Updated September 2026: Originally published in November 2020 and previously updated in 2023, this article has been refreshed to reflect how SEO, search visibility and AI-powered search have evolved.
The ultimate goal of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is for your business to rank higher than your competitors on search engine results. If your page ranks higher than those in the same industry, you will get more website traffic than your competitors, receive more leads/conversions, and you will build tangible value to your business.
We all know that trends come and go, and marketing tactics that were previously popular can quickly sink into oblivion. This is particularly true when it comes to digital marketing as the online world evolves every single day, and SEO has dramatically altered since it first became a part of the marketing world in 1997.
The history of SEO is full of exciting twists and turns, with the birth of new search engines, new SERP features, algorithms and consistent updates, as well as the emergence of SEO experts and advanced SEO tools. In the beginning, to get your website to rank online, you would simply focus all of your SEO efforts on keywords, getting your pages to rank higher than your competitors solely based on keywords. Today, we focus on keyword intent, the user's needs, helpful and useful content, and above all else, conversion rate and performance metrics.
While search engines have evolved enormously over the years, one thing will always remain - as long as we are searching for information online, SEO is vital. So, what should businesses focus on when measuring the value of SEO in 2026?
Before we delve in, let’s unpack the ultimate goal of SEO and how it is designed to better your business.
SEO Goals and Objectives
The fundamental goal of SEO is for your website to rank high on the search engine results pages or SERPs. There are three primary processes that will get your page to rank in the results and these are:
- The technical quality of your website
- The quality and relevance of the content on your site
- Earning relevant references and links from other credible websites, positioning your business as an insightful, thought leader.
A technically healthy website supported by high-quality, relevant and helpful content provides a stronger foundation for organic search visibility. But the process is not simple, and it takes a lot of time and strategy to get your website to rank above your competitors. Learn more about the process and strategy that goes into SEO, here.
Now, the most important aspect of SEO is to rank higher than your competitors online for relevant, industry-related search terms and phrases, because ranking higher than others in your industry will get you more click-through rates, which has immense monetary value. And it is understanding this value and working toward this value, that is key to SEO in 2023.
The advantages of outranking your competitors online include:
- More traffic to your website than your competitors
- More leads and business opportunities than your competitors
- You will build tangible value which makes your SEO a business asset
Your SEO value can be measured, and this is why we believe it to be the year of what we call, “Search Engine Ownership.” Think about it like this, wouldn’t you rather want to own the search engines for searches relevant to your business, and calculate the value of this, than to simply just “rank”?
2026 - Search Engine Ownership
In 2026, search visibility also extends beyond traditional organic listings. AI-powered search experiences such as Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode are changing how information is discovered, which means businesses should consider visibility across both traditional search results and emerging AI-powered search experiences.
At NEXA, we believe in transparency when it comes to all of our services, and when it comes to SEO, transparency is vital. We believe that every business needs to know the process of SEO in order to understand the long-term benefits but we also believe that our clients need to see results in a way that they can understand, results based on VALUE in monetary terms - and this is Search Engine Ownership.
This is why we make sure that our clients are always made aware of three primary areas once their SEO process begins:
- Search visibility: An estimated measure of how visible your website is across the organic rankings for the keywords and topics being tracked. This should be considered alongside actual organic impressions, clicks, leads and conversions.
- Search visibility compared to their competitors: By knowing where they rank in relation to their competitors we are given a strategic advantage. Once strategies have been put in place to get them to rank higher than their competitors, they will gain more leads and make more sales.
- The monetary value of their website traffic: How much their SEO is worth in terms of cold hard cash. Without analysing and unpacking the above throughout the SEO process, you will never be able to see the rewards and understand the value of the service provided.
To help give you more perspective as to why it is important to know, unpack and understand all of the above, let’s use NEXA as a case study.
Search Engine Ownership Case Study
The following case study uses NEXA's June 2020 data to illustrate how the Search Engine Ownership methodology measures visibility, competitor performance and the commercial value of organic traffic.
1. NEXA and Search Visibility:
Based on data from June 2020, from a set of 400 key phrases and keywords based on NEXA’s service offerings, we have reached a search visibility score of 75.1% for desktop and laptop users, and we are at 75.9% for mobile searches. This means that for any of those 400 key phrases and keywords, we are likely to convert 75% of these searches into website or blog traffic.
2. NEXA and Search Visibility in Comparison to our Competitors:
But how does our search visibility score of 75.1% compare to our closest competitors? This is an important metric for any business as a click to your website rather than a click to a competitor's website can be the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity.
Using the same data, keywords and key phrases, our closest competitor's search visibility score is at 33.7%.
As per the June 2020 data, our search engine visibility drove 7,469 visitors to our website through organic search alone. Using the same set of keywords and key phrases, our competitors drove only 2,453 visits in this time. This means that we received 3x more visits due to our high search engine visibility.
3. NEXA SEO in Monetary Value:
As stated above, for the month of June 2020, our organic traffic reached 7,469. And we can calculate what this means for us in monetary terms. If a new competitor had to enter the market and their objective was to generate the same amount of traffic as NEXA, we can determine how much investment they would have to make in their marketing efforts to reach the same visits and clicks on their website.
Based on Google data and analytics for the same set of keywords and key phrases, the average cost per click using the Google Ads platform would be $7.20. This means that our competitors would have to pay $7.20 for every click-through to their website using Google AdWords, which equates to US$ 53,086 for that particular month. This means that they would have to spend this amount every month to reach the same traffic that we reach organically without a direct cost per click.
This is a massive asset to our business in its entirety, however, website traffic is not the only determinant of our SEO value. In essence, this traffic converts into a consistent flow of leads and if For illustration, if 1% of that organic traffic converted into new business the ROI from NEXA’s Search Engine Optimisation becomes even more significant.
And this is why we are changing things up!
Rather than viewing SEO only in terms of rankings, we use the term Search Engine Ownership to describe a broader focus on visibility, competitive performance and measurable business value..
Based on the above it is clear that NEXA has achieved Search Engine Ownership and the value of this means that our investment in lead generation activities can be spread among multiple channels, while our competitors pay for the same search engine visibility that NEXA enjoys for free.
In Conclusion
If you are looking for Search Engine Ownership, we are the growth agency for your business.
We focus on improving your search visibility, your search visibility in comparison to your competitors, and the value of your organic ranking in real currency - we believe that SEO should be about creating a business asset and that is what we are here to do for you.
If you are looking to implement successful Search Engine Ownership for your business, NEXA is here to help. Contact us today for all your Search Engine Ownership requirements and get ranking.
