rank high on search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo! for a set or collection of keywords that your audience is searching in.
In a nutshell, SEO is about understanding the wants and needs of your consumers and optimising your website to satisfy that. When implemented correctly, SEO can provide serious long-term value to you and your business and can help your brand show-up as both credible and trustworthy – traits which consumers desire from brands prior to making a purchase.
When it comes to getting your website found on search engines, SEO is incredibly important. But it’s not something you can set-up overnight and expect to see immediate results with. Like a garden, SEO takes time and requires long-term strategic planning to achieve the best results.
SEO is long term, why?
Success doesn’t happen overnight with SEO. It’s a long-term marketing strategy to help you gain organic traffic by increasing your visibility amongst search engines. If you are starting your business from scratch, it’s likely to take much longer to get SEO fully delivering whereby your selected keywords take up fantastic positions. If you have already got an existing website, it’s possible for improvements to be seen in as little as a few months. This is completely normal with SEO. Long lasting success comes from continuous work on your strategy.
In other words, you will always be working, creating and improving your SEO efforts to ensure the best possible return on investments. This means continually working with your SEO specialist on your strategy.
A good, long lasting SEO strategy can have a huge impact on your online presence, so it’s worth dedicating time and resources to it.
How much does SEO cost?
The honest answer is it depends on the SEO services your business needs and the type of SEO specialist you select. There are plenty of options for SEO from hourly pricing, monthly retainers, to SEO sprints. We’ll look at some of the most common pricing below:
Hourly Pricing
You will most commonly find SEO freelancers charge by the hour. This offers small businesses the flexibility to hire someone for a fixed amount of time. It also allows for flexibility on the amount of work done on a project.
Monthly retainer
This pricing model involves a set fee for SEO services over an agreed contract length. This is the cost structure most used by SEO and digital marketing agencies. Many agencies will want a minimum of a 6-month contract due to the time involved to fully audit the site, understand it and implement strategies for growth and improvement.
Per Project
Another common pricing model used by all types of SEO specialists is the per project cost model. This is where an SEO company will charge you a set fee to complete a specific set of requirements for a one off cost. Here, companies will clearly outline a start and end date as well as a specific set of KPIs. If you have a clear goal in mind, an SEO agency may offer you a project-based rate to hit them.
How much could SEO generate for a business?
With most areas of business, it’s easy to measure your profits. It’s easy to see which products generate the most sales and which marketing efforts have been most effective. But how much value could SEO generate for your business?
The truth is, it depends on your SEO strategy. If you have a long-term strategy in place, the sky is your limit.
ROI (return on investment) for SEO is complex to measure, but it can be done. ROI of SEO calculates the return of investment from your overall SEO efforts. You would have a positive ROI if the organic revenue generated by your SEO strategy is higher than its cost.
It’s worth remembering that SEO isn’t a quick fix tactic. It’s about investing in a long-term strategy to deliver positive ROI. When you think about ROI you look at how much money you’re investing versus what you’re getting in return.
When you consider ROI, you look at how much you’re investing versus how much you’re getting in return.
Most businesses use the below formula to calculate the ROI for SEO:
(Gain from investment – cost of investment) / cost of investment
Using the data below, here is the formula in action. Assuming that over a month, your SEO campaign generated £175,000 and the costs associated with it were £5,000. When we put these figures into the formula above, we get:
(175,000 – 5,000) / 5,000 = 34
For every £1 you spent on SEO in this scenario, you saw a return of £34. In other words, your ROI here is 340% (34 x 100 to get a percentage). As long as you know the costs and returns of your campaign, you can use this formula to calculate your ROI.
The importance of demonstrating SEO potential
SEO helps to bring new customers to your business. As your online presence increases, so will organic traffic. While high search engine rankings play a key part in gaining you organic traffic, brand awareness is also key as it helps to make your business more visible and attractive to new customers.
When customers reach your page organically, they tend to find you because they’re in-market. Based on their search query, their mindset right now is saying “I’m interested in finding a product, service or information” right now. If they happen to find your page, then it’s because you have a web page designed to answer that requirement for them.
A long-term SEO strategy that is bespoke to your business goals will provide unrivalled SEO value. You won’t see results overnight, but that’s just part and parcel of good SEO. When you invest in a long-term strategy, you will see a steady stream of traffic over months and years and this all helps towards cementing you as a market leader and gaining conversions.
SEO has challenges…
SEO is continually changing – algorithms change regularly. SEO can be unpredictable at times and Google doesn’t share a full list of this is the way to do SEO. However, with the help of an SEO specialist they can ensure that your SEO strategy doesn’t suffer. SEO specialists use their knowledge and experience of SEO to implement the best possible SEO strategy for your business goals so that you don’t have to worry about any changes. SEO specialists have access to high quality tools, resources and as well as their experience that allows them to easily adapt to the ever-changing SEO landscape so that they can ensure your goals are being met with minimal disruption.
What value does SEO deliver to your business
The benefits of SEO are unrivalled and when carefully curated alongside a marketing plan, can lead to long-term growth. Businesses that spend time investing in their SEO strategy can build credibility and trust with audiences which is why it’s such an important part of any digital strategy. When you invest in a long-term SEO plan you can expect:
- Long term business growth – SEO is one (if not the best) digital marketing strategy for long-term business growth. As each day, month and year passes, SEO will ensure long-term results for your business. From lead generation, to online sales, simply traffic – SEO can help you. That’s because the internet never closes! When search engines start ranking you highly in their results pages, you show up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. That means you can organically earn and grow your revenue just by investing in your strategy.
- Increased brand awareness – SEO doesn’t just help you grow your business and revenue; it can also help you to increase your brand awareness too. By optimising your website for SEO, you can drive users who’ve never heard of your brand before you your business.
- Sales growth – SEO can help to grow your sales by directing more traffic to your site. This gives you more opportunities to convert consumers into customers.
- 24 hours, 7 days a week sales team – Search engines never close so it drives customers to your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!
How can you prove the value of SEO?
SEO offers an incredible amount of value to businesses long-term but how do you know if your efforts are working? Careful monitoring of your SEO efforts can help you identify what’s working and opportunities for improvement. Some common ways you can monitor SEO:
- SEO Reporting – Weekly and monthly SEO reports are a great way to clearly see how your site is performing on a regular basis. This ensures progress can be monitored and shown to clients on a consistent basis. Reporting typically covers areas such as traffic, the completions of specific actions, keyword positions and more depending on your requirements. They are a great way to see the impact of your SEO efforts continuously so you know it’s heading in the right direction.
- SEO Forecasting – This is a vital part of any SEO plan and is the process of using data to help predict future results. Forecasting for SEO can help your business set realistic expectations and measurable goals based on data.
- Embedding business results into SEO Reporting – SEO is a marketing channel that can be hugely effective to your business and its future growth. Ensuring SEO focuses on reporting results that the business actually needs and cares about is extremely important. Proving the value of SEO can definitely be aided by ensuring it’s value is measured against what it helps to deliver for your business.
Final Thoughts
SEO is an incredibly important part of any business’ digital marketing strategy. While it takes time to implement, the benefits it can provide to your business are unrivalled.
The value of SEO should always be measured to ensure it’s effectively working for you as a business. The earlier you do this, the better you can understand its effectiveness and how to get more from it for the long-term.
Egnetix Digital is an SEO consultant in Kent and can help your business to implement a long-term SEO strategy so that you can reap the rewards.
Why work with an SEO Consultancy like Egnetix Digital?
Egnetix Digital is an SEO consultant in Kent that can help your business to implement a long-term SEO strategy, while demonstrating the value of SEO. With over 10+ years working with brands and marketing agencies of all sizes on all aspects of SEO, we have an excellent track record of delivering strong organic growth.
If you have been thinking about getting an SEO consultant to deliver first class SEO services for your business, then look no further than Egnetix Digital.
