The SEO Blindspot: Why You Are Leaving Money on the Table
If you're a business owner or marketer, chances are you've heard of SEO (search engine optimization) before. Maybe you've even dabbled in some SEO efforts for your own website. But here's the harsh reality - the vast majority of businesses are still drastically underestimating and underinvesting in SEO. And in doing so, they're leaving a mountain of potential revenue on the table.
I know, I know...SEO sometimes gets brushed off as voodoo magic or too complex to truly understand. But the data doesn't lie - businesses that properly optimize their online presence for organic search are quite simply crushing their competition when it comes to driving qualified traffic, leads and sales from the web.
Let's look at some stats that lay bare just how big of an opportunity SEO represents in 2024:
- 53% of all website traffic comes from organic search (Brightedge)
- 72% of online marketers describe organic search as a "huge" driver of leads (Unbounce)
- At the enterprise level, organic search drives over 10x more conversions than paid ads (Forrester)
With numbers like those, you might be thinking - "Well duh, of course businesses should be focused on SEO! Everyone knows the importance of showing up on page 1 of Google!"
Ah, but that's where we run into a massive blindspot and disconnect. While most companies GET the value of ranking well for relevant searches, precious few are taking a truly comprehensive, strategic approach to make it happen consistently.
When diving into full technical and on-page audits, there are frequently blatant issues staring you in the face:
- Rampant keyword cannibalization across pages
- Sluggish page load times tanking user experience
- Broken links and crawl errors gumming up the works
- No optimized schema markup to enhance listings
- A lack of strategic internal linking architecture
- Weak, unoptimized URLs and metadata
The point is, even businesses that think they've got SEO covered are often just scratching the surface. They have SEO blindspots glazing over massive opportunities and issues.
From Rankings to Revenue
At the end of the day, rankings alone don't pay the bills - businesses care about revenue, plain and simple. And SEO's ability to drive consistent, cost-effective revenue from organic search is what makes it so powerful.
Let's look at a real-world example: When Beardbrand started up in 2012, they were a complete unknown in the men's grooming space, totally overshadowed by established brands. But founder Eric Bandholz understood the value of SEO from the start.
Through diligent keyword research, technical optimization, authoritative content creation, and a robust link-building strategy, Beardbrand steadily climbed the Google rankings. Within a few years, they had seized the #1 organic spot for high-value terms like "beard oil", "beard grooming kits", and dozens of other money phrases.
The results? Beardbrand grew from a solo side hustle into a $25 million business with a cult following, fueled almost entirely by organic search traffic. As of 2022, they drove over 1 million organic visits per month and ranked for an astonishing 316,000 keywords in Google.
That's the transformative power of comprehensive SEO when executed with precision over the long haul. By closing their SEO blindspots, Beardbrand was able to outmaneuver industry titans and own their space online.
Success Starts With an Expert AuditHopefully this sheds some light on why simply checking some SEO boxes isn't enough in today's landscape. Real, revenue-driving SEO starts with an in-depth audit to uncover opportunities and issues across the entire user and search engine experience.
From there, you need an implementation plan built around sustainable best practices:
- Optimizing for topic clusters and search intent
- Cultivating a robust backlink portfolio
- Enhancing local/voice search optimization
- And continuously measuring & refining the strategy over time
It's that level of comprehensive, data-driven SEO that allows businesses to transform organic search from an afterthought into a scalable, high-ROI marketing engine.
Conclusion
The online landscape is only becoming more crowded and competitive each year. For businesses still overlooking or underestimating SEO, the revenue blindspot continues to expand. The first step is simple - get an expert SEO audit to shine a light on the areas of opportunity you're missing. You might just be surprised at how big of a blindspot has been holding you back.