SEO for small businesses: Pros & cons

When it comes to SEO—Search Engine Optimization—for small businesses and nonprofits, there are pros and cons to consider. On the one hand, SEO can be a great way to bring in more traffic and increase awareness of your organization by helping rank your website higher and better in search engines like Google. However, SEO can also be expensive and time-consuming, so weighing the benefits against the costs is important.

Let’s explore the pros and cons of SEO for small businesses and nonprofits, so you can decide whether or not SEO is right for you.

Reasons you might want to invest in SEO

1. SEO can be a great way to increase awareness of your organization and traffic to your website. If your business is new, it makes your information easier to find when people search for the services or products you provide. Long gone are the days when you launched a website and rocketed to the top of the listings. It takes an investment in SEO to make that happen.
2. SEO can help you rank for organic search results, which means people will find your business online without clicking on a sponsored result or pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. With PPC campaigns, they’re only effective as long as you’re paying, and you spend way more money when you get a lot of clicks. With SEO for organic search results, you spend the same amount regardless of how much traffic you get and the benefit can be long-lasting.
3. SEO doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. In other areas of the country, many people have to spend thousands of dollars each month on SEO. In Oklahoma, many industries can see great results for much less.

Reasons you shouldn’t invest in SEO

1. If you don’t have hundreds of dollars per month to spend on SEO, it may not be a good idea. Even in Oklahoma, it may be too expensive for you, especially if you hire an agency or consultant to help with your SEO efforts.
2. Good SEO agencies and freelancers involve you in the process, which means it’s not generally hands-off. It often requires ongoing content creation and research, some of which you need to participate in or at least give feedback about.
3. Most businesses and nonprofits don’t see results from their SEO efforts right away. You can become a nearly unstoppable juggernaut after years of ongoing investment in SEO, but it often takes six months or more to start seeing results, depending on your investment and what your competitors are doing.

So, what’s the bottom line? Is SEO worth it for your small business or nonprofit? Ultimately, this decision comes down to a cost-benefit analysis. If you have the budget and the time to invest in SEO, it could be a great way to increase traffic and awareness for your organization.

If you’re not sure if it would be worth it, contact an SEO professional or agency and ask how they would determine if investing in SEO is a good fit for you.