Reasons SEO can't be Right for Your Business

Many people think that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a basic element of business, such as email, offices, and, well ... basic elements. But in reality, search engine optimization is not something that all businesses need, especially small businesses with modest marketing budgets.

If any of the conditions below apply to your business, it is better to invest in marketing campaigns other than search engine optimization.

Low volume of keywords

There's not much point in getting a 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 a minimal volume, it is unlikely that you will reach the critical mass of clicks necessary to generate a return on investment for your SEO. (Companies fall into the trap of investing in low volume keywords because they feel good when they see themselves ranked high. The moral of the story is this: Always follow the sales leads or revenue generated by your SEO campaign and evaluate the results on that basis).

You serve a small local market

If your business serves a small or medium sized market - dental office, restaurant, etc. - you may want to consider the following - then standard SEO will not work because the keywords targeting your specific market will not be sufficient to generate a return on investment. In this case, consider a local SEO campaign, which is a specialized type of SEO that uses different techniques from those that are important for a standard SEO campaign (i.e. national in scope).

Competition is too strong

If your maximum SEO budget is $1,000 per month and you are facing competitors spending $20,000 per month, your chances of achieving high rankings for strategically important keywords will be close to zero. SEO in some sectors, such as insurance and banking, is dominated by a few large players with very deep pockets. You may be able to compete on keywords that go unnoticed, but you will need very sophisticated research on keywords and competition to determine if even this can succeed.

Your budget is too low

It takes more than a few hundred dollars a month to make a successful SEO. Producing and marketing content, exploring the territory for link building opportunities, developing new tactics and a host of other tasks require a lot of time and expertise. SEO does not lend itself to mechanical execution, the assembly line, the formula. How much is enough? The answer to this question depends largely on the competition and the current state of your visibility in organic research, but as a general rule of thumb, you can estimate that it will cost you at least $1,000 per month to move the dial.

Your website is an SEO disaster

For SEO to have a chance of success, Google's robots must be able to find and accurately evaluate the relevance and authority of your website's content. If your website hinders Google's ability to do this, then Google will not be able to figure out how to match your content with searches for your target keywords. Old or poorly built websites will need to be redesigned before an investment in SEO makes sense. The problems encountered by websites looking for a full range of keywords are generally as follows: Poorly constructed URLs, missing or poorly written title tags, unfriendly design for mobiles, lack of pages for the main target keywords and faulty internal link structure.

You have a radically new product or service

Companies with something really new have many interesting marketing options to choose from, but SEO is not one of them. If you have something that people don't know about, then they won't look for it online. Once the market has become familiar with your offer and you have a critical mass of brand recognition, SEO can be an interesting option. In the meantime, save those precious marketing dollars for more cost-effective options.

Start with research

If you have the slightest doubt about the effectiveness of SEO for your organization, the best solution is to invest in professional preliminary research to properly evaluate the opportunity and cost.

The worst thing to do - and the thing most companies actually do - is to try SEO. A small budget and timid effort is not only a waste of money, it can lead you to the wrong conclusion, preventing you from seeing the true potential of a professionally managed SEO campaign. Successful SEO campaigns always start with excellent research.