Why small businesses need to engage in SEO
“When you suddenly lack advertising funds, your traffic goes down the drain.”
Essentially what Malcolm Oakley has elegantly pointed out, is that organic search traffic is free. Even if you pay to have SEO performed for you, you will still reap the benefits once you stop paying for it (disclaimer: SEO works better as an ongoing process, but that’s another story). The same cannot be said for advertising. Once you stop paying for that, the advertising stops and you get nothing, except a vague memory in some people’s minds.
To use a real world analogy, I know small businesses that stopped advertising using printed media. Speaking to people in the area, they thought that meant they were out of business! SEO done well on the other hand, is free advertising and acts as a constant reminder that you are there and active.
http://www.southdownsweb.co.uk/learn-search-engine-optimisation-basics/
The latest post on the Branded3 website suggests the same. And they know their stuff…