Have you Given Up On SEO?

SEO has been in vogue in digital marketing for over 30 years, before I started in 1998. And for the last 15 years, the rumors of SEO is dead were part of the buzzword narrative, to sell more SEO.

In reality, the doomsday phrase should have been “SEO is tougher and must be smarter—don’t abandon your life preserver.”

Certainly, Google has done everything possible to demote/hide the natural search results, using junk content and ads to push the free search results down away from users. However, goodness prevails and most scroll past the automated junk for the links they want – the genuine, user-validated, and specific material they need. AI is helping though, so we must leverage our knowledge of how AI LLM GPTs are understanding user intent and what our content strategy should be.  By the way, content strategy is integral to SEO. A low-quality content strategy can destroy SEO.

Zero-click searches often spawn more searches, so it’s not proven that Zero-click overviews kill SEO. It may just accelerate their journey, whether that’s good or bad.  In fact Google’s AI Mode presents more links to websites. Which means, it’s a different path to websites which is what people want. When travelers look for destination, tours, resorts, etc., they’re actually looking for websites that sell such services. They’re not looking to stay at the Google scraped library. Also, Google Gemini unearths some sketchy, low expertise/credibility resources it cites. It presents that as “expert level” content, which it is certainly not. A lot of users still haven’t caught onto this weakness in AI – it scrapes and processes what it can access thus it isn’t a topic expert. Google is working now to filter out a lot of AI-generated content that is more spammy than what content spammers are producing themselves.

If you’re working with an SEO Content expert who can “humanize your content” and make Google see it as a credible, significant resource, you can come out a way ahead.

Why Would You Leave It All on the Table?

There’s a lot on the table too. Trillions of searches by eager customers, and all you need to do is build a credible, trustworthy presence and be the “only company they’ll ever want.” As I say frequenly, you don’t even need to be the best, you only need to be the one they want.  Your SEO feeds that.

Unfortunately, what’s happened over the decades is that big corporations have stepped up their SEO efforts while small business owners have lost confidence and stopped trying.  Google still does favor corporate brands.  Admittedly, small business has been tortured by governments with business-killing regulations, high taxes, and high interest rates, not to mention the erosion of the middle class. With less revenue, small companies has cut back on everything — vacating the market. Many Realtors for instance, have left the real estate market.

Currently, the small business landscape remains arid and far from the beautiful scene it was in the distant past. SMB owners are cutting back on everything. Some are reliant on Google and Facebook ads, which is a zero-gain game. A better choice is SEO and free, consistent organic leads.

Google Local Business Algorithm

Even Google local/maps search is algorithmic. Here in this example for a search for a travel agency in Boston, only 3 travel agencies show. And who wouldn’t want to be where Travellustre is?

I know you’re interested in local business results, for your city or region. I’ve helped a hotel win big in the local results wars before. Today, the local algorithm is complex yet winnable and can help establish you for your market expansion plans. Take a look at its general ranking influences:

1. Proximity (Location & Distance)

• #1 Factor – Google prioritizes businesses closest to the searcher.

• “Near me” searches heavily rely on precise location data.

• Impact: Even with perfect SEO, a business 5 miles away may outrank a closer competitor.

2. Google Business Profile (GBP)

• Completeness & Accuracy: Name, address, phone (NAP), hours, categories.

• Primary Category – Must be precise (e.g., “Mexican Restaurant” vs. just “Restaurant”).

• Photos & Videos – Listings with high-quality images get 42% more requests for directions (Moz).

3. Reviews (Quantity, Quality & Sentiment)

• Review Count & Rating – Businesses with 100+ reviews dominate local rankings (BrightLocal).

• Recent Reviews – Google favors businesses with fresh, frequent feedback.

• Keywords in Reviews – Mentions like “best plumber in [city]” help with relevance.

4. Citations & Local Backlinks

• NAP Consistency – Listings on Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing, and industry directories must match exactly.

• Local Backlinks – Links from news sites, chambers of commerce, and local blogs boost rankings.

• Impact: Businesses with 40+ citations rank 2.5x higher (Moz Local).

5. Engagement & User Signals

• Click-Through Rate (CTR) – High CTR from search results signals relevance.

• Website Visits & GBP Actions – Calls, direction requests, and messages improve rankings.

• Dwell Time – Users spending time on your GBP or site signal trust.

Only one channel delivers consistently on a long-term basis (and you’re in business to stay in business). That is SEO.  SEO touches on everything related to consumer’s intent – awareness, learning/guidance, navigation to sources, and purchasing. SEO does this in a credible, natural way, guided by strategy of course, to lead customers to real, genuine content from trusted, credible and valuable suppliers – your company.

If you abandon SEO, you will be ceding your traffic and leads to your competitors or large companies. If you’re not in the Google results, it looks like you’re not part of the current culture or not excited to offer your products and services — not in th game. Absence communicates a lot that consumers may not get over.  Appearance in Google search results speaks volumes about your brand and your desire to fulfill customer’s desires.

Why Abandoning SEO Is a Big Mistake

• SEO Still Drives ~53% of Website Traffic (BrightEdge) – It remains the largest source of traffic for most companies and provides consistent visibility.
• Quality Leads – searchers are actively pursuing a path to satisfaction on Google, ChatGPT or Bing allowing you to get your content on that path/journey.
• Long-Term ROI – Unlike paid ads, which stop delivering when you stop paying, SEO builds compounding value over time.
• Trust & Authority – High rankings signal credibility, improving conversion rates across all marketing channels.
• AI & Voice Search Dependence – SEO is evolving (not dying); optimizing for AI-driven search and answer engines will be critical.

The Smart Approach: Adapt, Don’t Quit

Instead of abandoning SEO, smart SMB owners are:

 ✔  Building a sophisticated SEO strategy that builds content with a solid topical and keyword presence that resonates with user intent and problem-solving.
 ✔  Focusing on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to align with Google’s algorithm’s content/reputation quality demands.
 ✔  Promoting strongly to build support to reach influencers, bloggers, journalists and social media followers.   
 ✔  Combining SEO with Owned Media (newsletters, communities, YouTube) to diversify traffic sources.

Positive Notes:

• 53% of all website traffic comes from organic search (BrightEdge, 2024).
• A Gartner study (2024) found that 70% of B2B buyers start with a search, and companies with strong SEO see 2x more high-value leads.

• 40% of revenue is captured by organic search (vs. 25% from paid ads) Brightedge, 2024).

• Branded SEO: Companies investing in branded content see 3x higher conversion rates (Moz, 2024).
• SEO boosts brand trust, reduces customer acquisition costs, and supports sales enablement.

• SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate, compared to outbound leads (e.g., cold calls) at 1.7% (HubSpot, 2024).

• Businesses with blogs generate 67% more leads/month than those without (DemandMetric).

• Brands optimizing for AI answers (like Google’s AI Overviews) capture 30% more zero-click traffic (BrightEdge).

• SEO converts 8x better than PPC on average (Search Engine Journal).

• The top 3 Google organic results get 75% of all clicks (Advanced Web Ranking).

• Content ranking on page 1 continues to generate traffic for 2+ years (Ahrefs).

Strategy Creates and Focuses Ranking Power for an Unbeatable Advantage

You can read more about advanced SEO strategy and SEO for Travel and hotels, to get yourself immersed in why advanced techniques are key to being competitive and dominant. Strategy is simply a technique to intensely focus ranking power and meanings to resonate with Google or Bing ranking algorithms — hence the term unfair advantage. SEO is also factoring in related elements too in branding, AI search, and engagement. It is more complicated today for sure but you can let me take care of that.

If you’ve neglected SEO and disparaged its value, you can turn it all around. You can hire an SEO expert to investigate your opportunity, work part-time or on a project basis. And you’ll be rewarded, because search visibility will lift every aspect of your business from lead generation to customer service to keeping your best customers loyal. There are techniques to get each of these things accomplished while not hampering other marketing elements. Just build it into your new plan!

I’ve worked for many US and British companies.  They knew I had developed significant insights, and that I’d continue learning in my specialty and avoid useless tactics that “best practices” amateurs obsess with. My clients wanted excellence and had the confidence to fill in the rest as required. Because SEO is part of your marketing mix, but won’t be effective if you starve it.

Finding expert-level partners who will build and maintain an advantage for your business – through SEO, content development, and analytics – creating the powerful mix of factors that drive a market leader.

Get in touch with me soon, so I can help you build the business you envision.

Title Image courtesy of Image by Dimitri Wittmann from Pixabay.