Is SEO worth it if you buy prime placement on the search results page with Google Ads? Does it make sense to invest in your website in the age of social media? When you're running a small business, you want to make sure everything you spend your money on is a worthwhile investment, and many small business owners we work with aren't sure if SEO will benefit them.


We know the internet has changed a lot in the past decade, and you may be wondering if you should invest in SEO or pay your 13-year-old neighbor to manage your viral TikTok for dental treatment.


Here's what you need to know if SEO is worth it in 2022.


Is SEO Still Worth It for Small Businesses in 2022?



What is SEO?


First things first, what is SEO?


SEO is search engine optimization. This is your search engine optimization. More specifically, the goal of SEO is to have your website rank high in search results for certain important keywords. For a dentist, this could be "Dentist in Chicago" or "Dentist near me". If you run an online retailer, it might be "buy earrings online" or "best shoes".


Decades ago, when the internet and search engines became mainstream, SEO became easier. You searched for "Chicago dentist" or "buy candles online". Bingo, bongo, bongo, rocket jives, and you've made a lot of money.


Eventually, people realized that they could play with the effect and make it look better by repeating keywords, or making keywords the same color as the background, or vibrating the lowercase letters at the bottom of the page. This naturally led to the development of smarter ways to rank search engines and websites.


These games and search engines have brought us to where we are today: SEO is a complex balance of on-page and off-page factors. Not only are these words important, they matter. It is also about the quality and quantity of links from other websites. It's about the overall quality of your site, browsing speed, design and text quality.


Basically, it has a lot to do with SEO and it has been very intensive. That doesn't mean you can't do it yourself – you absolutely can, and we've helped teach and empower thousands of small business owners to make SEO improvements through training and webinars. So, if you want to work in SEO, you have to choose whether to invest your time or money.


At the beginning of this post, we asked whether search engine optimization is necessary.


Read More: 2022's Best SEO Company Primelis: Rank Fast On Google (USA) | World’s 1



Benefits of SEO Campaigns


We are a digital marketing company offering SEO services. We believe that search engine optimization is very expensive. But don't just take our word for it - ask! You'd be hard-pressed to find a small business owner who doesn't think SEO is worth the investment. How much can you do with a thriving business without a functioning website? Are you at the top of the Google search results page?


Here are the main benefits of investing in SEO


Attract customers who are ready to buy

People who find your site through search are looking for what you have to offer. SEO allows you to attract targeted traffic from users who are actively searching for your product or service. The magic happens when their search intent matches what you have to offer.


Once You’re Ranking, the Incremental Traffic Is Free


Google Ads is awesome - we love Google Ads! But the moment you stop paying them, the traffic stops too. (Womp belly.) SEO doesn't work that way. If you make an initial investment and have to slow things down, then traffic to your website will also dry up. You will continue to receive search traffic because the work is still done.


Now, you still need to put in the constant work (or financial investment) to stay ahead of your competitors and maintain your position over time. Dropping traffic isn't as dangerous as stopping pay-per-click.


Good SEO helps make a difference


When you rank well, it gives your business credibility and makes sales easier when potential customers see you as trustworthy. Ranking high on search engine results pages increases your customers' trust and brand recognition.


Well optimized websites help in conversion. What does it mean? This means your website;


  1. In good condition. That makes a lot of sense! You have a clear hierarchy of categories and pages, not collections. Users can easily navigate from any page on your website.

  2. Every word. Minimal web design has been trending for decades for one reason: it makes websites more user-friendly.

  3. Full of good content. Don't create content for the sake of creating content. Create great content that's useful and engaging, and that people want to share.


When your website meets these criteria, it results in lower bounce rates, more time spent online, and more conversions. This is good news for your business.


Possible ROI from SEO


Here are the benefits of SEO to dive deeper into: its ROI. Now, like most marketing efforts, SEO ROI can be difficult to predict. But before investing in SEO, you can measure your traffic and conversions to see if it's a worthwhile investment.


How Much Does SEO Cost?


Whether you're starting a personal project or not, the services available and SEO costs often vary. with;


  1. How big is your site and how many pages do you need to update?

  2. How much new content should you create?

  3. How many technical problems do you need to solve?

  4. If you're a small brick and mortar business, do you have multiple places to post or edit your business profile details?

  5. How many links do you currently have on your site? Got a spam link to check?

  6. How strong is your competition? Where are they now?

  7. Are there areas you and your team are working on?

  8. Our monthly SEO fees range from $500 to $3000 per month and typically $750 to $1000 per month. A higher budget allows us to do more each month, helping us achieve stronger results.


When calculating ROI in search engine optimization, you need to determine how much a new client or customer is worth. For example, a lawyer may charge thousands of dollars for a new case. So in this case, you may need to pay $1500 per month for SEO services to get a new client.


How long does it take to get SEO results?


One of the most common questions we get from our clients about SEO is: How long does it take to see results?


Unlike Google Ads, you won't get instant traffic and SEO results. It's a process, and it takes time and a lot of patience. Determining whether or not SEO is necessary for your business can be difficult, but it's worth giving it a shot before throwing in the towel.


Ultimately, the time it takes to see results from SEO services depends on the strength of your competition, your website, and on-page optimization.


Starting with SEO, you can invest 6-12 months in optimization for a new website. Here are some cases where you can see quick results within 3 months. This is often due to factors such as low competition.


Conversely, we often find that basic optimization of a website that is not optimized for search engines can produce results in 3-6 months.


This means that we require our clients to be willing to invest at least 6 months into SEO, and that investment should be long-term to stay ahead of the competition. If you are worried about making a financial investment in SEO, take your time and do it yourself. We have educational resources (lists, ebooks, courses) and affordable tips to help you get started.


Why is local SEO a huge opportunity?


We recommend that small businesses learn local SEO, which includes a wide range of SEO techniques, as well as specialized techniques such as optimizing local business profiles and reviewing customer inquiries.


Local SEO pays because people buy local search results, so traffic turns into sales. Many local business services also have a relatively high client base, which allows for a high ROI from SEO.


Additionally, you will see results and improvements with local SEO because there is less competition for local searches compared to national searches. If you're a web designer, you can work for clients anywhere in the world, but if you don't invest in local SEO, you could be missing out on valuable revenue.


Why did you start now?


SEO is truly a zero sum game. SEO is competitive over time, so if you want to make it on Google, you have to work somewhere.


Don't let it put you off, but it's never too late to start. It's like an investment. It's nice to be down with Tesla stock, but buying stock last year is better than not buying at all, right? Investing in SEO will increase your income in the future.


The Bottom Line


If you haven't read this extensive article and don't have the time to check out the value of SEO in 2022, here's what you need to know;


Yes, SEO has value – in 2022, in the future, in the past and always. SEO is important when it comes to websites and search engines. SEO in 10 years will be very different from SEO today, but you should always make sure that your website is sending the right signal to search engines.

So, how long it takes to get a return on your investment depends on the strength of your competition and how far along you are in the process of optimizing your website.

If you're new to SEO, now's the time to get started.