Is SEO Worth It? 5 Reasons to Consider
With so many ways to attract visitors to your blog, you may be wondering: Is SEO worth it?
In this article, you’ll learn why people focus on SEO, why SEO is important, if you should focus your efforts on SEO, and much more!
You’ll also find out if SEO is worth it or not.
Is SEO Worth It?
YES. SEO is worth it.
SEO is worth it because it results in organic reach, consistent traffic and the attraction of visitors whose search intent leads to your article.
We’ll cover five more reasons below, but I believe the most important ones are stated above.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimization is the process of optimizing your blog content and website structure to rank high for the correct search terms and attract your ideal readers.
Your on-page SEO tells the Google search bots what topics you’re an expert on, while technical SEO dictates user experiences.
Based on that information, Google ranks your website in the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs).
And if you rank high, more people click through to your site.
SEO is not just about increasing the quantity of traffic to your website. It’s also about the quality.
Low-quality traffic leads to few conversions and high bounce rates that negatively affect website rankings.
For example, if your blog is about “roller skates” it should not be ranking for “supplements.” So, be sure to be clear on what you want your blog to rank for. It’s always better to niche down than to be too broad.
Therefore, SEO for bloggers means implementing strategies for ranking high on the SERPs to attract the visitors who are most likely to convert.
SEO Strategies for Your Blog
Typical SEO strategies for blogs include:
- Keyword Research
- Link Building
- Internal Linking
- Creating Topic Clusters
- Optimizing for the User Experience.
Now that you have an understanding of what SEO is and what it means for your blog. Let’s get into some key reasons why SEO is worth it.
Establishing Authority
You have to optimize your blog posts for SEO for Google to better understand your content and view you as an authority in your niche.
And that means if you optimize well for SEO, Google treats your website as an authoritative source and ranks it high on the SERPs.
Do you know what happens once your articles begin to rank on Google’s page one?
Searchers also view your blog as an authority!
People generally trust Google’s rankings which is why most people don’t scroll past page one of the search results.
So, if your articles rank well, they will enjoy high visibility. That means more people will click through to your blog posts because there’s a search intent match, which again demonstrates you as an authority.
And as an added bonus, ranking high also boosts conversion rates because properly targeted traffic is more likely to be more interested in your offers.
Long Term Traffic
Some bloggers argue that SEO is no longer relevant because there are now other marketing methods that drive web traffic. They mention social media marketing, paid ads, and so on.
Yet, none of these methods offer a better chance of long-term traffic than SEO.
A well-optimized blog post that ranks high is often rewarded with consistent traffic that lasts for months and sometimes years with little ongoing effort.
Now that’s not to say there’s NO effort required. There are two things you should do on an ongoing basis:
- Link back to those popular blog posts internally whenever it makes sense. That will help to send fresh signals to search engines like Google that the blog post is still important.
- Keep updating the posts as well. That will keep the posts up to date and increase chances of ranking high as time goes on.
So, getting long-term traffic is another reason why SEO is worth it.
No Need for Paid Ads to Get Traffic
Google displays two types of results – organic results and paid ads. And website owners sometimes pay Google to advertise web pages for certain keywords.
But, if you’re like me, you probably skip past those ads most of the time when you’re searching for something on the web. Am I right?
When your blog ranks high on Google using SEO, it’s constantly visible to thousands of people without the need for Google or Facebook ads to get traffic.
As someone who runs ads on occasion, I know for a fact that running ads can get expensive. As an example, some of my recent ads had an average cost of close to $1.00 per click.
With even a low $10 per day budget, at the end of the month you’ve spent $300 for 300 clicks.
A well-optimized blog can easily get well over 300 clicks in just one day with SEO. Given that, I’ll take SEO over paid ads any day!
More Chances at Monetization
By implementing good SEO strategies on your blog, you’re more likely to attract high-quality traffic and more of it.
That’s important because your chances are better at making money with display ads, affiliate marketing and paid products when you’re getting a lot of traffic to your blog.
In some cases, there are also minimum traffic requirements for display ads and affiliate products. By using good SEO techniques, your blog is more likely to get the traffic needed to meet those requirements.
More Lead Generation Opportunities
Most bloggers know that building an email list is important if you want to keep traffic coming back to your blog.
Building an email list is also important if you want to sell your own products, or even get the word out about products you are an affiliate for.
But to build an email list, you need traffic to come to your blog and to the landing pages you’ve built for your lead magnets.
So, with good SEO practices leading to lots of traffic, you’re more likely to increase your lead generation opportunities. Of course, you can always pay for traffic, but isn’t free traffic better?
Frequently Asked Questions
No, SEO is not dead. Blogs still use Search Engine Optimization to demonstrate authority, rank high in the SERPs and achieve consistent traffic.
Yes, SEO is still relevant. People are still searching for information via search engines and you have to make sure that your blog content stands out among your competition.
No, SEO is not a waste of money. You’re investing in a strategy that will bring you a constant flow of high-quality traffic over a long time, leading to more blog visitors and conversions down the road.
SEO is a good investment because you pay up front with time or money, but then reap the benefits many times over. Benefits like brand authority, expertise, relevance to your visitors, increased lead generation and passive income.
Conclusion: Is SEO Worth It?
As you have seen, SEO is still worth it. It would be a mistake not to start implementing SEO strategies for your blog today.
Be patient though, because blog SEO is a long game. You may not see results right away. But, in the long run, you’ll enjoy the reward of lots of traffic for your efforts.
I hope you found this article helpful. Are there any other reasons why you think SEO is still worth it, or not?
Let me know in the comments below.
