Well, it’s 2023 and we’re still trying to convince businesses that SEO isn’t just a fancy acronym for “a few extra options.”
It’s like trying to teach an old dog new tricks, except the dog is a business and the trick is “not being invisible in search engine results.”
Some things never change.
It is not the fault of the management of the company. In most cases, they are SEO conscious. Still, some don’t understand the value it can bring.
This is a problem when there are competing budgets and the appeal of other, more familiar marketing strategies.
You’ve probably heard this before, but educating your leads on SEO is one of the most important things you can do to convince them of the value of SEO.
And that means you need to show how SEO is a strategic initiative for any business and deserves a seat at the table.
Here are the steps you can take to help leadership understand why they can’t ignore SEO and why they should get excited.
1. Define SEO
Depending on the type of business you are dealing with, you may need to start with the basics.
This means explaining what SEO actually does and how it can support core marketing goals.
An explanation can be something as simple as:
What is SEO: SEO improves a website so that it performs better in search engine results.
The benefit of SEO: The benefit of SEO is to generate more targeted traffic to the website.
The goal of SEO: The goal of SEO is ultimately to generate more revenue for the business through the ability of the website and business to convert leads from search results.
2. Explain the value of SEO
With the basics out of the way, you can dive into why a business can’t ignore search engines as a marketing channel.
The following concepts may help:
Your target audience uses a search engine
Google processes 5.9 million searches per minute. It’s not about whether people are in the search engines.
It’s about connecting the dots between people’s searches and business benefits.
Show leadership how people search for the things the company offers (a little keyword data here can help).
Then explain how SEO supports the customer journey. For example:
71% of people turned to search engines to discover them and 74% used them to consider/buy, according to Forrester Research. 43% of consumer goods shoppers have used search in their shopping journey for inspiration, navigation or research, for Google data.
Your competition is benefiting from the search engines, and you are not
Have them look at the websites that come up when people search for what the company offers.
Tell them how much traffic they are potentially getting from being visible in search results.
Cite studies that show how much organic search traffic is possible from securing the top spots, such as: this, this i this.
Then explain how this traffic can lead to income.
For example, across five sectors, the organic search channel contributed the most revenue with an average of 44.6%, BrightEdge research found.
And B2B companies in particular generated twice as much revenue from organic search as from any other channel.
So the next question to leadership is: would you like a piece of the pie or not?
Your digital ads are important, but what happens if you turn them off?
Digital ads are a favorite of many marketing programs. More than 60% of digital spending goes to payment channels, a Gartner Research 2022.
In search engine marketing, paid ads, if done right, can secure a top spot in search results and provide near-instant gratification.
And while pay-per-click (PPC) ads have their place, you’ll need to show leadership how putting all your eggs in one basket isn’t a smart strategy.
Explain what would happen if they were to opt out of their ads (meaning they would disappear from search results entirely).
Now contrast this with the results they can see from SEO.
Yes, there is usually a larger upfront investment to get things going, and yes, it can take months (six months on average) to see results.
But once you start realizing those results, you own that traffic, meaning no one can take it away from you for non-payment.
Some websites that have generated value over time from SEO continue to generate increasing amounts of traffic to a website for years to come.
3. Dispel common SEO myths
Even if leadership initially sees the value, they may be skeptical. There are many common SEO beliefs that are false.
Now is your chance to address all the perceived pain points on their minds.
Here are a few:
Myth: “SEO is unreliable”
Maybe the members of the management team are tired website traffic headlines disappear overnight due to an algorithm update.
They may be wary of investing time and resources in something perceived as unstable. That’s why it’s important to rethink how leadership thinks about algorithm updates.
So here are some talking points:
SEO’s job is not to beat the algorithm. We’ll never know exactly how the algorithm works, and we don’t have to. We just need to create a great website using SEO best practices and be “less imperfect” compared to our competitors. This will help us better weather any algorithmic storm. Check out my article on how to survive a basic Google update and come out on top for more.
Google usually gives a warning for important updates. If there’s something really big on the horizon, Google will usually give you plenty of time to prepare. A good SEO strategy stays on top of all potential changes and responds accordingly.
A final take-home note: Like investing in the stock market, SEO is a long-term strategy with inevitable ups and downs. But sticking with it for the long haul allows websites to reap the rewards.
Myth: “SEO is a one-time thing”
Decision makers can sometimes mistakenly believe that SEO is simply a matter of ticking off a few items on a checklist and calling it a day.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Make sure leadership knows they’re investing in a long-term strategy… as in the entire lifecycle of a website.
As a business strategy in a complex and ever-changing environment (change in search results, changes in competition, changes in the economy, etc.), SEO is always on: proactively managing the things we can anticipate and react to expertly to things beyond our control.
As ex-Googler Kaspar Szymanski says:
“At industry conferences, attendees hear people say it’s important to do well” to rank. This is true, but not entirely accurate. Like any other investment of the company in assets, over time this same investment will inevitably be depleted.
Best practices of the past become outdated or completely obsolete. To keep up with the competition, especially in the most lucrative niches, SEO should be considered an ongoing effort with periodic planned bursts of increased activity scheduled in advance.
Some factors, such as rendering of fragments, which directly affect user experience and signals, must be continuously monitored and improved. The same applies to page performance, which again is directly responsible for how users experience the website.
Other factors, such as managing backlink liabilities, may only require one-off checks and be part of an annual on-page and off-page SEO audit.”
In other words, a haphazard approach to SEO will not produce results.
Check out my article on how to implement SEO, even in the face of common challenges, for more information.
Myth: “You can’t measure SEO”
Digital ads have ruined SEO in terms of where executives want to spend their budgets.
The instant gratification of paying for an ad and seeing a direct result is intoxicating.
Earlier, I talked about explaining how traffic can be turned into revenue. This is an important concept.
However, you also want to make sure leadership understands the job of SEO and how it relates to other important concepts like turning traffic into revenue.
The best way to measure SEO success is through traffic to a website.
Let me repeat this: The best way to measure SEO success is through traffic to a website.
To measure, the company will need to track the total number of website visitors from organic search traffic and ensure that it has experienced positive growth over time.
But what about conversions? This is where it gets tricky.
Here’s the thing: SEO’s job is to generate traffic. It is the job of a website/business to convert these visitors.
A good SEO program:
Generate targeted traffic. Create a good user experience so visitors are more likely to convert. Track conversions from organic traffic.
But leadership must know how to enter an SEO program that to get the most benefits, it will have to invest in facilitating the conversion of a potential customer.
Consider all the factors that go into converting a lead: a conversion-optimized website, the company’s sales process, the price of the products or services, the features of the product or service, etc.
All of these things are out of the hands of an SEO team. Therefore, leadership must clearly understand that qualified traffic is the most important metric to show SEO success.
Yes, they will always want to know what results they can finally see.
You can come armed with case studies of similar websites or companies to show what they might expect.
And you can explain how to use platforms like Google Analytics to see how the organic search channel is contributing to your company’s leads and sales.
There always are calculations you can use to estimate SEO results.
4. Pilot a project
Sometimes the proof is in the pudding.
Suggest piloting an SEO project if you’ve gotten far enough with the leadership team to pique their interest.
Consider starting with an in-depth technical SEO audit. This will show them all the website issues that are hindering search engine success.
Then get them to commit to implementing the highest priority items.
While the results of these efforts are coming to fruition, you can think about an SEO initiative that can support a key group or business target for the company.
Maybe it’s a website redesign, a new product or service, or something else. Build an SEO strategy to help that team or initiative be more successful.
Sometimes small wins lead to a bigger commitment to SEO in the long run.
Guide decision makers to the right decision
In a world where marketing channels are always competing for budget, you need to help facilitate the leadership team’s decision to invest in SEO.
The views expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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