SEO is like advertising on Craigslist – 5 reasons why SEO is important for every business

You could say that SEO is a bit like advertising on Craigslist. Major search engines like Google and Bing are like marketplaces. Your content needs to stand out from the crowd and be relevant for someone to actually click on your site or your ad.

Selling something on Craigslist or being visible on Google follows the same basic rules:

• That your page/ad is actually live and accessible
• That you’ve placed your ad in the correct category (meaning you’ve found the right keywords to appear on Google)
• An enticing title that makes visitors want to click on your page/ad
• That you mention where in the country the product/service is located
• A good and engaging description
• Quality images
• Contact information
• A fair and clear price for your type of product or service

Why is SEO important for website owners?

Good search engine optimization leads to greater visibility and makes it easier for your potential customers to find your offerings. For those aiming high and wanting to claim the top spots, SEO is the key to success: the effort you put in pays off generously over time.

What we often see is that the marketing and sales departments focus solely on addressing what the customer wants. But they miss the most important first step: the customer must first find the site in order to discover all the great things you offer. This is where the SEO work begins—before the customer journey has even started.

Below, you can read more about what a Blocket ad and SEO have in common, along with 5 reasons why SEO is essential marketing for every business.

1. SEO is cost-effective

When people browse Blocket, they’re often looking for a bargain or trying to find something unique. Posting an ad costs no more than 40 SEK, and depending on what you’re selling, you might earn thousands! The same goes for SEO – the small investment you make now can yield returns for years to come.

One of SEO’s biggest advantages is its affordability – especially compared to other marketing channels like Google Ads, print advertising, or other media.

What does SEO cost?

Every collaboration is unique, which means the costs vary. Depending on the industry, ambition, and competition, prices can differ greatly. Costs also vary between agencies, as it’s not always clear what should be included in an ongoing SEO service.

In the U.S., where competition is tougher and SEO is more widely adopted, monthly costs in 2022 ranged from SEK 26,000 to 100,000. In Sweden, there’s less public data, but generally, SEO tends to be more affordable.

Full-page ad or a year of SEO?

A full-page newspaper ad can cost around SEK 60,000. If you want the same ad to run multiple times, you might add another SEK 40,000. This gives you temporary visibility, mostly limited to those who read the paper.

With an SEO service, the results are different — and more lasting.
Ongoing SEO with an agency varies in cost depending on the setup and goals, but for the same amount, you could potentially get SEO help for an entire year!

2. SEO helps you stay visible over time

When your SEO efforts start paying off, it’s like running downhill — everything gains momentum more easily. In the same way, once you’ve been selling on Blocket for a while, it becomes easier to sell more as your reputation for offering good products spreads.

Of course, everything begins with an uphill climb. That climb is all the work you put into building a website that both Google and your users love. SEO has a lasting effect. Pages that begin to rank well for their primary keywords tend to hold those positions and may even start ranking for additional keywords. When search engines want to show your pages to their users, it’s easier to claim more top spots.

However, it’s important to remember that SEO is not static — it’s always an ongoing process.

How long does SEO take?

If you hire an agency or consultant for SEO, you should expect to see more significant results within 6 to 24 months, depending on the size of the service you’ve purchased and how much time you can dedicate to working on the website yourself. After all, it’s a collaboration where many changes will need to be implemented by you or your team.

3. SEO makes your site more user-friendly

Google favors websites it believes are easy for visitors to use. And naturally, users are more satisfied when they land on a site that loads quickly, contains good information, and is easy to navigate. Searching on Blocket can be a headache—especially if you have to browse page after page. And if the ads aren’t well optimized, nothing sells. Things like refusing to show the price or forgetting contact details are far from user-friendly.

Search engine optimization is about making the search engine happy—and the search engine wants the user to be happy. So, your SEO efforts will end up making your site more user-friendly for your visitors.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to create something new and flashy, without checking if those features are actually user-friendly or if a search engine can even access the information. With SEO, you get help reviewing new features thoroughly and making sure both users and search engines can access all your content.

4. You can do SEO yourself – most of it, anyway

Just like with Blocket ads, you have full control: it’s up to you whether you succeed in selling or not. And even though you have to do the work, Blocket offers tips and tricks to help you sell faster and better on the platform.

If you have the time and motivation, you can handle much of your SEO yourself. There’s plenty of free knowledge available online. For example, we offer an SEO School on YouTube for anyone wanting to learn the basics of search engine optimization. If you’re eager to get started, you’ll find lots of useful tips in our videos or previous blog posts.

Learn SEO but let the agency do the work

Even if you’re planning to outsource your SEO, it’s still valuable to understand how search engine optimization works. Once you’ve learned the basics, you’ll gain better insight into how search engines operate and how your visitors search online. It also becomes easier to recognize which data is worth analyzing to evaluate your SEO efforts and results.

If you don’t have the time, you should turn to a specialist or an agency. A good collaboration with an SEO agency should involve you, the business owner, also learning about SEO. You should be developing the site together. If your SEO consultant or specialist isn’t willing to share their knowledge, it may be time to look for a different agency!

5. Your competitors are already doing SEO

The longer you wait to get started, the more top positions and traffic your competitors can gain. SEO has become essential for online success.

Similarly, if you never post your first Blocket ad, you never get the chance to make money from it.

Big brands like IKEA and Bygghemma have in-house SEO specialists working exclusively on their brands. They invest large amounts of money each month to maintain their top positions. They continuously improve their websites to follow Google’s guidelines and ensure a user-friendly experience.

But that doesn’t mean the top 3 or top 10 results will always belong to those who spend the most or post the most ads.

Top results go to those who offer the best user experience and best fulfill the search intent – and that could just as well be your site!

Don’t let your competitors dominate the search results – you need to join the game for a chance to win!