Unraveling the Value of Monthly SEO Services for Your Local Business

Digital Marketing, and by extension Search Engine Optimization (SEO), has come into sharp focus as an essential tool for businesses in the internet age. These strategies have completely revolutionized marketing, dwarfing traditional media like TV and print. Companies like Amazon have demonstrated this shift, rising to prominence while long-standing giants like Sears and Toys R Us fell. Digital interaction has become a norm; people are more likely to find your website before they visit your physical location.

Amazon's success story illustrates the power of digital marketing. The online retail giant, without a single physical storefront, is currently the 7th largest retailer globally.

Search marketing is one of the most critical channels of digital marketing alongside social media, display advertising, and email marketing. In fact, in 2017 digital marketing budgets surpassed TV advertising spending with search engines playing a pivotal role in this trend.

To put things into perspective, search engines generate approximately 200 billion searches every month. By 2019, it's projected that the number of search engine users will surpass 236 million people in the USA alone. Furthermore, statistics show that a majority of businesses prioritize increasing their organic online presence and that local businesses benefit greatly from local searches conducted on mobile phones.

The rise of digital marketing and search engines' significant contributions underscore why search engine marketing should be part of any business's strategy. There are two types: sponsored search (PPC) and organic search (SEO). While both are valuable, SEO offers more cost-effectiveness and higher return on investment when done right.

So when you ask yourself "Is it worth paying for monthly SEO services?", consider what you stand to lose if your business doesn't appear in search engine results. The potential for driving business through search engines is massive, with only referrals topping search-based traffic. If executed correctly, an SEO investment can be a highly lucrative marketing strategy.

So why not just a single SEO effort? Why the need for a long-term strategy? Well, SEO is more of a marathon than a sprint. Websites don't leap from the 1000th spot to the first on Google overnight. Building trust with search engines takes time. Search algorithms are updated frequently (Google updates theirs over 500 times a year) and they evaluate over 200 signals when ranking websites. Therefore, maintaining your SEO efforts is crucial to stay relevant as these changes occur.

The biggest mistake you could make would be to treat SEO as a one-off project. Your competitors certainly won’t stop after one try, so why should you? This isn't something to be taken lightly; your business's online visibility is at stake here.

However, caution should be exercised when selecting an SEO company to partner with for these services. Unfortunately, some companies are not honest or competent in their practices. As such, it's important to thoroughly vet potential partners before entrusting them with this aspect of your digital marketing strategy.