Marketing without content planning is like taking a road trip without directions.
Is SEO Worth It for Tech Companies in 2025?
Sophia Enlow
February 18, 2025
Search engine optimization (SEO) has changed dramatically in the past few years, especially with the rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) update.
Some tech companies use outdated SEO tactics, such as paying for backlinks and overusing keywords in content, to try to rank higher in search results. These strategies are ineffective and will not contribute to a company’s growth.
Content marketing, or creating and publishing quality blogs, social media posts, ebooks, and other content, is an effective strategy for tech companies. Producing informative content that addresses readers’ pain points helps generate leads and drive business. But the real question is, Should tech companies invest in SEO?
The answer isn’t a simple yes or no—it’s more nuanced than that. Content marketing and SEO are often closely tied. Optimizing content for SEO helps improve online visibility.
However, content marketing is more than an SEO strategy. Engaging with leads and customers, building a trusted brand, and creating a library of content for salespeople are all essential marketing strategies for B2B tech companies.
This guide explores why SEO and content marketing are still relevant for some tech companies and explains whether you should invest in these services in 2025.
What is SEO and why does it matter?
SEO boils down to a few primary goals: improving search rankings, driving traffic from Google or other search engines, and generating qualified leads.
SEO is all about organic traffic, meaning visitors to your website find it through search without paid ads. Tech companies often rely on SEO strategies to reach their target audience and engage with clients, thus increasing brand awareness.
These strategies include:
- Technical SEO: This encompasses technical optimization efforts, such as improving page speed, fixing broken links, submitting sitemaps, and using schema markup to enhance content.
- On-page SEO: On-page SEO is the process of optimizing on-page content like general website copy, service pages, and blog posts. It focuses on improving organic search rankings by incorporating target keywords, developing an internal linking strategy, appropriately using header tags, and more.
- Off-page SEO: Off-page SEO describes a business’s actions to improve its website rankings outside the on-page optimization. This SEO strategy utilizes link-building, guest blogging, and digital PR to increase a website’s domain authority and reputation.
- Local SEO: For businesses that rely on local customer bases, local SEO offers a way to strategically optimize for “near me” and other localized searches. This technique ensures your business is visible in search engine map packs.
B2B tech companies can reach their target market using all types of SEO. Nick Zviadadze, a member of the Forbes Business Council, writes, “Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for B2B businesses because 33% of all web traffic across seven key industries comes from organic search.”
Word-of-mouth marketing isn’t typically enough to sustain a business in today’s highly digital landscape. Websites not optimized for search engines are rarely found organically by target audiences.
However, SEO isn’t the best strategy for every tech company. Sometimes it may not be effective enough to justify the cost—but we’ll get to that in a bit.
How SEO fits into a larger marketing strategy
A business can use many different marketing channels to reach its target audience. Common channels include social media, email marketing, digital advertising, media relations, and SEO.
SEO is one of many channels that help a business get its message in front of the right people. An effective SEO strategy brings visitors to your website and increases brand recognition, credibility, and loyalty.
According to Corinne McGinley from HubSpot, SEO can be an effective digital marketing strategy because it drives traffic at a lower cost than pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. In PPC advertising, a business pays a small fee each time someone clicks on their online ad.
This model is effective for targeting niche audiences, but it can quickly become expensive. While PPC is a common part of a B2B tech marketing strategy, SEO is a long-term tactic that can produce significant results over time.
So, when should brands invest in SEO? B2B tech companies with an established online presence may consider investing in SEO services. Companies looking for sustainable, long-term results that don’t fizzle out overnight may want to incorporate an SEO strategy. Additionally, tech companies can target high-intent searchers like CTOs and other executives to boost conversions with SEO.
For brand-new websites or tech startups, it can take time to see results from SEO. New sites lack domain authority (DA), making competing in search engine results pages (SERPs) much harder.
DA predicts how likely a website is to rank in search engines. Each website is assigned a score ranging from zero to 100 derived from a machine learning algorithm. Websites with many other unique sites linking back to their pages (backlinks) are likely to have higher DA. Increasing DA takes time and strongly influences a brand’s ability to rank.
This is why tech startups with low budgets need to do more than publish content for SEO purposes. Ideally, small-budget startups should focus on optimizing their website content and conducting just enough keyword research.
If your tech company already has a history of SEO and is ranking for several keywords in search, SEO is likely more important to you than it would be to a brand-new company starting from scratch.
SEO complements your digital marketing strategy and can be an alternative to paid advertising, but it probably shouldn’t be your primary focus in 2025.
AI and its impact on SEO for tech companies
In spring 2023, Google rolled out its algorithm update and shifted how it displays search results. Google’s generative AI update, called Search Generative Experience (SGE), brought significant changes to the SEO landscape.
With SGE, Google now provides an AI-powered snapshot that gives quick answers to queries and links to sources for further investigation. This snapshot is displayed at the top of the SERPs and is the first thing users see, even before paid ads.
How does this impact SEO? Because of this new update, there will be more zero-click searches. The concise snapshot summary may provide enough information for people to avoid reading any further, negatively affecting SEO’s impact on search visibility.
However, recent data from Search Engine Land shows that 94% of the time, SGE’s snapshot answer doesn’t highlight links from the top 10 organic results. This means ranking in the top organic results isn’t quite as important as it used to be. Rather, focusing on search intent, author expertise, and content relevancy counts for more.
Neil Patel says, “SGE is transforming SEO from a keyword-centric approach to one that prioritizes understanding and intent.” Tech companies interested in growing through content marketing and SEO should focus on E-E-A-T value, optimize for search intent, and prioritize technical SEO and UX.
E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Google uses these factors when determining how to rank pages in search. Pages with E-E-A-T value from websites with high domain authority are likely to rank higher on Google.
Additionally, people are using search engines less overall and are asking ChatGPT or similar AI tools instead. Asking ChatGPT a question can sometimes seem more straightforward than Googling, since the chatbot provides a concise answer in seconds.
Generative AI tools like ChatGPT are also commonly used in content creation. It’s easy to ask ChatGPT to write a blog post about your chosen topic. However, because of generative AI’s lack of E-E-A-T value, human-written content will outperform it.
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Benefits of working with a B2B SEO agency
Tech companies that have decided to invest in SEO may look to an agency for assistance. SEO agencies, especially those who specialize in B2B tech, offer an affordable means to test the waters. Other benefits of partnering with an SEO agency for B2B tech include:
- Proven expertise: B2B SEO agencies have in-depth knowledge of content creation, optimization best practices, technical SEO, and more. These agencies have proven expertise that can be verified through client testimonials, reviews, and case studies. SEO agencies specializing in tech have industry experience and are familiar with the best strategies in the unique tech landscape.
- Cost-effectiveness: Working with a B2B SEO agency is generally more cost-effective than hiring an in-house team. Outsource your content and SEO to a reputable agency instead of worrying about sourcing talent and adding employees to the payroll. Every agency is different, but a monthly SEO retainer can be pretty affordable for many tech companies.
- Convenience: Entrusting your company’s SEO to a vetted agency takes the weight off your shoulders. Outsourcing SEO to a team of experts is undeniably convenient. Most agencies offer a relatively hands-off approach to services if requested.
Create a holistic digital marketing strategy for B2B tech
SEO is not the end-all-be-all approach for B2B tech companies. Rather, it can be a practical part of a broader marketing strategy for companies with an established online presence.
Startups in the B2B tech space should focus instead on developing a holistic marketing strategy that includes content to build credibility and serve as a resource for sales teams.
Overall, tech businesses should evaluate their goals to decide whether or not to invest in SEO. If you invest in SEO, consider the benefits of working with an agency.
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