It is well-known that marketing efforts often represent the best way to waste money for a business. For many companies, it’s the department that spends most frivolously, and with the least concern for financial viability. However, in today’s digital age, it does not have to be this way.
Marketing executives are understandably concerned that they get a proper return on investment for every marketing dollar spent. It is for this reason that pay-per-click ads have gained such popularity. Despite often being expensive due to strong competition for many keywords and ad sets, they offer extremely precise analytics and data on their results.
Moreover, because customers only pay when their ad is actually clicked, it provides a sense of comfort to management that money is not being wasted, and limits their liability. It comes as no surprise that pay-per-click companies like Facebook and Google AdWords have become such massive contenders in this industry.
They offer data to top executives that marketing spends are in line with quarterly goals.
However, the fact that the ROI of SEO efforts can often be difficult to immediately measure or predict, causes the majority of companies to overlook the fact that it often produces a higher ROI over time than ads. Blinded by short-term quarterly goals, executives continue to pour money into ads, not realizing that the same amount of money could often produce exponentially larger ROI if put towards SEO over time.
While ads require continuous media buys, SEO is often a more sustainable strategy for driving traffic and conversions. Since it takes time for Google’s crawler programs to pick up on new content, the effects of SEO are not as immediate as ads. However, once that content becomes indexed as a high-authority web property, organic traffic can often continue flowing with lower further investment than continued ad spends.
In other words, although the effects of SEO are less immediate, they are also often more sustainable and lower-cost over time than ads. An article by Harvard Business Review explains that many executives overlook these important metrics when focused on quarterly marketing goals.
According to Digital Authority, SEO delivers six times the ROI of search engine marketing despite receiving only eleven percent of digital marketing dollars due to this oversight.
The truth is that SEO can offer a massive ROI, often with minimal recurring investment, over time. That’s not to say that companies should not also invest in ads. Both strategies should be strategically combined.
Not only does SEO generate organic traffic, the traffic it produces often has a different character than the traffic produced by ads. Users rely on organic search results when pursuing educational content. Ads are often seen as bias sources of information, and while they still can convert if a buyer has already made a purchasing decision, they are not as effective for distributing educational content.
What this means is that when consumers do in-depth research before determining to buy a product or service, they are more often using the content found through organic search traffic. This is significant particularly considering high-stakes business-to-business buy decisions. Before making a pricey purchase, a consumer is more likely to do research.
SEO efforts, therefore, offer an opportunity when marketing high-priced business-to-business products or services. SEO-optimized content is more likely to attract buyers earlier on in their decision-making process. So, for selling products or services that have a high price point, it can be extremely effective to drive traffic to content explaining a company’s offering, to guide users through each phase of their decision-making process.
Even if those consumers eventually convert through an ad, SEO still plays a valuable part in educating the buyer about the benefits of the company’s product or service. The thought patterns of consumers before buying is becoming a growing field of research, and worth incorporating into a digital marketing strategy.
According to Harvard Business Review, paying for content distribution is a great way to get this kind of content noticed by a wider audience. Exploring syndication and distribution strategies is a great alternative to investing more money in higher ad spends.
In addition, tools like Moz, Google Analytics, and Raven Keyword Planner can offer great insights into the success of any distribution efforts, as well as SEO efforts in general. While the effects of SEO can be more difficult to measure than pay-per-click ads, it is still possible to do so.
In fact, taking the time to dissect the analytics of SEO over time is crucial. Doing so will allow you to determine how much value you’re getting for each dollar you spend. However, be sure you give any SEO initiative enough time to take effect.
Many firms make the mistake of giving up on SEO entirely when they don’t see results immediately. In general, SEO work takes a minimum of three to six months to show results, depending on the industry. The timeline varies depending on how competitive the keywords being targeted and the industry or niche at large.
According to Forbes and analysts at Borell, SEO spending is projected to reach 80 billion dollars by 2020. Considering that companies are finally catching on to the long-term ROI of properly executed SEO strategies, it’s becoming more important to gather accurate data and analytics to justify these budgets.
Not all SEO agencies are created equal, and many will be happy to bill large amounts while producing little to no results. When looking for an agency, don’t let them hide behind the difficult-to-measure quality of SEO. Check out this list of companies as well as SEO and digital marketing agencies to make sure you’re getting value for any money you spend.
Ensure that any agency you hire is doing proper keyword research, optimizing content for search engines by including proper meta descriptions and meta tags, and distributing that content effectively. It is normal to request periodic reports on data, research, content, and results. Make sure you give the agency enough time to do their work effectively, and that you hold them accountable for their projected results.
In conclusion, we’ve seen that SEO takes patience. However, companies and individuals who take the time to pursue a methodological SEO strategy will benefit from long-term ROI that pay-per-click ads are unlikely to match. As long as the company is tracking key metrics from the beginning, and allowing for a proper timeline for these efforts to take effect, the ROI of SEO is impossible to deny.
Ensure that any agency you hire is doing proper keyword research, optimizing content for search engines by including proper meta descriptions and meta tags, and distributing that content effectively. It is normal to request periodic reports on data, research, content, and results. Make sure you give the agency enough time to do their work effectively, and that you hold them accountable for their projected results.
In conclusion, we’ve seen that SEO takes patience. However, companies and individuals who take the time to pursue a methodological SEO strategy will benefit from long-term ROI that pay-per-click ads are unlikely to match. As long as the company is tracking key metrics from the beginning, and allowing for a proper timeline for these efforts to take effect, the ROI of SEO is impossible to deny.
