We hear it more often than we should.
We'll do SEO when we need it. When we need it can refer to when things slow down, when they really need people through their door or when they have the time (or budget) to get to it.
But it just doesn't work that way.
We've told you before that Google says you need to give SEOs 4-12 months to get somewhere. Locally, you can slant that a bit toward the low end. But we still see a lot of places that don't want to believe it. If you want until your doors are open or until things 'get rolling', you risk never getting to that point.
But the point of this blog is the other side of the frustration coin. This is when businesses do get rolling pretty well, are doing what they should with SEO and then decide that they're doing well enough so they can scale back their SEO efforts and/or budget.
Again, it doesn't work that way.
Every vertical has competitors waiting for you to slip up. If you take your foot off of the SEO gas for even a few months, you could pay for it for much longer. There's a reason things are going well when your SEO is running smoothly. Sadly, there is no end game where you can say - alright, we made it. It's a constant battle to keep up with SEO.
If you scale back your SEO for a few months and a competitor jumps you in the three-pack or organic page listings, you're going to be in some trouble. You'll have to win back that spot and when the time inevitably comes that you need to boost your business again, you'll be behind the eight ball in capturing that online audience that you had been relying on so much previously.
And we always make sure to tell people, this does not mean to need to carve out a massive amount in your budget to hire an agency. If you want to take the time to become an expert and learn what SEO practices are best for your business, you can do it on your own. However, if you think you can 'dabble' in SEO and get where you need to be, that probably won't happen.
If you have any questions, consultations are always free. You can contact us here to get started.