SEO is worth it when three things are true: people already search for what you sell, one new customer is worth a meaningful sum, and you can wait a few months for the work to pay. It is not worth it when nobody searches for your service, when you need work this week, or when you could not take on more customers if they came. The test is arithmetic, and you can do it before you speak to any agency, us included.
The arithmetic for a local trade
You need three numbers: the monthly SEO fee you have been quoted, the profit on an average job, and the share of leads you turn into jobs. The fee depends on the work: the state of your website, the strength of your competitors and how many services and places you want to be found for. How to read a published price is in our guide to comparing SEO companies in NYC. The examples below use a round $1,500 a month. That figure is there only to show the sum. It is not a quote and not our price: what we charge is on our pricing page.
| Step | Example A: a renovation contractor | Example B: a low-priced service |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly SEO fee (example) | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| Profit on an average job (example) | $4,000 | $60 |
| Leads that become jobs (example) | 1 in 5 | 1 in 2 |
| Jobs needed each month to cover the fee | Fewer than 1 | 25 |
| Leads needed each month to cover the fee | About 2 | 50 |
| Verdict | Worth it if search can bring two more leads a month. | Worth it only if search can bring fifty more leads a month, every month. |
Put your own numbers in. If the leads you need are a small part of the people who search for your service in your area each month, SEO is likely to pay. If you would need most of them, it is not. Keep two more things in mind. The fee is paid from the first month and the leads arrive later, so the first months run at a loss. And a customer who comes back, or sends a neighbor, is worth more than one job.
When SEO is worth it
- People search for it. Trades, professional services, clinics, restaurants and specialist shops: customers type the service and the place into Google before they call anyone.
- A customer is worth a lot. A roof, a renovation, a legal case or a long-term account pays for many months of work.
- You plan to be in business next year. A page that ranks keeps bringing visitors with no charge for each click. Advertising stops the day you stop paying.
- Paid clicks in your trade are expensive. The dearer the click, the more an unpaid place is worth.
- The sites above you are weak. Thin pages and few reviews on the first page mean the gap can be closed.
When SEO is not worth it
- Nobody searches for it. A new kind of product has no searches to win yet. Advertising and social media create demand. SEO collects demand that already exists.
- You need work this week. SEO takes months: see how long SEO takes. Paid ads can bring calls within days, and the two are compared in SEO vs PPC.
- You are already at capacity. If you turn work away, more leads are a cost, not a gain.
- The sum does not work. Example B above.
- Nobody will make the changes. An audit that sits in a drawer changes nothing. If the website cannot be edited, deal with that first.
- The business is about to move, rename itself or close.
Is SEO dead now that AI answers searches?
No, by Google’s own account. Its documentation on AI features says that the best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI Overviews and AI Mode, that there are no additional requirements to appear in them, and that no special optimization is necessary. To be shown as a supporting link in an AI answer, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. The page has to earn its place in ordinary search first.
What has changed is the number of clicks. Some searches are now answered on the results page itself. Google says the clicks that do come from results pages with AI Overviews are of higher quality. For a local business, the searches that matter most are a service plus a place, and those still end in a phone call or a visit. What we do about AI answers is on our AI search optimization page.
What you can do yourself before paying anyone
Google’s guide to hiring an SEO opens with a plain statement: a small local business can probably do much of the work itself. It recommends starting with its SEO Starter Guide. Three things cost nothing.
- Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Google does not charge for it, and it is what the map results are built from.
- Set up Google Search Console. It is a free service from Google that shows how often your site appears in search, for which searches, and how often people click.
- Read the SEO Starter Guide. It says plainly that nothing in it will automatically put a site first.
Pay someone when the work is more than you have time for, when the site has faults you cannot find, or when your competitors are doing it properly and you are not. Our free SEO audit grades a site from 1 to 100 and shows where it stands before you spend anything.
How to tell whether it is working
Count customers, not positions. A ranking is a means. What matters is the calls, form requests and sales that came from unpaid search. Each month we report organic and paid traffic, calls and lead submissions, and the positions of the keywords we agreed on, so the fee can be set against what it brought in.
This is what it looked like for four clients. Medlin Ramps went from very few leads a day in 2016 to 3 to 10 a day, with a rebuilt website, SEO, paid ads and social media working together. Silver Gold Refinery, in the Diamond District, reached first place for “Gold Refinery NYC” and has been a client since 2008. Different Roads to Learning saw organic traffic double in three months. Corpus Christi Concrete Guys reached top-five positions in two months.
What a fair offer looks like
A fair offer promises work, not a position. Google’s advice on hiring an SEO is blunt: “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google.” Beyond that, look for a price you are told before you start, no long contract, and a report every month. We work that way: pricing upfront and no contracts. The full list of questions to put to any firm is in what to look for in an SEO company.
Not sure which side of the sum you are on? Tell us your trade, your area and what a job is worth, and we will tell you straight whether SEO, ads or neither makes sense.
Questions people ask
Is SEO dead?
No. Google says the best practices for SEO remain relevant for its AI features, and a page has to be indexed and eligible for ordinary search before an AI answer can link to it. Some searches now end without a click, but people still search for a service and a place, and those searches still produce calls.
Does SEO really work?
It works where people search for what you sell and the site deserves to be found. It does not work as a trick. Google’s own starter guide says there is nothing in it that will automatically rank a site first, and no honest firm can promise a position.
Is SEO a scam?
SEO itself is ordinary work: clear pages, a sound website, a complete business listing, reviews and links that are earned. Some sellers of it are not honest. Google warns about firms that email out of the blue, claim a special relationship with Google, or will not explain what they intend to do.
Do I need an SEO company?
Not always. Google says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself. A company earns its fee when the work is more than you have time for, when the faults are technical, or when the competition is strong enough that doing a little is not enough.
How much should I pay for SEO?
Enough that the work described can really be done, and no more than the arithmetic supports. The fee follows the work, which depends on the state of your website, the strength of your competitors and how many services and places you want to be found for. Divide the fee you are quoted by the profit on a job to see how many extra jobs a month you would need.