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One thing that I am constantly stressing to my clients is that they can\u2019t let month-to-month fluctuations (visitors to site, ranking in SERPs and so forth) shake their faith in their SEO campaign. Too often, site owners panic during a slow month and decide that SEO isn\u2019t working for them and they should just cut and run. While I can understand the need to tighten the marketing budget in the lean months (I\u2019ve had to do it myself at times), SEO is not the place to do it!<\/p>\n
SEO is going to actually help carry your online business through the slow times. Remember, part of SEO is about building a strong online brand and presence. If people can\u2019t find your website online, how can you possibly expect to earn their business? Even local brick-and-mortar businesses like restaurants and boutiques need an online presence to help local customers find and connect with them. SEO is a long term process and it can sometimes take a while to feel the momentum working in your favor. However, if you were to give up on your SEO at the first sign of a downturn, it\u2019ll take you just as much time to get the ball rolling again in the future. It\u2019s much more effective in the long run to keep your SEO campaign alive.<\/p>\n
Here are a few things you could do instead of stalling your SEO campaign to trim the marketing budget:<\/strong><\/p>\n It makes sense that you will want to cut out the parts of your marketing mix that aren’t working. For instance, if you spend money launching direct response campaigns that aren’t bringing in enough customers and leads, you should slash these from your marketing mix. Don’t cut back on things that are actually working, only focus on slashing those things that aren’t! The one exception to this is if you have only just started consistently working your SEO campaigns. It could take six months to a year or more in order to really see results and once you do, your business will be better sustained for long term growth.\u00a0You should focus on specific marketing and advertising campaigns that aren’t performing well when you look to make cuts.<\/p>\n In my years as a business owner, I have learned that it is important to cut things that don’t work. This is not only essential during slow times, but it is also something that should be done on a regular basis, even when business is booming. This is not only true for advertising and marketing strategies that aren’t working, but for everything else. For instance, if you are paying for a service that you aren’t using, this is the time to let it go.<\/p>\n In my 7 years as a business owner, I have never landed a client from any of my tradeshow marketing. While I know it\u2019s important to go to the occasional trad eshow to help with your branding and to learn from industry experts, if the marketing budget is tight considering eliminating a trade show from your calendar. That could easily save you several thousand dollars.<\/p>\nCut Your Ineffective Marketing<\/h3>\n
Cut Back on Your Online Advertising<\/h3>\n
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Next, you should cut back on any online advertising that isn’t effective. Instead, focus on the best performing sites for now and worry about finding new places\/ways to advertise when you have a little more budget to play with. It is important to note that this also includes PPC ad spend.\u00a0While this is not true for every company, I\u2019ve found PPC works best as part of a branding campaign, but isn\u2019t the best way to drive qualified leads (that are looking to make a buying decision soon) to your website. If your PPC campaign isn\u2019t producing the kind of traffic you were hoping for, cut back on your PPC spending and rework your landing pages for later down the road. You could also try targeting less expensive keywords.<\/p>\nCut Things That Don’t Work<\/h3>\n
Don\u2019t Go\u00a0to Industry Trade Shows and Conferences<\/h3>\n