14 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs SEO

SEO stands for search engine optimization, which is a set of practices designed to improve the appearance and positioning of web pages in organic search results. Because organic search is the most prominent way for people to discover and access online content, a good SEO strategy is essential for improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website.

Hiring one of the best SEO agencies like OverDrive Digital Marketing can put your brand at the top of the search results page that offers a solution to the user’s problem or provides an answer to their question. When executed properly, SEO is one of the best forms of inbound marketing that can be implemented by a web designer, bringing potential customers with an immediate need that you can solve, directly to your website. A lead can turn into a sale in a matter of clicks, and this is much more impactful than other forms of inbound marketing which simply reinforce your brand or establish your expertise in the field.

Here is a breakdown of direct and undeniable SEO benefits that an SEO agency can help you with.

1. SEO helps you attract qualified leads

The beauty of SEO is that it’s not about going “out there” to find traffic and customers; casting a wide net and hoping to pull in the right catch. It’s about bringing traffic and customers directly to your digital front door by finding out exactly what products and information they’re already looking for and serving them up on a platter.

This means that the people who end up on your website are on the hunt for a business just like yours—they just haven’t found you yet. The only thing you then have to do is prove to them that you’re a trustworthy authority on that topic with high quality content.

2. Hiring an SEO agency boosts brand awareness

One of the central tenets of SEO is link-building, which involves getting a third-party website to link back to your own in a piece of content. These backlinks are a critical ranking factor used by search engines to judge whether or not your website is worthy of being pushed to the top of SERPs. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the better.

Digital PR is one of our favorite ways of earning backlinks for our clients. With a digital PR agency, you produce a unique data set with an eye-catching angle and mail it out to relevant publications, who then write a feature on it.

The upshot is that your brand gets featured in regional, national, and sometimes international outlets, as well as earning you a natural backlink. This boosts both brand awareness and credibility, making you more of a thought leader in your industry.

3. SEO targets the entire marketing funnel

The very best SEOs are content marketers as well as technical strategists. They apply a humanistic sales mindset to search engines, identifying queries at every stage of the funnel—awareness, consideration, and decision—and creating content to guide a target user through these stages.

4. SEO improves website user experience

If your website isn’t user-friendly, it isn’t optimized. Google’s algorithms are designed to mimic human users. Search engine crawlers rely on being able to navigate your site structure, category logic, internal links, and your menu.

These same elements also improve UX for real users and should be a top priority of any quality SEO agency.

5. Reap long-term rewards that multiply

A well-planned SEO campaign has ripple effects well beyond simply getting your content to rank. A modest PR campaign may lead to major backlinks, higher rankings, and even greater visibility. Over time, this creates a flywheel effect that multiplies your SEO gains.

This is why reputable agencies avoid promises like “front page in two weeks.” The best rewards in SEO come from steady, long-term growth.

6. Lower marketing costs

SEO is one of the most cost-effective strategies available. Despite overall budget cuts during events like the COVID-19 pandemic, SEO investment grew—because it works and reduces acquisition costs dramatically.

SEO can reduce cost per acquisition by up to 87.41% compared to other channels.

7. Compete with top brands in your niche

The companies that appear in the top 5 of Google results aren’t there by chance. They have SEO teams working consistently behind the scenes. If you want to compete with them, you’ll need a strong SEO agency too.

8. Quantify results

SEO is data-driven. Agencies use tools to measure traffic, rankings, bounce rate, session duration, and more. These metrics help identify what’s working and build a clear business case for SEO.

9. SEO can have impressive ROI

SEO is widely considered the highest-value marketing channel in the digital age. When done properly, it can deliver up to 12.2x ROI and outperform nearly every other channel in terms of return.

10. Physical Visits

Local SEO puts your business on the map—literally. According to Google, 76% of mobile searches lead to an in-store visit within 24 hours.

11. Have a team of experts at your disposal

DIY SEO often leads to frustration and wasted hours. Hiring an agency gives you a full team: content strategists, web developers, technical SEO specialists, and digital PR experts all in one.

12. SEO has positive ripple effects across every area of marketing

SEO enhances your entire online presence:

• Your website
• Your content
• Your branding
• Your social media

A solid SEO strategy reinforces all aspects of digital marketing—because it’s built around creating a great experience across all touchpoints.

13. Agencies have all the insider knowledge

The SEO world evolves quickly. Agencies stay up to date by networking, following trends, engaging with Google reps, and sharing insights across the community. That expertise translates into faster results for your business.

14. Get to know your customers better

SEO reveals how your customers think. Keyword research shows what people are searching, how they phrase their needs, and where their pain points are.

This insight helps refine everything from your content and product messaging to your customer experience. The best SEO agencies combine science, psychology, and storytelling to create strategies that work.

There are a lot of SEO agencies out there. Find one that understands your niche and goals. A great SEO partner isn’t just a vendor—they’re a long-term asset in growing your business.