Any economic downturn is a concern for businesses and it can be a complex process to protect your income when both business and consumer habits change. However, if you have a digital presence, a website, you can take positive action in a downturn to improve your position when the economy upswings.
SEO (search engine optimisation) is an incredible, lucrative marketing channel for online businesses and for businesses with the capability to become more online-based. As a long term marketing strategy, it can help protect you over a fiscal year by making you visible to online consumers as and when they have the means to spend.
As a long term marketing strategy, in quieter times for business, it is worth investing in ways that will improve your visibility in Google for when traffic returns and there is profit to be made.
Coronavirus COVID-19
Coronavirus COVID-19 is having a huge impact on the UK and global economy and businesses both online and offline will be following the safety precautions set out by the World Health Organization (WHO).
At challenging times like this, it is important for businesses to not make ‘knee-jerk’ reactions or changes to their business model (if it can be avoided) that could negatively impact long-term success.
Whilst economic downturns impact industries differently, SMEs, small and family owned businesses are likely to see revenue losses in the next few months – but then an upswing.
For businesses who currently use SEO
If you have already made the decision that your business benefits from SEO before a downturn, it will still benefit from it in a downturn and then when the economy recovers – which it always does.
As SEO isn’t a type of marketing that is ‘completed’, dropping it for a period of time sets you back and creates an uphill struggle when you return.
Why is SEO an ongoing process?
- Google’s algorithm continually updates – best practise guidelines are agile and will change, meaning a site must also change over time to STILL be considered optimised to best practise guidelines
- New competitors enter the market – new and growing businesses within your market will enter the digital space with their own budgets to push SERP (search engine result pages) rankings; if your efforts are paused the landscape will be more saturated and harder to succeed in when you return
As a result, rather than cutting marketing efforts when business may be down, it’s the ideal time to continue your investment in digital marketing to protect your long term goals. It is after all much harder to start up again after a period of inaction.
What’s the impact of pausing SEO?
- A drop in keywords and traffic
- A drop in ecommerce sales from the above
- A drop in a website’s overall relevance in Google
- Falling behind competitors who continue with SEO
As part of this impact, Google will also realise your site is being updated less frequently and will visit it less often. It may also visit less pages on the site so when you restart, there will be an initial phase of content creation and updates to try to recover these levels.
Essentially, if your business is currently using SEO and you have the means, it is strongly advised tokeep it up. It is a hugely profitable marketing channel and if it works for you when the economy is stable or growing, it’s worth the continued investment.
When you’re experiencing less orders and other parts of the business are quieter, time can be focused on website improvements, content creation and other efforts to uplift a website’s organic visibility so it’s there when traffic and consumers return.
At Britweb we’re offering a free consultation on your website. Get in touch and we will provide a short form review with recommendations to help kick start your business once the impact of COVID-19 has been controlled.
For business who currently have no SEO
Is there a particular reason or situation that has been holding you back from choosing SEO, or have you felt that it wasn’t right for your company? If you’re affected by an economic downturn and either don’t have a website or have a website that isn’t being optimised, take the time to consider how it could work for you.
If more people are spending time online then perhaps what your business offers would do well with an improved online presence. If your industry sells essentials that see a spike in demand during downturns, it could be a very viable move to make.
On the other hand, should your industry be suffering, you may want to add SEO as a marketing channel so that when the economy recovers you’ll be more visible and can potentially increase profits faster when consumers return to you.
If your business doesn’t currently have SEO on the website, then learning more about how it could help you is a good first step.
Speak with our team
As a digital web design and marketing agency, we’re able to continue work as normal during even substantial changes in the economy and in the ways that businesses operate. We would be happy to speak with you whether you’re looking to improve current SEO tactics, or are researching on the best way to start SEO for your business.
Our team is approachable and knowledgeable and will offer informed guidance based on the current trends, with a view to future-proof your online profile with Google.
Call us on01403 261491 or email [email protected] with your details and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible to discuss your specific needs.