There's no two ways about it - SEO is hot again. In the last 6 weeks, SEOmoz has received a higher than normal volume of requests for consulting. Alongside that, we've been getting calls from venture capital firms out of the blue - seven to date - asking either about investments they're considering in the SEO sphere (and requesting insight) or literally asking whether SEOmoz would like to take more capital to grow (post about that coming soon). And it's not just us. The jobs and contracts section of the Marketplace has been humming in November, and anecdotal conversations with other SEO firms tell me there's quite a bit of business to be had for both in-house and external SEOs. Online sales, according to Paypal, were up 34% this year over last - another sign that web commerce is a safe haven for those in need of ROI.
Why? What makes SEO more attractive in a down market? While I can't say for certain, I'll enumerate the most common explanations and motivations I've heard and perceived:
- The Web Outperforms Other Sales Channel
When organizations look at the paths leading to sales and income (a critical analysis whenever budgets are under scrutiny), the web almost always comes out with one of two assessments. Either it's a leading sales channel (especially from an ROI perspective) or it's deemed to be an area with the greatest opportunity for growth. In both scenarios, web marketing and, in correlation, SEO, takes center stage. - It's the Right Time to Re-Tool
Established companies frequently use down cycles as a chance to focus attention inward and analyze themselves. Consequently, there's a spike in website redesigns and SEO along with it. - Paid Search Drives Interest in SEO
Paid search spending is still reaching all-time highs, and when companies evaluate the cost and value, there's a nagging little voice saying "70%+ of the clicks don't even happen in the ads; use SEO." - SEO is Losing its Stigma
Google is releasing SEO guides, Microsoft and Yahoo! both have in-house SEO departments and the "SEO is BS" crowd have lost a little of their swagger and a lot of their arguments. No surprise - solid evidence trumps wishful thinking, especially when times are tough. - Marketing Departments are in a Brainstorming Cycle
A high percentage of companies are asking the big questions - "how do we get new customers?" and "what avenues still offer opportunity?" Whenever that happens, SEO is bound to show up near the top of the "to be investigated" pile. - Search Traffic Will Be Relatively Unscathed by the Market
Sales might drop, conversion rates might falter a bit but raw search traffic isn't going anywhere. A recession doesn't mean that people stop searching the web, and with broadband adoption rates, Internet penetration and searches per users consistently rising, search is no fad - it's here for the long haul. - Web Budgets are Being Reassessed
We've all seen the news about display advertising falling considerably - that can only happen when managers meet to discuss how to address budget concerns. Get 10 Internet marketing managers into rooms with their teams and at least 4 or 5 are bound to discuss SEO and how they can grab that "free" traffic. - Someone Finally Looked at the Web Analytics
It's sad, but true. When a downturn arrives or panic sets in, someone, maybe the first someone in a long time, checks the web analytics to see where revenue is still coming in. Not surprisingly, search engine referrals with their exceptional targeting and intent-matching are ranking high on the list.
I'd love to hear your experiences - have you seen an uptick in buzz about SEO? Has your agency, consulting practice or company taken a renewed interest in the subject? Why?
p.s. For a dose of delicious irony, check out this list of the Top 100 blogs for software development managers. Notice how there are no SEO or SEO-related blogs? And yet, they're using SEO metrics alongside the list! I'd complain, but then again, as long as web developers aren't paying attention to or learning SEO, consultants, agencies and in-house SEOs will always have a job.
A really important point here: Search is perceived as a direct response channel. In tough economic times companies always shoot for direct response because it's measurable and easier to justify.
I think the growth in SEO lately is that same shift, playing out in a new medium.
While I'm glad for the boom (we've seen it here a bit), it's pretty stressful when smalltime clients basically tell you to "make sure you do it really good" when they're hurting financially. Like if their business were bustling, I wouldn't try as hard.
Increased scrutiny and pressure + persistent lack of knowledge of SEO = not very happy or easy to work with clients.
Great post. I've been seeing a lot of new interest at the agency I work at. My impression is the 9th reason is that SEO is seen as concrete.
People can say "If I get X amount of new visitors, I can make X amount of dollars." During an economic downturn, people have much more difficult time putting a dollar value on a new website or a display ad or anything seen as a "creative" deliverable, but SEO makes sense because returns are relatively predictable.
As someone who's still relatively new to search, I'm so exited by the sudden surge in interest.
I disagree, the last thing clients see SEO as is concrete. PPC somewhat, "I can pay x, which will get me to Y and I will convert roughly at the rate of z bringing me a good roi, we can test it for a few hundren pounds and if it doesn't work we can turn it off"
But SEO is not concrete, it is seen as "there are a number of people searching for this term, if I can get to b position we think we might be able to get c number of visitors, but we have never been in that position before, and it is going to take us 9 months and £xxxx.xx to get there, and there is no way to test if it will work, or even know how many visitors it will bring in"
When customers invest in SEO it is a faith investment, they are putting their faith in you as the SEO to make real what you have promised, and even the most experienced of buyers will be very wary of what they are purchasing, because you could be eating up a huge amount of their marketing budget, and not showing them any return in a long time.
The minute you start telling clients that SEO is something concrete you are setting yourself up for a world of woe, because if it is concrete then they will expect you to make concrete promises, and that they will come true in a concrete amount of time, and the search engine algorithyms simply aren't set in stone. .
I'd never tell a client that SEO is a guarantee, nor do I ever promise any traffic numbers or ranking. That just sets you up for a world of disaster. All I'm saying is clients see it as in vogue and more concrete and longterm than most other forms of digital marketing/advertising.
Also, a lot of clients don't see it as creative, it's perceived more like a hard science rather than a creative pursuit, and the creative budget is the first to go in times like these.
I agree, the word guarantee is just setting yourself up for disaster! A guarantee implies that you can get them something exact where SEO can provide vast improvement. Good reply Josh!
I'm less optimistic than you guys about the sudden interest. That yes, it's great; but it also seems kind of desperate. That the signs I've been seeing have been more about "oh my goodness we are getting hammered out there, what's another fast revenue stream we can exploit?". The paid channels have been up and down on a lot of keywords for people who weren't hitting PPC very hard in the past, but have now decided to (e.g. Walmart is was all over the whitegoods sector in November).
So is it finally a well-realized acknowledgement that SEO can be a part of any company's complete breakfast, and marketing plan? I doubt it. A lot of the recent moves smack of desperation; some of these clients might not be in search of SEO but instead a panacea. Their interest (and business) might not last long when they realize it isn't.
And of course, I offer future congratulations to the SEOMoz team for being bought out by General Electric ;)
Agreed. The odds that everyone suddenly realized its actual long-term benefits are low. We all know that SEO is anything but a quick fix. (Shh, don't tell the paying clients that!)
I had a beautiful moment where a client said they were shooting for results in 9-12 months, rather than the usual "can we get to #1 for [insert popular term] by next month?"
I think people are starting to actually realize that quick fixes are what got the world into this whole mess.
You're sweetly optimistic. Maybe that's because of where you work. :)
With General Electric, as we all know, being owned by the Sheinhardt Wig Company. Everyone looks good in a Sheinhardt! :P
Thumbs up for the "30 Rock" reference.
My Adwords budget just got slashed, so the only traffic I have right now is organic. That and our opt-in list are the only things keeping regular leads moving.
Unfortunately, it seems everyone wants immediate results. It's due to the "instant gratification syndrome" of our society - we want it now, dagnabbit! Not many folks look or plan ahead. It's one of the reasons the economy is in such a flippin' mess.
We have to be very careful not to guarantee results, make promises, etc. - or even hint at them. Many businesses are desperate and are looking for that miracle cure. If they don't get the results they say you said you can get for them...well, it won't be a pretty.
Thanks for that positive re-inforcement of what I've seen in the last few months.
An experience I've had over and over is that sales and marketing people are open to trying something new now, but deep down are not yet convinced that their website can help generate them more business. Minds changing yes, hearts...not yet, and possibly down to the disappointment after their last website re-design.
However, I have seen more traction once people start monitoring and measuring, because they can see when getting positive feedback (leads) can be traced from something they did on the website. So the Analytics, point 8, is a great one - with more attention paid to where leads come from (asking).
Great post! I recently wrote something similar about how it was now a good time for companies to reinvest in their web presence. I think I'll link to this article as well to hammer that point home.
I have noticed more people asking about PPC campaigns lately but I haven't heard any buzz about the local companies wanting to increase their organic rankings. Most people that run companies don't know very much about search optimization and their failure to see the benefits of a dedicated SEO campaign is a result of our failure to effectively communicate those benefits to them. So perhaps now would also be a good time for us to sharpen our sales and communication skills so we can do a better job at that.
I agree with Brandon, perhaps Rand could enlighten us with a great post about selling SEO Services and how to explain benefits to clients.
As always, Spot On. Compendium Blogware is growing rapidly in this environment primarily because of the SEO message behind Corporate Blogging. In tough times, nobody can afford to engage in experiments without tangible ROI. To date, business blogging has been this touch-feely thing that has not been challanged by ROI responsiblity.
Tying ROI to targeted SEO is starting to make a lot more sense.
Rand, this is a great post, especially together with the one about PPC vs SEO spending.
Great point about paid search leading companies to SEO (ie the "hang on, you mean we can get these clicks for FREE?" factor). Also the fact that "a recession doesn't mean that people stop searching the web" - absolutely - and probably they'll be searching the web even more in many spheres.
I would add that the SEOs who will be most likely to benefit from this trend will be the ones who can demonstrate results - not just case studies or "page 1 rankings" tables but real ROI figures (this is the particular drum I'm banging on lately). IMO, tracking SEO post-click to get an impression of how effective it really is is one of the most neglected in our industry.
Yep. I can report that it's all pretty busy this side of the atlantic as well (and the story was the same with everyone I talked to at Harrogate SEO recently - notably DaveN and Patrick Altoft). I have just written about a Microsoft study into uplift between display and search advertising (no SEO in their report, unfortunately) because it coincides with an increase in our clients being interested in display advertising.
My theory is that SEO and online advertising is getting a bump from all the media coverage talking about how it is doing well through the downturn...
You are so right Rand! And yes, we see that SEO is losing its stigma--marketers are starting to "get it" and be able to discern between the folks that can offer the real deal and those that play at SEO but never deliver. Just like Syms, an educated consumer is our best customer--let's keep teaching marketers how to evaluate SEO and there's no way they won't learn to value it.
I have noticed an increase in our larger clients asking about SEO. However, Small business are really holding onto there money. Starting back in Sept. were the market was holding small business lines of credit, a lot of our local businesses just didn't have the cash on hand to go forward with development projects.
Luckily the corporate clients are more willing to oursource and cut costs that way.
We just stoped many AdWords campaigns. Organic traffic is doing great. But at the same time it is very scarry when 18% of your traffic comes from 1 keyword in which currently we rank #1. I am actually having nightmares of loosing that position
Couldn't agree more! Not only is it an easier sell, but the referral business is bumping too. People are starting to realize that search is a much more effective form of acquiring customers due to the Intent of the searcher being lined up with the Intent of the publisher versus the traditional shotgun approach.
It’s great to know things are doing well in the Industry. I personally believe SEO has great potential and a lot of room to grow. I have experienced an increase for SEO Services request lately too, seems like Companies have realize how important SEO is, being able to have those free clicks going to their Sites.
My primary specialty in online marketing is social media (and we've seen a dramatic increase in inquiries/openness to pursue it as well), but we're also getting more inquiries about SEO. And in every web development project that's come up, SEO has been a major consideration.
I see two different underlying motivations:
(1) "We better tighten up our ship." Clients are recognizing the missed opportunities of not performing well in search. We're hearing a lot of "We know our website isn't as effective as it could be at drawing visitors and converting them." Basically, a poorly-performing website is turning up as a Threat in a lot of SWOT analyses, I think.
(2)"WTH, we might as well try it." Basically, the desperation attitude mentioned earlier.
Oh, and even in the inquiries about social media, improved search engine visibility is almost always mentioned as one of the reasons they're considering adding a blog.
My SEO class @ UNLV is near capacity and I've received several calls from potential clients wanting SEO copywriting services - nearly all these folks understand the importance of ramping up marketing efforts to keep their products/services in front of their customers.
As you mentioned, Rand, SEM/SEO is gaining more respect in budgets because, unlike display advertising and other traditional marketing efforts, results can be measured.
This respect is also due to increased understanding of SEM. The more business people know, the more they realize the need to have an SEO/SEM pro on staff/retainer.
Thanks for a very cool post!
You teach an SEO class at UNLV? It would be really interesting to hear about the class (the curriculum, questions you get, etc).
Good post, and agree with your assessment.
We do SEO in-house and for at least 2 years now, we have banged on and on about SEO and speeding up the delivery of SEO features to our sites without much success.
In the last few months though SEO has jumped to the top of all the "big dogs" lists of "must do more of".
They have seen the light!!
Thanks for the positive outlook! I think you are right on the money. I am glad to hear that seo is gaining a better reputation.
As far as analytics go: I have long given up selling seo to a client but even more educated clients that have come to me for seo work had to have their arms twisted to do the analytic work. I don't get that.... sigh.... But yes, marketing departments are brainstorming and are considering the "voodoo that we do" :-) so with loosing the stigma and it gaining a better rep I guess we are becoming a new avenue to explore. That's good news!
Great post Rand.. This is what i am targetting.. I want to highly optimize my website during recession and invest more time and money on it.
Also the business build in recession are build to last.
What is the old saying? "Ignore at your own risk. We're taking a Fortune 500 B-to-B company and investing heavily in SEO and SEM. There is just too big an opportunity with this tool to ignore it.
That "SEO is BS" line is classic. I'm battleing one of these guys at work right now.
Oddly enough one of the VP's forwarded this article around to us so at least my SEO campaign over the past year hasn't gone unnoticed.
rand, someone is actually looking at their web analytics....?? what!
thats crazy talk.. by starting to examine exactly how your site is performing, where your leads are coming from, the value of those leads and if your current linkbuilding company is actually doing anything for your business... most link/traffic systems drive single page view visitors to your website, which spike your numbers but dont drive sales and often dont return or bookmark your site. I know there are quality companies who build links that help your SERPs but a majority just drive traffic in the hope that it will stick if they send enough...
i think a start with examining the web analytics to see how much traffic is coming in around your brand name, usually its around 40% or more... so this would show that if a seo campaign should be around more generic terms, or you may find if they have a highly competitive keyword as part of their brand "SEOmoz", try optimising their brand, as they may not be number one for their own brand, this can have an effect.
An example is that in Australia Realestate.com.au, often ranks #1 + #2 for your company name, so you still get a share of traffic, but risk losing it as the portal will list ads for similar properties in your area by competitiors...Try out ranking them for multiple generic terms and you will understand their true SERP weight.
It is also useful to understand if their are any toxic terms around their brand which might be affecting your sales by offering free or backdoor access into your system, such as #6 www.davidnaylor.co.uk
I agree with this post and have observed a recent upswing in interest as well. I caution others to think about their approach before running full speed ahead.
The first thing I do with a new client is a thorough assessment of their existing website. It's not just about SEO. For example, if I were to drive a lot of new traffic to a website, will it hold up or crash? Often as not, the site assessment reveals surprising impediments. Interest in SEO may be peaking, but budgets are still headed in the other direction. It is important to not seize this as an opportunity to retool every website. We have an obligation to identify what's wrong, and to suggest options for improvement. In a tight economy we should be thinking "scalable building blocks" and "measurable improvement over time". As a matter of fact, I think we should always that approach, it's just more important now.
Thank you for this valuable post.
I totally agree with this post. Interestingly enough more people outside of my company have asked me about SEO in the past couple of months than ever before. I've ended up referring a ton of people to SEOmoz and your beginner guides. Plus I used to have to go into great detail when I explained SEO now I can just say it and people know what i'm talking about. SEO has officially entered the mainstream.
Last month we had professional site review because it is our yearly slow season and time to re-tool.
Budget approval was easier to obtain because of Economic Doom and Gloom.
Could it be a world wide reaction due to the stock exchange crushing down?
We did see in the last couple of weeks a great interest in SEO by some major brands we are working with. I guess they want to spend their dollars more wisely, and SEO as you said, has gained in credibility.
Before the down turn began I started work on several redesign projects and have seen a steady interest in such.
As a leader in strategic blogging for search engine and business results, we're seeing incredible growth in the use of our platform. I would add one additional motivation where SEO fits - after your advertising budget runs dry, your search engine placement is still there!
Great post Rand.
I strongly agree with you about SEO beginning to lose it's stigma and the fact that although the economy is in the toilet, web sales are booming.
If I could have added a number 9 it would have been that companies are learning from past marketing mistakes. It has been said time and time again that in tough economic times the worst thing a company can do is stop promoting. I am hoping that part of the surge of SEO demand is from this idea that the best thing a company can do to capture market share is dominate during an economic downturn.
Another thing I would add to number 9 is that the ROI from SEO is in most cases outstanding and companies that are looking for an alternative marketing strategy with a high ROI are naturally falling in the hands of SEO.
I've gotten more calls about SEO in the past 3 weeks than in the past 6 months. People are finally -- urgently -- recognizing the need to rank well.
I am grateful for the increased business, and look forward to the long, productive weeks ahead.
I've seen an increase in SEO services from clients who are sick of paying the phone book compaines for their services that don't work as well as SEO. Most of my clients are seeing a cost savings from updating thier site and creating new SEO friendly content.
I hope this trend will continue as it has increase business in a very nice way. Anyone else seeing business coming from people who are sick of paying for phone book lisitngs?
As much as I like phone books as a brainstorming and research tool, these things are going the way of payphones and dodo birds. They've been outrageously overpriced for years.
Unfortunately every online yellow pages-type of directory I've used are abysmal for users - listings filled with national adv., scroll through pages just to get to a local group, and then info is missing from the listing. Ugh!
I'm seeing an increase in interest, but I've also had a client or two tell me that they need me to put their projects on hold because of cash flow problems. People are learning that they need SEO, but money's clearly getting tighter.
SEO can also be seen as a way to reduce PPC spending. If you can get the some of the same traffic for free you can cut the PPC budget and save some money. Although it would be even nicer to get new traffic it depends on the site and market niche. Sometimes there is finite (or contacting business) for particular services and by getting them 'for free' you can save money.
Very good article. It confirms my own recent experiences, several phone calls and emails about SEO and link building even though I work client side. I'm not complaining about the increase in work and I'm sure my clients will enjoy being able to measure a cost effective improvement to their online marketing mix.In fact I brought this point up at the recent E-Consultancy SEO roundtable, where I saw a few knowing glances!I'm really pleased about this, I just need to cash the cheques before xmas and I'll have a great new year!I'm hoping all you other SEOs get a nice xmas bonus too!
Rand,
I can confirm that both the client side of the biz and the VC side of the biz are in extreme growth mode.
My favorite experience in the past month has been when my house contractor, who I have been on for over a year to get a Web presence told me his business was dead and that he was now ready to start focusing on the Web.
Too bad the contractor didn't do something back when things were good for that industry. Starting from behind is never easy but at least steps are finally being taken.
Great post, I agree 100%! We too have seen a significant increase in mid-sized and larger companies looking to ramp up their SEO efforts in the economic downturn. The way I see it is by the time the economy improves our clients will be positioned very well and will increase sales and marketshare from their efforts.Here is a blog post that I wrote the other day about SEO and the recession:https://www.searchengineoptimizationjournal.com/2008/11/30/do-you-need-seo-in-a-recession/