Are you anxious?

Why? Wait..

let me guess

 

Did you just spend a chunk of change on PPC ads, thinking they’d bring in a flood of customers? Now, a week later, you’re still checking your phone for notifications, only to realize… not much is happening. Meanwhile, you’re sitting there, trying to explain to your wife why the ad spend is still eating into your savings.

Is that you?

Yep we’ve  all been there.

You hear about the wonders of paid ads and think it’s the quick fix. But here’s the truth: paid ads may bring in a few clicks, but they can’t build the lasting success you need for your business. It’s like renting space on the internet.

And once the budget runs out, poof, so do the results.

But SEO? Huh….

That’s a whole different story.

SEO is like planting seeds that grow into a tree of customers. It takes time, but the return? It’s worth the wait.

So let’s break it down and ill show you two good reasons why SEO should be your best friend, not just a “nice-to-have” option.

Why SEO is a Long-Term Investment That Builds Sustainable Growth

 

SEO provides exponential growth

If you’ve tried PPC before, you probably know how it feels putting your money into ads, watching the clicks come in, but realizing that once you stop the ad spend, the traffic drops right off.

That’s the thing with PPC as it’s a temporary boost.

It can give you quick exposure, but it doesn’t stick around once the ad budget runs dry.

If it happened to you I feel sorry for you. But!

Here’s where SEO becomes the game-changer. Unlike PPC, SEO is like planting seeds for long-term growth. The effort you put in now like optimizing your website, creating valuable content, and building backlinks, will keep paying off for months or even years to come.

So, not about instant results; it’s about steady, compounding returns that grow over time.

How about I give you a personal example….

One of my friends, John, owns a small bakery. A few years ago, he ran PPC campaigns to boost his online orders. Initially, it worked as he saw some extra clicks, but the return on investment wasn’t nearly as strong as he had hoped for.

After a few months, the ads stopped bringing in new orders as frequently, and the costs kept stacking up.

So what did he do?…. He made a change! John decided to focus on SEO. He started by optimizing his website for local searches making sure it appeared in Google’s “near me” searches. He also started a blog, sharing recipes and baking tips, which slowly began attracting more organic traffic.

Within six months, the bakery’s website ranked higher in Google’s search results. Over the next year, the organic traffic increased steadily, and his website became a go-to spot for people searching for local bakeries.

The best part?

John didn’t have to keep spending money to maintain his visibility. The traffic started to build on its own, and more customers found him through organic search, turning into loyal, repeat buyers.

SEO didn’t give him overnight success, but it gave him consistent, sustainable growth without the constant financial drain.

SEO works like this for small businesses across industries. Once you’ve invested time and effort into optimizing your site and creating relevant, high-quality content, it’ll keep working for you.

Over time, as you consistently improve your site and build your authority, you’ll see your rankings improve.

Unlike PPC, which needs constant reinvestment, SEO delivers long-term value that builds a solid foundation for your business.

But hey, I get it. How can I say all of this without a proof right?

Well here’s your damn proof: Research from Backlinko shows that the first organic search result on Google gets 31.7% of all clicks, while the tenth result only gets 3.1%.

The higher your website ranks, the more likely people are to click and the more likely you are to convert those clicks into loyal customers.

So, while PPC might offer immediate results, SEO delivers lasting, scalable growth.

And the beauty of it? Once you reach the top, you don’t have to keep paying for it every month. It’s like getting free, quality traffic for the long haul.

SEO Builds Trust and Credibility with Your Audience

 

SEO - A foundation for trust

Okay, let’s talk trust for a second.

Lets imagine that you’re searching for a product online, and you see two options. One is a paid ad at the top of the page, and the other is an organic result further down.

Which one are you more likely to click on?

I bet you’re thinking the organic result, right? It just feels more “real,” doesn’t it?

Well, you’re not alone. HubSpot’s research indicates that 75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results, favoring organic over paid links.

Why? Because they trust them more.

But, here’s the thing: SEO isn’t just about ranking high on search engines. It’s about earning trust. It’s like building a reputation for your business over time. And let’s be honest trust is huge for small businesses.

Huh? What did you just say? Its not for you???

Alright, alright…. don’t be mad at me, I’m just playing with you I swear. But we both know that without trust  your brand is just another name in the crowd.

When you show up on the first page of Google for the right search terms, it signals to potential customers that you’re not just paying for visibility—you’ve earned it. This helps establish your business as a legitimate authority in your field.

In fact, Backlinko’s research shows that the first organic search result on Google gets a whopping 31.7% of all clicks, compared to just 3.1% for the tenth result.

This is a clear indicator that when you rank highly, you increase your chances of being trusted and clicked on, which is far more than if you rely on paid ads alone.

SEO is the right choice

SEO also builds trust over time. As you continue to optimize your website, create valuable content, and gain backlinks, your authority grows. Consumers are naturally more likely to trust a business they’ve found organically over one that’s simply paying for attention.

When people search for something relevant to your services and your website pops up as a top result, they start seeing you as a trusted source—someone they can count on, even before they reach your website.

And let’s be real…when was the last time you clicked on a paid ad and thought, “Yep, I trust this brand right away”?

SEO is all about earning your place in front of your audience. The longer you stay visible in organic search results, the more your audience will associate you with expertise, trustworthiness, and reliability. And these are qualities that can be much harder to establish through paid ads.

So, while paid ads might give you quick visibility, they don’t have the lasting power that SEO does.

Once you’ve invested time and effort into optimizing your site, the benefits compound, and your credibility grows. That’s something paid ads can’t offer.

I’ll tell you a story of how this played out for another small business owner I know, Sarah. Sarah runs a local pet grooming business and decided to try paid ads to drum up more clients. At first, things seemed promising. Her phone was ringing off the hook with new leads. But after a few weeks, the calls slowed down, and she found herself spending more money with no real return.

Feeling frustrated, Sarah took a step back and focused on improving her SEO. She revamped her website, created content around pet care tips, and optimized her site for local searches. Slowly but surely, her rankings improved. And with that, so did her trust factor. Potential customers started seeing her business show up in Google searches without the need for an ad campaign.

The best part? She didn’t have to constantly pay for visibility. The organic traffic started pouring in, and clients began to trust her business more. They weren’t just clicking because of a flashy ad—they were clicking because her content was helpful, authentic, and positioned her as an authority in her field.

But it’s not just Sarah’s business. SEO helps establish authority across all industries. When you rank well, your audience begins to see you as a credible source. When you consistently appear at the top of search results for relevant queries, your business earns the trust it needs to grow.

Think about it: When was the last time you clicked on a paid ad and thought, “Wow, this is the company I want to do business with”? It’s far more likely that you clicked on an organic result from a trusted source, right?

Here’s some hard proof: A study by HubSpot found that 75% of people never scroll past the first page of search results. That means businesses that appear on the first page gain more visibility, more trust, and more opportunities to convert visitors into loyal customers.

SEO helps you stay there—not just for a few weeks, but consistently. And that kind of reliability is what builds trust over time.