Does SEO Work?

Written By ohms

No, probably not for your small-medium sized business. Why? Because if you define ‘work’ as ‘make me money’, then no, it’s unlikely that Search Engine Optimization will bring you a return on your investment in the short-medium term. And for small-medium sized businesses, driving short-term revenue is rightfully the business owner’s main concern.

SEO is HARD to do the right way. Which makes it time-consuming. Which makes it expensive. This is why I do not recommend it to small-medium sized businesses who need their marketing budget to go as far as possible for them.

Why is SEO so expensive?

SEO service providers need to be fluent in English, they need to use paid plugins to execute their services, and they need to follow a long list of criteria to get on-page SEO done properly. This criteria comes down to things like how many times certain keywords are used on a page. Precisely how long your page description is, the types of words used in your content, how your headers are setup on the page, and the list goes on and on and on. It can take months to get all of a website’s pages to score of 80% or up. And then comes the off-page SEO which requires a lot of manual outreach to external bloggers or article writers, where even then, it’s totally out of your hands if they’ll feature you or not.

It’s expensive, slow, and it’s uncertain if it’ll even drive any results for your business. So…

Why do businesses spend on SEO services?

Because the marketing agency industry will sell you any service you’ll pay for. SEO is a buzzword that gets thrown around and business owners fall into the trap thinking that they NEED to invest in SEO or else they’ll be left behind. This is not true.

When should I invest in SEO?

You should only invest in SEO when your marketing budget is already driving revenue, and you're ready to start planning for the long haul. SEO is a slow burn — it’s about laying a foundation for long-term online visibility. If you’re at a stage where you can afford to think a few years ahead and have the patience to wait for results, then SEO can be a smart move. But if you're looking for short-term returns, it’s better to focus elsewhere. SEO works best when you’re ready to grow steadily and invest in building a sustainable online presence over time.

What should I spend on instead of SEO?

Spend your budget on SEM (Search Engine Marketing), which is paid search advertising. The difference between SEO and SEM is that while SEO is a slow, expensive process that indirectly helps you rank in search results, SEM is direct, fast, and cost-effective. SEM gets you straight to the top of search results because you’re paying for ad placement. This means you can see immediate conversions, drive traffic to your website, and most importantly, generate revenue. If your business needs results now, SEM is the smarter, more efficient choice.

How do I start SEM?

To get started with SEM, you simply need to reach out to me and we’ll take care of the rest. I’ll set up and manage Google Ads tailored to your business to drive warm potential customers to your website. Just click the 'get started' button below, fill out the form, and I'll get in touch to discuss how we can generate results for your business.


  • Not immediately. SEO is more about long-term visibility of your website than generating new potential customers/clients.

  • It can take 6-12 months, sometimes longer.

  • SEO is slow, competitive, and hard to execute properly.

  • Only if you’re thinking long-term and can afford it.

  • Bad SEO practices can lower your rankings. Ex. I've seen a marketing contractor that generated fake websites to 'backlink' to your website, this can hurt your business.

  • SEO depends on many unpredictable factors like Google algorithm updates and what your competitors are doing.

  • Not easily. It’s a slow, indirect approach.

  • Yes, it can be very challenging without a large budget.

ohms