Is SEO Worth It? We Did the Math (+ Helpful Examples)

Yes, SEO is worth it. It drives brand awareness, brings quality traffic to your website, and can lead to increased conversions — but that’s not the whole story.

Google search now shows AI overviews for 15% of queries, according to reports.

Since users are finding many of their answers directly on search engine result pages (SERPs), this question is as prevalent as ever: Is SEO worth it?

It’s a big question. That’s why we tapped an SEO expert to help us find the answer.

Let’s break it down in more detail.

Is SEO worth the investment?

To be clear: Yes, SEO is still valuable for business growth.

“SEO’s value proposition is evolving, not diminishing,” says Hayden Pochop, SEO manager at HawkSEM. “While Google’s search generative experience answers some queries directly on SERPs, it also creates new opportunities.”

He adds that businesses now need to optimize for featured snippets, focus on long-tail keywords, and create more comprehensive content. This shift actually makes SEO more important for those who can adapt their strategies to capture attention in this new environment.

After all, optimizing your website for search engines (like Google and Bing) helps you connect with more people online. The result: The ability to drive more potential customers to your site.

However, SEO’s true “worth” varies from one company to another. It depends on factors like:

1. Current search engine rankings
2. Click-through rates (CTR) from search results
3. Conversion rates on your website
4. The lifetime value of each customer
5. The amount you’re investing in SEO

To gauge whether SEO is profitable for your business, you need to do some calculations.

Let’s say your bakery ranks number one on Google for “best chocolate cake in New York.”

That ranking brings in 50 new customers a week with a good conversion rate. Each customer spends an average of $30. In a month, SEO is helping you drive $6,000 in revenue.

If your monthly investment in SEO is $2,000, the ROI calculation is straightforward: your SEO has helped bring in $6,000 from new customers against a cost of $2,000 (not considering other unrelated business costs).

Moreover, if you consider the lifetime value of these customers who may come to the bakery regularly, the benefits of SEO could be even greater.

In general, if your SEO spending outweighs the earnings from customers it brings, SEO is not worth it. And you need to reassess your strategy to improve the returns.

But if the revenue generated exceeds the cost of SEO, then investing in SEO is worth it.

(Don’t worry if the calculation isn’t clear yet. We’ll cover it in more detail later.)

But first, let’s look at how the individual factors listed above influence the worth of SEO and how you can control them to boost your ROI.

1. Current search engine rankings

A well-ranked website is the first touchpoint to engage potential customers.

When your site ranks well, it appears early in search results. This increases your visibility to potential customers actively searching for your products.

High online visibility translates to higher traffic. And more eyes on your site means more opportunities for conversions — from views to sales.

Here are some tips to boost your site’s organic search ranking:

• Keyword optimization: Start by identifying the right keywords that potential customers might use to find your services or products. Incorporate these keywords thoughtfully into your site’s content, title tags, meta descriptions, and web pages.
• Content quality: Create informative, engaging, and useful content tailored to your audience’s needs. High-quality, usable content keeps visitors on your site longer and encourages other sites to link back to yours. This improves your online presence, ranking, and authority.
• Backlinks: Build relevant backlinks from reputable sites. Each quality backlink is considered a vote of confidence by search engines. This enhances your site’s credibility and ranking.
• Mobile optimization: Ensure your website is properly built and optimized for mobile access. An easy-to-use site on mobile devices boosts user experience and influences organic rankings.
• Page load speed: Improve your website’s loading speed by optimizing images, leveraging browser caching, and streamlining the code. Faster sites are more user-friendly and favored in search rankings.

Working on these areas sets the foundation for the effectiveness of your SEO efforts.

The higher you rank (and rank consistently), the higher the worth of SEO will be for you. And if your site doesn’t rank well, you’ll see negative ROI.

Further reading: 15 SEO Best Practices to Boost Rankings and ROI (+ Checklist)

2. CTR from search results

Once your site starts ranking on SERP, it must also get clicked on.

The click-through rate measures how often people click on your search results after seeing them. It indicates how relevant and appealing your listings are on SERP to potential customers.

When your snippets — title, URL, and meta description — resonate with users, it drives more traffic and signals search engines that your content is useful.

This can further enhance your search rankings, creating a positive feedback loop that powers your overall SEO efforts.

Here are some tips to improve your organic CTR:

• Optimize titles and descriptions: Make sure your titles and meta descriptions are clear, engaging, and include the main keywords. Your title should promise a clear benefit or solution that compels users to click.
• Use rich snippets: Implement structured data to help search engine bots understand your content better and display rich snippets like star ratings, prices, or availability. These elements make your listing more appealing and can increase your CTR.
• A/B testing: Experiment with different formats of your titles and descriptions. Testing what resonates best with your audience can improve CTR.
• Address search intent: Tailor your content to meet your target audience’s specific needs and intents. Understanding and answering their questions can make your search listings more relevant and clickable.

CTR ties directly into the overall return on investment from SEO efforts. If people see your site but don’t click on it, the opportunity to convert them into customers is lost, diminishing the value of SEO for you.

Further reading: The 411 on Clickthrough Rate

(Image: Adobe Stock)

3. Conversion rates on your website

Conversion rates measure how effectively your site turns visitors into customers.

It assesses the real value of your SEO efforts because a high traffic count only benefits your business if that traffic converts into tangible outcomes like sales, sign-ups, or other desired actions.

If your SEO campaign attracts many visitors but few convert, the potential returns on your SEO investments remain unfulfilled.

Conversely, high conversion rates mean that the traffic generated by your SEO efforts is highly relevant and well-targeted, directly contributing to your business’s growth and profitability.

Here are some tips to enhance your site’s conversion rates:

• Use high-quality content: Incorporate appealing visuals and ensure your content is engaging and persuasive. High-quality content tailored to your audience can increase the likelihood of conversion.
• Optimize user experience: Ensure your website is easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing, and quick to load. A positive UX reduces bounce rates and encourages visitors to complete transactions.
• Clear calls to action: Use clear and compelling CTAs that guide visitors toward taking your desired action. Whether making a purchase, opting in for a newsletter, or filling out a contact form, your CTAs should stand out and be easy to find.
• Simplify the checkout process: If your goal is to increase sales, ensure your checkout process is as streamlined as possible. Minimize the number of steps and required information to avoid cart abandonment.
• Conduct A/B testing: Regularly test different elements of your website — from CTAs to images, product descriptions, and web design — to find what works best and continually refine your approach.

Enhancing your website’s conversion rates ensures that the increased traffic from your SEO efforts translates into increased revenue.

This makes your investment in SEO not just about gaining visibility but about achieving measurable financial results.

Further reading: How to Track SEO Conversions (+ Tools and Expert Tips)

4. The lifetime value of each customer

The lifetime value of each customer measures the aggregate revenue you expect from a single customer over the course of their relationship with your business.

It provides a clear financial framework to evaluate SEO’s profitability.

A high LTV suggests that each customer acquired through SEO contributes significantly to revenue, justifying more substantial investments in SEO campaigns.

For example, suppose the average customer spends $1,000 over their relationship with your company and the cost to acquire a customer via SEO is $100. The high return is evident in that case, making SEO a worthy investment even if the acquisition cost is, say, $300.

In contrast, if LTV is low, the cost of acquiring customers through SEO might not yield adequate returns. This suggests a need to either improve the effectiveness of the SEO strategy or to find more cost-effective methods of customer acquisition.

Here are some tips to increase customer LTV:

• Focus on long-tail keywords: Target long-tail keywords that are specific to the high-value needs and intents of your customers. These keywords often lead to increased conversion rates because they closely match the searcher’s intent.
• Develop high-quality content: Produce content that educates your customers and helps them make better use of your products or services. For instance, how-to guides, tutorials, and user tips can boost customer satisfaction and promote repeat purchases, increasing the LTV.
• Personalize user interactions: Use data-driven insights to personalize content and offers. Personalization can lead to higher engagement and satisfaction rates, encouraging longer and more rewarding relationships with customers. For instance, custom product recommendations based on browsing history can increase the chance of additional purchases.

To ensure SEO is worth it, you need the lifetime returns from each customer (acquired through SEO) to be at or above par with your aggregate SEO spending.

Further reading: Customer Lifetime Value: What You Need to Know

5. The amount you’re investing in SEO

The amount you invest in SEO impacts its worth to your business.

For example, if you spend $5,000 on SEO and generate $4,000 in return, your investment isn’t justifying the cost.

However, reducing the expense to $3,000 while maintaining or increasing returns can make SEO much more valuable.

You must balance spending with the tangible returns in traffic, conversions, and ultimately revenue to ensure SEO is a cost-effective strategy for your business.

This balance will help you decide whether to increase, decrease, or reallocate your SEO budget for better returns.

Here are some tips to optimize your SEO spending:

• Focus on high-impact tactics: Prioritize SEO techniques that are most likely to drive results for your business, such as local SEO for brick-and-mortar shops or content marketing for info-heavy industries.
• Choose appropriate SEO services: Tailor your investment to your business needs. Small local businesses might spend $500 to $1,000 monthly on local SEO, while larger companies may require broader strategies costing between $3,000 and $10,000 a month.
• Track your ROI: Use analytics to monitor organic traffic, conversions, and revenue. This will help you understand what’s working and adjust your investment accordingly.

Remember, lowering your SEO cost shouldn’t be the sole goal. Because there’s only so much you can do to lower it.

While you should monitor it when analyzing your ROI, focus primarily on driving higher conversions and boosting customer lifetime value.

Further reading: SEO Pricing: How Much Should You Pay? (+ 10 Options)

Do your calculation: Is SEO worth it for you?

Figuring out if SEO is a worthy investment for your business starts with a simple calculation weighing potential revenue versus costs.

Compare the overall revenue generated from SEO against your total spending on it.

If the revenue is higher than expenditures, SEO is likely a good investment for you.

Here’s a simple formula:

Let’s look at three examples where SEO ROI is very high, moderately high, and negative.

Example #1

Let’s say you own an online store selling eco-friendly apparel.

You put $2,000 per month into SEO, driving around 100 new customers monthly. Each customer spends about $100 on their first order and then places two more $100 orders over their lifetime.

Here is how you would calculate:

(100 monthly customers x $300 lifetime value per customer) – $2,000 monthly SEO spend = $28,000 SEO ROI

In this case, SEO is clearly worthwhile for your ecommerce business. You generate $30,000 in lifetime revenue monthly from SEO while only spending $2,000. That equals a 1,400% return on dollars.

Example #2

Say you’re a local accountant investing $1,000 per month in SEO. It brings in about five new clients monthly, each with a lifetime value of $1,000.

Here’s that calculation:

(5 monthly clients x $1,000 lifetime value per client) – $1,000 monthly SEO investment = $4,000 SEO ROI

Here, SEO remains profitable, producing $5,000 in lifetime revenue monthly against a $1,000 expenditure.

However, the 400% return on investment is relatively lower. For this business, you can combine search engine optimization with additional digital marketing strategies.

Example #3

Imagine you own a small, local bakery, putting $1,500 per month into SEO efforts.

Due to high competition and limited geographic scope, SEO only acquires 10 new customers monthly, each with a $100 lifetime value.

Here’s the calculation:

(10 customers x $100 lifetime value) – $1,500 monthly SEO = -$500 SEO ROI

In this case, SEO is not a profitable investment. You’re spending $1,500 each month but only generating $1,000 in lifetime revenue from the new customers acquired through SEO. This results in a negative ROI of -$500.

So, you can either focus on other marketing channels (like social media platforms). Or work to improve your SEO strategy to drive better results.

This could involve focusing on improving your rankings for relevant keywords, optimizing your website to increase click-through rates, and creating compelling content to engage potential customers.

Connecting the dots

Keep in mind the calculations vary for different business owners depending on all the factors we’ve discussed so far:

• Rankings: Higher spots usually equal more traffic
• Click-through rates: Higher CTRs mean more qualified traffic reaches your site
• Conversion rates: More visitors becoming buyers improves conversion rates
• Lifetime value: Higher LTV means each customer spends more over time

Even minor changes in these metrics can impact overall SEO ROI. For example, boosting your conversion rate from 2% to 4% doubles revenue from SEO traffic.

Increasing average customer lifetime value from $100 to $200 also doubles revenue.

That’s why continually improving each factor is so important. Even if initial SEO ROI looks weak, optimizing these key areas can quickly make SEO highly profitable.

The most critical thing is calculating numbers specific to your unique business rather than relying on industry averages or generic examples.

Your SEO worth estimate should be as distinctive as your big or small business itself.

You can make informed decisions about continued investment in SEO (and which improvements to prioritize for maximum impact) by understanding your data and regularly tracking SEO ROI.

The case “for” and “against” SEO

Generally speaking, SEO delivers better ROI by:

• Enhancing brand visibility by placing your business in front of more potential customers
• Driving targeted traffic to your website through keyword-optimized content
• Increasing credibility as higher search rankings are often associated with higher trust from users
• Providing long-term results that build over time (unlike PPC ads that stop the moment you cease funding)
• Improving user experience by encouraging you to optimize site navigation, load speed, and other on-page elements, which are SEO ranking factors

However, while SEO helps drive the bottom line, there are instances when it might not work out well for some companies. Here are common objections to SEO:

• Can be costly, particularly for competitive industries where first-page rankings are hard to achieve
• Time-consuming, with results sometimes taking months to show up
• Requires continuous effort and adaptation to keep up with search engine algorithm updates
• Risk of penalties from search engines if improper or black-hat SEO practices are used
• May not work equally well for all businesses

You can easily address these objections.

For instance, concerns about the cost and time commitment required for SEO can be mitigated by focusing on less competitive, long-tail, more specific keywords that often result in quicker, more affordable gains.

At HawkSEM, this is what we do. We help clients address these objections, stay ahead of the latest trends, and realize all SEO benefits with considerably high ROI.

“SEO is clearly not what it once was, and our team’s approach to it has changed over the years,” says Pochop.

“Modern SEO strategies prioritize understanding the user’s intent behind search queries. The integration of AI and machine learning has transformed SEO.”

He adds that, with the rise of generative AI, this transformation has only accelerated. Businesses now need to create content that is not only keyword-optimized but also contextually relevant and user-focused.

Get in touch with SEO experts at HawkSEM

HawkSEM is a digital marketing agency offering end-to-end SEO services.

Our large team includes in-house specialists in keyword research, link building, content creation, technical SEO, distribution, and CRO.

Over the years, we have worked with hundreds of B2B and B2C brands across niches, helping them:

• Rank higher on Google search results for competitive keywords
• Drive quality website traffic
• Boost conversion (leads, sales)

We create ROI-driven SEO strategies. Our team has enabled clients to achieve high business growth with organic marketing that delivers 2x, 5x, and 10x ROI.

Moneta Group, a leading wealth management firm, saw a 326% increase in its net organic keyword portfolio. Its organic keywords in positions 1-3 grew by 164%.

Similarly, Easly, a popular CaaS platform, saw an increase in the brand’s keyword portfolio by more than 1500%.

DesktopReady, a child company of Anunta, saw a 409% increase in users.

Ready to level up your SEO results? Book your free consultation with our experts today and discuss how we can help you.

The takeaway

“Is SEO worth it?” We say yes, it is. But it’s not one-size-fits-all.

Companies that plan and execute SEO strategies effectively get a much higher ROI. Those who don’t — or still rely on outdated practices — typically see poor or negative returns.

So, whether SEO is worth it depends on how you plan and execute it. If you need help, talk to our SEO consultants and take proactive steps to keep your ROI sky-high.