Search Engine Optimization:
The Way Up During the Economic Downturn

Imagine enjoying a consistent flow of sales leads without paying any “per lead” costs... and during a down economy. Impossible? Not hardly.

With marketing budgets getting squeezed and more pressure to show a profitable marketing ROI, getting a consistent flow of quality and low-cost leads has never looked more attractive. Search engine optimization (SEO) has never looked more attractive. I'll explain...

According to Wikipedia, “Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via ‘natural’ (‘organic’ or ‘algorithmic’) search results for targeted keywords. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results or the higher it ‘ranks’, the more searchers will visit that site.” Of course, the ride to the top of the search engines is not free. Improving organic rankings can be extremely difficult and typically requires the assistance of a professional SEO consultant. But guess how much you pay every time someone clicks on your organic web site listings in Google, Yahoo!, MSN, etc.? Not one cent. Nothing! SEO is unique in that it can provide “free” – but very valuable – traffic to a Web site. And as we all know, more Web site traffic can translate into more golden sales leads. Attractive indeed.

Unfortunately, the first impulse during the current economic downturn may be to simply cut out marketing. Such a decision may actually be very untimely. Here’s another option to consider: improve your efforts rather than discontinue them. Instead of throwing out the baby out with the bathwater, why not reallocate current marketing dollars to a more effective form of marketing? Effective marketing is more necessary now... more necessary than perhaps even in good economic times. With many other competitors marketing less, your marketing efforts actually have the potential to be more effective. With less marketing clutter, your marketing message will not need to “fight” as hard to “get through” to your target audience. In other words, your dollars may yield a higher return during a down economy.

The companies that stand (or at least leverage top search engine rankings to appear to stand) can win during hard economic times. Sure, consumer spending is down. Spending is down but not gone. People are still spending. Consumers and even B2B buyers are always buying. You and I simply need to connect with them. The question is “who will buyers find when they are interested in and searching for that new big ticket item, a perfect gift, new vendor, professional service, or otherwise?” Hopefully, they will find your business ranked at the top of the search engines. According to MarketingSherpa and Enquira, search engines are the leading source of U.S. buying decisions. Whoever is ranked at the top is by default assumed to be a leader. I don’t know about you, but I buy from businesses I trust. And who better to trust (and buy from) than a leader. Ranking higher in search engines through search engine optimization and Web site promotion is an attractive move when everything else is moving down.

And of course if you sell in a less populated area like Montana (where I live), there is no exception for good Montana search engine optimization during difficult economic times. Getting found at the very moment a prospect is searching online and ready to buy can be as good as gold.

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Search Engine Optimization: The Way Up During the Economic Downturn

Search Engine Optimization:
The Way Up During the Economic Downturn