Should You Do SEO During an Economic Downturn?

What do you think? Is an economic slowdown the right time to invest in search engine optimization? Let me put it this way (spoiler alert, I’m going to answer that question with a bunch of other questions)…

Will your Potential customers ever stop searching online for what your business offers?

No. Never. Sure, when the economy is down, demand will also be lower for some types of goods and services. And, of course, lower demand often translates into fewer searches on Google, Yahoo! and Bing. But your customers are still searching for what you offer. What are you going to do about it?

Will you let your competitors scoop up the temporarily smaller pool of prospects?

Fewer actively-searching customers mean you must be more aggressive in your online marketing efforts. Now is the worst possible time to stop or slow down. Your business depends on it. Your ROI (return on investment) might not be what it used to be, but remember that it’s only temporary.

Will you be ready when the economy bounces back?

No one can predict precisely when any economy will be booming again. If you’re waiting to start or resume search engine optimization for when market demand increases, how much business will you lose in the meantime? At best, you’ll have a lot of catching up to do once the economy fully recovers (and it will recover). Just because you pause some of your marketing due to market factors doesn’t mean that your competitors will follow suit. Now is the time to do or keep doing SEO to ensure your business is on a solid footing for the future. Otherwise, you’ll get caught on your heels. (Sorry to sound so ominous, but that’s just the nature of SEO.)

Will you capitalize on SEO; the #1 source of sales for U.S. businesses?

With 8.5 billion searches on Google every day currently (source: EarthWeb), there’s no other way to reach more interested customers than via SEO (and also PPC).

What can you do now?

You know the answer. 🙂

I know you’re busy, so thanks for reading this blog. Happy “SEOing”!

…But on the other hand, what if SEO has proven painful for you? Maybe you’ve been trying to do it yourself or working with another SEO agency… and it’s not going well. If that’s you, then reach out to us. We’re easy to talk to and aren’t cheesy, high-pressure salespeople (despite my often zany writing style). Curious about what might be wrong with your website? Get a free SEO website evaluation today (no obligation).