7 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Wait To Invest In SEO

The growth of the Internet (and Google) has provided one of the most powerful and cost-effective methods of marketing and growing a business this decade. The businesses that take advantage of the Internet are seeing massive growth year after year. And while there are many online marketing strategies that businesses can use to drive sales and business growth, one stands out from the crowd… SEO.

SEO is one of the most powerful methods any business can use to drive sales and growth on a limited budget. Whether you are investing in SEO or not, you can be fairly certain that your competition already is. Here are 7 reasons why you shouldn’t wait to invest in SEO…

1. Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising is becoming more expensive every day – while PPC advertising is one of the best methods of marketing a business online it is becoming more expensive every day with the average click costs rising significantly year after year. Making PPC advertising profitable is becoming a difficult endeavor that requires years of PPC advertising expertise, a high converting website and a very strong offer. With SEO, because you are not paying for each visitor, it is much easier to earn a profit.

2. SEO provides the best return on investment over the long term – When you compare $1000 per month spent on PPC advertising (which is the second most effective online marketing method) vs. $1000 per month spent on SEO, the SEO campaign will significantly outperform the PPC campaign over 12 months, in most cases.

3. Competition is growing in every market – as SEO becomes more widely accepted as a reputable marketing channel the number of competitors in your industry looking to invest in SEO will continue to grow. The more that your competitors invest in SEO, the more difficult AND expensive it will get. Taking action now will give you a distinct advantage.

4. It is much easier to maintain an SEO ranking than it is to achieve one – while the competition is increasing daily, it is much harder for a new site to break the top 10 rankings than it is for a site to maintain their ranking when they get there. Businesses investing in SEO now will make it easier to maintain rankings and drive sales in the future.

5. Competition isn’t too strong… yet – the good news is that the competition in most markets isn’t too strong yet. While nearly all markets require an investment in SEO to achieve top rankings, the investment is still affordable for most businesses. This won’t be the case for much longer, especially as more of your competition starts to invest in SEO.

6. SEO takes time – because SEO is a longer term investment, smart business owners are investing in SEO today so they can reap the benefit in 6 to 12 months from now. They know that if they wait another 6 months or a year, it might take 12 to 18 months to achieve a top ranking, if they can achieve it at all.

7. It’s getting harder every day – with all of the obvious benefits that SEO provides, the cost and time it takes to achieve a top ranking is increasing every day. Google is continually releasing new products and updating its search algorithm. Businesses with top SEO rankings are continuing to reinvest in SEO so they maintain their position. Achieving SEO rankings will soon be out of the reach of most small businesses.

There still exists a window of opportunity for most businesses to profit from SEO, but we have seen the difficulty and associated cost of achieving a top ranking for a profitable keyword phrase more than double in the last few years. While the returns from SEO continue to support the increased SEO investment required to achieve a top ranking, this trend doesn’t look like ending anytime soon.

What has your experience been with SEO? Has it been easier or more difficult to achieve or maintain a top SEO ranking? Please share your experience below.