Crafting an Argument for SEO Investment: Persuading Your Top Executive
In today's digital age, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has become a crucial tool for businesses looking to expand their reach and boost their revenue. This article will delve into how SEO can drive significant growth for various types of businesses, focusing on quantifiable business outcomes.
Revenue Growth
A comprehensive SEO program can yield substantial results, as demonstrated by a case study where organic revenue increased by 14%, achieving a 509% Return on Investment (ROI) through improved visibility and keyword rankings on the first pages, leading to more sales [1]. Another example saw a 39.45% revenue increase ($123.6k to $174.5k) tied to a 93% jump in transactions after SEO improvements [3].
Lead Quality & Conversion
SEO is not just about attracting more traffic; it's about attracting the right traffic—qualified leads likely to convert. For B2B businesses, SEO efforts have been known to double qualified demo requests by targeting industry-specific keywords and improving site conversion rates from 1.2% to 2.5% on organic traffic, directly influencing sales pipelines [2].
Strategic Reporting
To make SEO's impact clear to business leaders, it's essential to present data in a CEO-friendly manner. Reports should focus on key metrics such as qualified organic traffic, conversion rates from SEO, marketing qualified leads (MQLs), and pipeline revenue generated from organic channels. Avoiding technical jargon and focusing on what matters—impact on revenue and growth—is key [4].
Long-term Growth & Pipeline
SEO strategies, when executed well, can create a sustainable growth engine, contributing to business expansion and competitive advantage. AI SEO strategies, for instance, have generated daily sales-qualified leads and a multimillion-dollar sales pipeline [5].
SEO as an Investment
SEO should be seen as an investment that drives higher rankings for valuable search terms, resulting in increased organic revenue and market share. It generates better-qualified traffic that converts more efficiently into leads or sales. Furthermore, it creates data-backed ROI with clear links between SEO activities and financial outcomes [6].
Local Businesses
For local businesses, SEO can help increase traffic for underperforming locations by creating city-level landing pages optimized for 'best (service) near me' searches. Additionally, claiming and completing all business listings across platforms, keeping services, prices, hours, and location up to date on all listings, and getting detailed customer reviews that mention specific features or results are essential to help AI find and recommend local businesses [7].
In conclusion, by linking SEO KPIs directly to business metrics CEOs care about—revenue growth, lead quality, conversion rate improvements, and ROI—companies can demonstrate the value of SEO in driving business growth. Real case studies and clear, jargon-free executive summaries in reports can help make this connection [1][2][3][4][5][6][7].
[1] Moz.com, Case Study: How We Increased Organic Revenue by 14% and Achieved a 509% ROI. (2020). Retrieved from https://moz.com/blog/case-study-how-we-increased-organic-revenue-by-14-and-achieved-a-509-roi
[2] Neil Patel, How to Double Your B2B Leads with SEO: A Step-by-Step Guide. (2020). Retrieved from https://neilpatel.com/blog/b2b-leads-seo/
[3] Ahrefs, How to Find SEO Opportunities to Increase Your Organic Traffic by 100%. (2021). Retrieved from https://ahrefs.com/blog/increase-organic-traffic/
[4] SEMrush, How to Create SEO Reports for Executives: A Comprehensive Guide. (2020). Retrieved from https://www.semrush.com/blog/seo-reporting-for-executives/
[5] Backlinko, The Advanced Guide to AI SEO: How to Optimize for Google's AI in 2022. (2022). Retrieved from https://backlinko.com/ai-seo
[6] HubSpot, The Ultimate Guide to SEO: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Do It. (2021). Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/ultimate-guide-seo
[7] Google My Business, How to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing for Local SEO. (2020). Retrieved from https://support.google.com/business/answer/2946721?hl=en&ref_topic=6377408
- For businesses, SEO serves not only as a tool for revenue growth but also as an investment that boosts organic revenue and market share by generating better-qualified traffic that converts efficiently.
- Strategies such as executing AI SEO strategies and optimizing city-level landing pages for 'best (service) near me' searches can create a sustainable growth engine for local businesses, driving increased traffic and competitive advantage.
- In addition to quantifiable business outcomes like revenue growth and ROI, SEO significantly impacts lead quality and conversion by targeting industry-specific keywords and improving site conversion rates.
- To fully comprehend the benefits of SEO, companies should focus on presenting data in CEO-friendly formats, highlighting key metrics such as qualified organic traffic, conversion rates from SEO, marketing qualified leads (MQLs), and pipeline revenue generated from organic channels.
