Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for brands aiming to grow their customer base and bottom line.
Given that SEO is a long-term strategy that demands substantial time and resources, it’s crucial for these companies to ensure they’re generating maximum return on investment (ROI).
Measuring ROI in SEO is integral in refining your strategies, avoiding wasted resources and ensuring sustained profitability.
In this guide, we help you maximize your SEO revenue by delving into these topics:
• Why SEO Is a Profitable Investment
• The Real Cost of SEO Investments
• How To Measure SEO ROI
• Essential Metrics for SEO ROI Tracking
• 3 Strategies for Maximizing ROI SEO
Why SEO Is a Profitable Investment
SEO is the practice of improving the quality and quantity of your online traffic coming from search engines. With the right strategies, it could help increase brand awareness, attract ready-to-buy leads and build brand credibility.
Uncover the tangible impact of SEO on your business:
1. SEO Increases Organic Discovery
SEO’s true strength lies in drawing organic visibility, which results in increased website traffic. In fact, 68.7% of all clicks go to the top three organic search results (First Page Sage). Since SEO marketing is hyper-targeted and customer-centric, you can guarantee that your content appears exactly when users are searching for you.
2. SEO Provides 24/7 Promotion
SEO doesn’t clock out when the workday ends. Unlike pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, which disappears when the budget runs dry, the rankings earned through SEO keep promoting your website 24/7. This constant visibility allows you to reach and engage with your audience at any time.
3. SEO Targets the Entire Marketing Funnel
About 53% of U.S. consumers say they use a search engine to conduct research before making a purchase decision. Integrating SEO best practices with content marketing allows you to reach customers at every phase of the entire marketing funnel.
SEO strategically weaves keywords into a range of content types. For instance, blog posts addressing the top or middle of the funnel might not trigger instant conversions, yet they’re essential in cultivating brand awareness. As users progress through the funnel, SEO can help optimize landing pages and inspire visitors to take desired actions.
4. SEO Demonstrates Credibility
The higher a page ranks, the more likely it is to be a credible and trusted source. High rankings suggest that search engines recognize and endorse the value of your content, instilling confidence in users seeking authoritative information.
5. SEO Creates a Foundation for Long-Term Growth
While it may take time to see search engine optimization ROI, the benefits of SEO are often long-lasting. Once your website ranks well, it will continue to attract high-converting users over an extended period. This sustained visibility makes it more challenging for competitors to surpass your ranking position.
The Real Cost of SEO Investments
To achieve maximum ROI SEO, it’s essential to determine the factors affecting the pricing of SEO services:
1. The Size of the Website
The size of a website varies based on its intended purpose. For instance, a personal blog may only contain a few dozen pages, whereas a global eCommerce site may have hundreds of pages depending on the number of products it’s selling. The more pages you have, the more effort is needed to optimize your entire website for search engines.
2. Current Search Rankings
The cost of SEO would also depend on whether you’re already ranking for certain keywords or are starting from scratch. If your website is starting with lower or no organic rankings, the initial SEO work involves creating a foundation for visibility. This may include extensive keyword research, on-page optimizations and building a backlink profile, all of which can demand more time and resources.
3. Your Website’s Technical Health
Technical elements like site structure, loading speed and mobile optimization influence the required SEO effort. This is why SEO strategies often start with thorough website audits. Moreover, Google’s constant algorithm updates mean that certain technical SEO practices may not be as effective today. Addressing these issues and staying up-to-date with algorithm shifts can impact costs.
4. Competition
In highly competitive industries or niche markets, securing top rankings may demand more robust SEO strategies. These may include regular content updates, backlink building and technical optimizations.
5. Target Audience
The scope of the target audience, whether local or global, can influence the complexity of SEO efforts. Targeting a broader market may require additional work and the use of more expensive keywords.
How To Measure SEO ROI
The formula for calculating SEO ROI is straightforward. Similar to any investment, it involves dividing profit by costs.
Here’s the basic SEO ROI formula:
ROI of SEO = [Organic Revenue – Cost of SEO Campaign] / Cost of SEO campaign
Cost of SEO:
• The retainer fee or costs to an agency or vendor
• Costs of doing business in-house
Organic Revenue:
• Sales earned from organic search marketing (This data can be derived from Google Analytics)
Knowing how to measure search engine optimization ROI enables you to make informed decisions, justify marketing budgets and ensure continuous improvement.
Essential Metrics for SEO ROI Tracking
Monitoring these metrics not only ensures effective ROI tracking but also lets you pinpoint gaps in your strategies and maximize profitability.
1. Organic Traffic
Measuring ROI requires examining your organic traffic. This refers to website visitors who discover your pages through organic search results, as opposed to engaging with a paid advertisement.
Traffic can originate from different sources, including search engines and social media platforms. Narrowing your focus to organic traffic lets you measure your website’s search visibility for targeted keywords. This can help you gauge the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.
2. Conversions
Conversion rate stands out as a top key performance indicator (KPI) for more than one in three marketing leaders (HubSpot). This metric reveals how much organic traffic translates into desired actions, such as purchases, sign-ups or inquiries.
3. Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR represents the percentage of search engine users who click on a search result. While it’s largely based on ranking position, CTR is also influenced by factors such as the result’s title tag, description and URL. The average website has an SEO CTR of 13% (HubSpot).
The formula to calculate CTR is:
(Clicks / Impressions) x 100
4. Core Web Vitals
Google Core Web Vitals are metrics that assess a website’s overall user experience. Improved loading speed and responsiveness help boost user satisfaction, which can lead to longer time spent on your site and increased ROI of SEO.
5. Top Ranking Keywords
Knowing which keywords you’re ranking for lets you gauge your organic search visibility share. This knowledge allows you to strategically allocate resources and boost SEO return on investment. For instance, these insights help you decide whether to strengthen your presence for well-performing keywords or explore new opportunities.
3 Strategies for Maximizing ROI SEO
Here’s a quick guide on how to get the best value from your SEO efforts:
1. Operate a Fast, Mobile-Friendly Website
Google prioritizes sites that are responsive and fast-loading on all screens and browsers. As such, taking care of your site’s technical health leads to greater search visibility. At the same time, a positive user experience helps enhance customer retention and search engine optimization ROI.
2. Target Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords typically consist of three or more words, such as “how to measure SEO ROI” or “affordable digital marketing courses.”
They help increase potential SEO revenue because they have less competition and target more specific search intents. Rather than aiming for maximum website traffic, long-tail keywords allow you to attract the most relevant and qualified visitors.
3. Leverage Google’s Popular Product Search Feature
Another way to boost SEO return on investment is by leveraging Google’s Popular Products. This SERP feature allows users to quickly browse and buy products that match their search queries. When they search for an item, a list of 10 or 12 most relevant products appears, complete with images, pricing and reviews.
The Popular Products section is free and organic, allowing sellers to reach more shoppers and increase their SEO return on investment.
You need a Google Merchant account to submit your product listings and incorporate product schema into your site’s product details pages (PDPs). Improve your chances of being featured by including product reviews and including relevant keywords in your product titles.
Skyrocket Your SEO Revenue With Thrive
By continuously measuring ROI of SEO and crucial performance metrics, SEO can pave the way for profitable gains.
If you’re ready to explore what SEO can do for your business, Thrive can help. We employ local SEO and link building techniques, empowering clients to secure top rankings and outshine their competitors.
Reach out to our team today and let us help you make the most of your SEO investments.
