7 Reasons Why SEO is Important and Your Business Need to Invest into It

by Mike Khorev

Is ranking on the first page of Google SERP and SEO all that important? Wouldn’t it be easier if I just pay for the paid search ads?

Like it or not, the search engines and especially Google are now very important in so many aspects of our lives: don’t know the movies currently playing on the theaters? We Google it. Feeling suddenly unwell? We Google the symptoms. Looking for a new product or service? We also Google it.

There are more than 3.2 billion searches conducted daily on Google, not counting the other search engines, and the key to getting this traffic from Google is to get ranked on the first page of the SERP.

Why? Below we will show you some of the facts on why SEO is important for any business.

1. 95% of People Won’t Go Past The First Page of Google SERP

Let’s ask ourselves: how many times have you went to the 2nd page of Google’s—or any other search engines’ — SERP last week? Or even last month?

Pretty rare, right?

It’s more common for us to click on one or two of the top results on the first page, and then forget that SERP page altogether, most of the time.

Even when we weren’t satisfied with the results we get on the first page, we tend to try another query rather than going to the second page and beyond.

Hey, the fact that Google made it really hard to go to the next page with those very small 2, 3, 4, and “next” didn’t help, and so here’s the deal: If you are not ranking on the first page of Google, you are missing out on a whopping 95% of your potential clients.

Here’s another interesting take: the #1 result is 10 times more likely to get a click compared to the #10 result on the first page, while organic CTR for position 7-10 is roughly the same.

What will this mean, then? SEO is a very important part of ranking at least in the top 6 spots, but our initial milestone is to get on that very important first page, period.

2. Organic Search Converts 500%+ Better Than Paid Search Ads

Hey, if the #1 spot of Google SERP is that important, I can just spend on the PPC ad that will be visible about the #1, right?

It’s not that simple.

While it’s true that PPC ads—or paid search ads—certainly have their benefits and can be effective in generating traffic, people trust organic search more than these paid ads, especially nowadays when Google and the other search engines made it really clear when advertising is being shown.

Bing search, we can see the “Ad” in rectangles pretty clearly.

A Similar query on Google search, with similar “Ad” notifications. Also notice the Google Maps results below the paid ads for this query, which will grab the searcher’s attention better than the PPC ads.

Also, organic search traffic is 5.66 times more likely to convert compared to those coming from paid search (PPC) ads.

In general, paid traffic coming from outbound marketing activities (advertising of any kind, sponsored posts of influencers, paid social media posts, and so on), tend to interrupt what your audience is doing and will create a barrier between the brand and the searcher.

Inbound marketing and SEO, on the other hand, provide relevant, helpful content for your audience. This can help you establish credibility, relationship, and trust, encouraging conversions.

3. Search Traffic Contributes To 50%-70% of Total Revenue

For businesses that rank on the first page, that is.

The percentage of traffic from organic search has grown tremendously in the last five years. According to BrightEdge Technologies’ latest research, only 15% of traffic is coming from paid searches generates revenue, while organic search contributes to 53% of the organic search, an increase from just 51% in 2014.

On the other hand, according to the same report, both paid and organic search traffic drives more than 72% to generate revenue for B2B businesses.

What about social media, which is often hyped as the most important marketing channel? Apparently, only 8% of traffic comes from social platforms, which will translate to a contribution to revenue of not more than 1%.

Let’s think about this for a moment. Almost 90% of consumers search online before making any purchase nowadays. Think of the last time you’ve purchased a brand new product/service? It’s almost 100% likely you’ve searched for the product or service before you made the purchase.

People know that brands can buy advertising. People know that brands can pay influencers to promote products—and began to resist it—.

On the other hand, people know that when a business is ranked #1 —or even better, as a featured snippet—for a relevant keyword, the business is definitely trustworthy since there’s no shortcut around it.

Ranked #1 and also as a featured snippet, a major source of traffic and revenue for us.

4. Google Search Results are Trusted by 89% of B2B Prospects

A common misconception is that SEO and organic search traffic are only important in the B2C environment.

This can’t be more wrong.

In fact, B2B prospects tend to be more careful when researching potential products or services to buy.

Think about this. B2B prospects are usually employee—or manager—in an organization, typically looking for a specific solution in their organization. Even when they find a potential solution, they’ll need to convince the higher-ups and the finance/accounting team for the purchase.

In short, they need to know what the product/service is actually about, accurately.

Thus, according to Google themselves, 89% of B2B researchers began their research on the internet, 71% of them began with a generic search on Google. They might not be looking for a product/service on this first search, but for an actionable solution for their current issues.

Then, after realizing there are possible solutions, they start to compare different products/services, read reviews, and so on. Meaning, a lot of Google searches.

Again, only those on the first page of Google SERP will enjoy the most benefit of first-page ranking and will know the importance of SEO.

5. B2B Prospects Attempt 12 Searches on Google Before Deciding on a Brand

Above, we have briefly discussed how B2B researchers tend to do a lot of Google searches to research business purchases.

In fact, also according to Google back in 2015, 90% of B2B researchers who are online use search specifically to find out about potential business purchases. On average, they attempt a whopping 12 searches before they finally engage with a brand’s site.

What would this mean? Most likely they are looking for brands that appear consistently, again and again during these 12 searches, and that’s how they deemed a brand ‘worthy’ of their attention—and engagement.

The lesson? You not only need to rank on one keyword/potential query—but at least several keywords. This is where SEO is important in convincing your audience that you are “the one”, and you are worth their attention.

6. Build a Consistent, Passive Source of Traffic 24/7

But it takes too long to get ranked on the first page, it’s not worth it!

Wait, don’t rush to a conclusion so fast.

While it’s true that content marketing and SEO are both long term strategies, and you should expect to wait six to eighteen months before you can see significant results, it doesn’t mean they are not worth it.

Once you get ranked on the first page of Google—better yet, if you are on the top 3 or the #1 spot—, it will turn into your most profitable channel in generating website traffic, which will convert into prospects, and in turn, will convert into actual customers.

In short, you’ll get a steady source of revenue that will work for you 24/7.

In the long run, after you’ve achieved this goal to get ranked on the first page of Google’s (and the other search engine’s) SERP, you can effectively reduce marketing costs—and maximize ROI.

As briefly mentioned before, getting ranked on the first page will also help establish your position as the thought leader of the industry, which will also (tremendously) help in driving conversions, especially in this day and age where social proofs are a very significant factor affecting purchase decisions.

Getting ranked on the first page of Google SERP is one of the best ways of establishing social proof.

7. Content Marketing and SEO Are Still The Best in Generating Revenue

According to a survey by Bizible, involving 370 digital marketers, content marketing+SEO is the top-performing marketing channel in the tech and software (IT and SaaS) industries.

Also, according to a similar survey by Contentive for 214 B2B marketers, 51% of the survey responders mentioned that content marketing provides the best ROI for their businesses. Paid search? It comes fourth at ‘only’ 32%.

There are actually several reasons for this beyond the benefits of being on the first page—as we have discussed above:

1. Content marketing provides you with flexibility in investments. It can be very expensive, sure, but you can also implement content marketing for essentially free.
2. Content marketing as part of the inbound marketing principle is less disruptive and interruptive for your audience, lowering resistance barrier and encouraging conversions
3. 1 successful content can significantly help the performance of your future content (i.e., when you get one content on the first page of SERP, it’s easier for the second to rank). This will lower the marketing costs in the future and maximize ROI.

In this very saturated digital age, a consistent publication of high-quality content is the only surefire way to establish your position as a credible brand.

End Words

The reasons, benefits and importance of SEO we have shared above are certainly not the only ones. There are many other aspects that make SEO important for virtually any B2B and B2C businesses.

Getting ranked on the first page of Google SERP—or even better, the top 3 or #1 spot—, can significantly contribute to growth in revenue and profit in so many different ways.

It’s true, however, that getting on this first page is certainly not an instantaneous thing to aim for. In general, you’ll need 6 to 12 months of consistent efforts before we can achieve this. You can check my SEO services for B2B companies and download the SEO program to learn how I rank websites on the first page of Google SERP.

Mike Khorev

I'm an SEO Consultant with over 10 years' experience, including both SEO agency-side and in-house SEO expert. I work predominantly with B2B, startups, SAAS, IT, technology and software companies who are looking to acquire new customers and add zeros to the revenue with SEO and content marketing. If you are looking for someone who is results orientated and has experience in growth marketing and sales pipelines, then connect with me on LinkedIn and schedule a free SEO consulting session!

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