Many people think of search engine optimization (SEO) as fundamental to business, like email, desks, and, yes, the essentials. But in reality, SEO is do not have This is a necessity for all businesses, especially small businesses with limited marketing budgets.
If any of the following conditions apply to your company, you may be better off investing in a non-SEO marketing campaign.
1. Low Keyword Volume
There's not much point in ranking on the first page of Google for keywords that are only searched for a few times a month. If the keywords most relevant to your business have minimal volume, you're unlikely to reach the critical mass of click-throughs needed to generate ROI on your SEO investment. (Businesses fall into the trap of investing in low-volume keywords because it feels good to rank high. The moral of the story is: always track the sales leads and revenue generated from your SEO campaigns and evaluate your results accordingly.)
Contrary to popular belief, SEO isn’t necessary for every business.
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2. They serve a small, local market
If your business serves a small or medium-sized market, such as a dental clinic or restaurant, standard SEO won't work because keywords targeted to your specific market don't have enough volume to generate ROI. In this situation, consider a local SEO campaign, a specialized type of SEO that involves different techniques than those key to a standard (i.e., national) SEO campaign.
3. There's too much competition
If your SEO budget is a maximum of $1,000/month and your competitors are spending $20,000/month, your chances of ranking highly for strategically important keywords are close to zero. SEO in certain industries like insurance and banking is dominated by a few large, well-funded companies. You might be able to compete for keywords that don't catch their eye, but it would still require very advanced keyword/competitive research to determine if you would be successful.
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4. The budget is too small
Successful SEO can cost more than a few hundred dollars a month. Creating and marketing content, exploring link building opportunities, developing new tactics, and many other tasks require significant time and expertise. SEO does not lend itself to mechanical, routine, and routine execution. How much is enough? The answer depends heavily on the current state of your competitive landscape and organic search visibility, but as a rule of thumb, you can estimate that it will cost you at least $1,000 a month to be effective.
5. Your website has terrible SEO
For SEO to be successful, Google crawlers must be able to find and accurately evaluate the relevance and authority of a website's content. If your website hinders Google's ability to do this, Google won't be able to determine how to match your content with searches for your target keywords. Old or poorly built websites need to be overhauled before investing in SEO makes sense. There are a wide variety of website issues to look for. Common issues include poorly constructed URLs, missing or incorrectly written title tags, unmobile-friendly design, no pages supporting your primary target keywords, and a flawed internal linking structure.
6. You have a completely new product or service
Businesses that offer something completely new have many attractive marketing options, but SEO is not one of them. If you offer something people are unfamiliar with, they won't search for it online. Once the market becomes familiar with your offering and you've reached a certain amount of brand awareness, SEO can be a great option. Until then, save your precious marketing dollars for more rewarding options.
Start with research
If you have doubts about whether SEO will work for your organization, it’s best to invest in some preliminary research from an expert to properly evaluate the opportunities and costs.
The worst thing you can do, and what most businesses actually do, is to dabble in SEO. Dabbling with a small budget and half-hearted effort will not only waste your money, but it can also lead you to the wrong conclusions and miss the true potential of a professionally managed SEO campaign. A winning SEO campaign always starts with good research.
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This article originally appeared on AllBusiness.com. Read all articles by Brad Shorr.
