In challenging times, reducing spend is the first business reaction. Marketing is typically the first casualty when it comes to budget cuts, particularly in scenarios when a company cannot operate because of restrictions.
In this article, we are going to cover tips on how SEO can assist your business to recover from COVID 19.
Beating the Competition when they are not looking
If you are a travel agent, does it make sense to spend money on ads if there is a widespread closure of airports?
The answer is obviously no.
In the short term investing money in SEO will look like a waste of company money.
Strategically, this is the right moment to work harder to grasp the top positions on search engines. Competition is low during a recession, particularly in niche markets. It is the right opportunity to climb higher and get better rankings. A limited budget will still give you enough fuel to engage users.
Cost-Effective
SEO is the most cost-effective marketing tool. When it comes to budgeting, you must invest in what will give you a better return on investment (ROI).
SEO can give continued traffic growth through a sustained baseline effort. If you have the expertise of what keywords you need to target.
Even if you limit your energy into the building content on your site, you can drive more traffic.
Basing your marketing on paid advertisements is the wrong move. The moment the situation gets worse, and spend on paid ads stops, the traffic stops.
SEO has a flywheel effect. Small and repeated efforts compound on each other over time until you reach enough momentum.
Even if you need to reduce budgets on SEO as long as you have enough money to pay hosting costs, the investment in SEO will not disappear overnight as opposed to Paid Advertisement.
If you invest the right time and effort, you can build the right momentum to be at the right spot when the market changes.
SEO becomes cheaper in a recession
During a recession, you must spend carefully, and if you run out of money be creative.
Work on getting a better rate for content writing. You will be able to produce the same volume of content at a reduced cost.
Link building is an essential aspect of SEO. During a recession, link building opportunities are easier and more cost-effective to close.
You can close links from high authority sites at a fraction of the regular price or for free if you are providing an acceptable level of content.
SEO is Flexible
When it comes to challenging times, you have to be very flexible. You have to act like a start-up. When it comes to startups, the most powerful tool is Pivoting.
You need to adapt to the new marketing needs and rethink your offering in a short period.
SEO provides this flexibility. Using insights into what matters to the search engines you can re-target a site to approach a different niche or business strategy.
Final Thoughts
In difficult times, it is imperative to set realistic and smart goals that you can execute. Efficiently with limited costs.
You must focus on the aspects of your business. There is always room for improvement and tweaking.
SEO is the MARKETING EFFORT that should not stop during a recession.
Invest wisely in ranking your site higher, as you will be able to hit the ground running when the economy starts to recover.
At GainChanger we’ve been working with clients to help them power through the recession and reshape their business to adapt to the new normal that be unfolding in the coming months.
Want to learn more? Get in touch with us today and take advantage of a free 15-minute consultation.
Simon Bonello is Co-founder of Gain Changer. His main area of focus is Business Process Automation, Software Technical Architecture and Technical SEO
