4 Reasons You Don’t Need SEO
All the while, we’ve been waxing poetic about the importance of doing SEO. We dedicated quite an estate in this blog to ram home the notion that doing SEO well can mean the difference between success and obscurity in the digital space. Of course, we’re not reneging on our past efforts! We acknowledge that even if SEO can be highly effective, there are special cases where SEO is not the right solution to your needs as a brand and business!
In this SEO Premier article, we explore the 5 reasons why SEO may not be part of your growth strategy as of the moment:
1. You need immediate results!
If you require fast results e.g. more visitors on your website in a short period of time, SEO isn’t a wise investment of your time, money, and effort.
If only you can read this in big bold letters: SEO TAKES TIME. It is a gradual process. After all, creating a website, publishing high-quality content, and building backlinks are time-consuming activities.
More especially when you just launched a new website, it’ll take three to six months before your efforts gain traction. It’s even harder to clinch the top 10 positions in the search results pages within 12 months of continuous optimisation, though that mainly depends on (1) the industry and how saturated the market is at the moment and (2) your latitude - financial, logistical, and skillswise - in funnelling resources toward the project.
2. Overhead is expensive.
While SEO can be an effective strategy to promote your brand and boost online visibility, it’s important to recognise that not all companies can dive into an optimisation campaign due to resource constraints.
SEO often requires investing in various aspects like keyword research, content creation, website optimisation, link-building. For companies to yield positive results, they need to hire experts and buy tools to do said activities. Small businesses particularly might be financially hobbled if they allocate funds for such activities and not get the results at the time they expect them.
3. You don’t care about the competition
For businesses that operate in niche markets or have a unique value proposition that sets them apart from other brands, the traditional emphasis on competitive SEO strategies may not be as crucial. It could be that you genuinely don’t want to outrank your competitor, and that could stem from different reasons.
One, you prioritise building loyalty around your brand. Instead of outperforming other competitors in the virtual space, you want to build a strong client base who can rally behind your unique products or services. Most of the time, your brand is better off employing direct and locations-based marketing.
Two, if your UVP is so distinct that it’s virtually uncontested, you can count on word-of-mouth marketing instead of SEO. You can make better use of your resources by focusing on product development, customer service, and other marketing channels that best align with your objectives as of the moment.
4. Your target market isn’t online.
In some cases, your target demographic doesn’t use search engines. This means they know you, they know where to find your store, and trust your product or service.
For example, if you own a local beauty salon and have gathered enough loyal customers to make your schedule sheet brim with appointments every day, you don’t need to worry even if they can't find you on Google. Your business thrives because of countless recommendations from friends and acquaintances of past delighted clients.
However, even if you don’t see the value of SEO today, it doesn’t mean you should not make any form of investment toward having a steady online presence. In order to position your business for growth, you must still have a great website that showcases your brand. Little by little, you must push valuable content to existing and prospective customers, you must set up your brand in business listings like Google My Business, and you must be active on social media.
When you’re prepared to accelerate your journey to growth, you can then consider SEO as part of your success roadmap.
