Why Invest in SEO? How Organic Search Helps Your Business Grow

Businesses have always followed market and consumer trends to find and win new customers. For years now, consumers have been tuning out traditional advertising (radio, TV, print, billboards) and turning to search instead, looking for answers at the exact moment a need comes up. That’s precisely the moment SEO (search engine optimization) is built to capture.

How many times a day do you pull out your phone to ask a search engine (usually Google) something? To check a fact that came up in conversation, find a good restaurant nearby, or track down a product or service right when you need it?

Now imagine that, at that very moment, a potential customer is searching for one of your services. Ask yourself: will my website show up near the top of Google’s results, and will I win a new lead, or will that prospect go to a competitor because my site isn’t optimized for search?

Most Clicks Go to the Top Results

Does your website show up on page two or three of Google for the most important keywords in your industry? Then you’re missing out on a steady stream of visitors and leads every day. A 2019 Backlinko study of more than 5 million Google searches found that the No. 1 organic result got 31.7% of clicks, while only 0.78% of searchers clicked a result on page two. Put simply, the better your site ranks, the more leads you attract and the more your revenue can grow.

The results page has changed a lot since then. AI Overviews, ads, maps, and other features now often sit above the classic blue links, which makes strong rankings even more valuable. The pages that rank well, with clear, trustworthy content, are also the ones Google’s AI features are most likely to cite. That’s why SEO now goes hand in hand with AI search optimization (GEO), and we explain the difference in our guide to SEO vs. GEO.

Grow Your Traffic and Leads With SEO

SEO doesn’t deliver instant results, unlike a Google Ads campaign, for example. Your site won’t jump to the top of Google the day after you start, because optimizing a website’s content, structure, and technical foundation takes work and time. But once search engines have picked up the improvements, results build steadily, and unlike paid clicks, they don’t stop the moment you stop paying. If you’re weighing the two, see whether Google Ads is worth it for your business.

Organic traffic is also some of the most qualified traffic you can get: people find you because they’re actively looking for what you offer. That’s the core reason to invest in SEO, and our steps to improve your Google ranking show where to start.

Want to Improve Your Rankings on Google?

Référenceur is a French-speaking digital marketing agency from Belgium and Luxembourg, with more than 15 years of SEO experience. We work with businesses remotely, through video calls, shared screens, and monthly reporting. Get a free assessment to see where your site stands and where the opportunities are.