After nearly thirty years, brands and businesses still find inherent use in search engine optimization. Given that virtually everybody uses search engines to find content and solutions they need, it shouldn’t be surprising that many prospering brands utilize SEO to boost visibility, sales and other important metrics.

Yet there is some resistance among select brands to the idea of SEO, with this sentiment growing as other options – like social media – emerge as viable alternatives.

Ultimately, why do brands that reject SEO do so? What motivates them to take a different approach? Continue reading to find out why these entities eschew the process.

Better Performance from Other Channels

Now that platforms such as social media allow brands to quickly reach large numbers of targeted individuals, many are turning their backs on SEO. Through social media presences, brands can reach audiences via both organic and paid marketing campaigns that result in immediate visibility and reach. When pinging links to search engines via SEO endeavors, this visibility can take much longer.

The fact that other channels provide better performance can be tantalizing, yes, but most of the time, this also requires a massive financial investment. It is rate that a brand can cultivate a successful organic strategy on social media, via email or elsewhere that rivals the visibility SEO provides, which means that SEO does still have a purpose for brands that can’t afford to spend large sums.

SEO Takes Too Much Time

The amount of time it takes to cultivate a truly formidable SEO presence can vary depending on niche and competition, but it is safe to say that most efforts require months of focus before truly tangible, widespread results are generated. From creating lots of organic content to building links and researching keywords, many hours of work must be put into SEO that otherwise wouldn’t be necessary for many marketing alternatives.

However, the efforts generated via SEO are often semi-passive and recurring: once you’ve established a foothold in SERPs, it requires relatively little effort by comparison to maintain your positions in perpetuity. As such, the time and energy it takes to generate noticeably improved SEO outcomes leads to a flow of passive traffic and attention not available through paid marketing.

Organic vs Paid Ad Battles in SERPs

Whenever some evaluate various SERPs to see who’s winning the SEO battle, one thing often is observed: there are a ton of ads at the top of each page. While the volume of ads can vary from SERP to SERP, many brands feel that buying their way to the top of search results is simply logical given these ads’ presences at the top in the first place.

This is a quasi-demoralizing force for SEO enthusiasts, who work hard to generate top visibility – only to have one or more ads outrank them in most situations. However, it is worth noting that not everybody sees ads from search engines (ad blockers) and that pinging links for free that are above the fold is still often more cost effective than buying ads that rank just a bit higher.

In varying circumstances, these common reasons why brands choose not to invest in SEO make sense. However, SEO remains the most cost-effective marketing solution for brands who lack big budgets or long lists of email subscribers. As such, many brands that choose not to utilize this strategy are missing out on ample organic potential that delivers for the long term.