As experienced SEO professionals, we have encountered similar situations before. Times of stagnation. Downturns. Budget reductions. These challenges affect our plans and the resources we require to accomplish our goals.
To navigate through such circumstances, we can draw wisdom from the past and explore ways to be more resourceful and strategic.
Even SEO is not immune to budget cuts during uncertain times (yes, I’m tired of hearing that phrase too).
Whether it’s a recession, pandemic, or any other local or global situation, a downturn can impact marketing budgets and limit what we can achieve for our organizations, brands, or clients.
Regardless of the cause of a downturn or any other factor affecting SEO budgets, I want to share seven actions to take when confronted with a reduced SEO budget.
I genuinely hope that you won’t have to face such a scenario, but if you do, utilize these strategies to make the most out of the resources available to you.
Demand Analysis
To effectively address budget-related factors tied to business and market conditions, it is crucial to comprehend their impact on demand.
If you represent a brand or work in an agency or consultancy that specializes in a specific industry, you probably have some insights on this matter.
However, if SEO budgets are being reduced or cut, and you’re required to accomplish more with fewer resources, it becomes necessary to conduct an analysis to determine if there is an overall decrease in demand for your product, service, or market.
Are there fewer people conducting searches? Are fewer individuals progressing through the sales funnel or customer journey? Has a new point of drop-off emerged that was not present before?
Revisit Goals
In addition to analyzing demand, it is essential to reevaluate your goals in a broader sense. Even if the market conditions remain unchanged, when faced with a reduced budget or fewer resources, it becomes necessary to adjust your expectations and those of your stakeholders. Can you achieve the same level of productivity with fewer financial resources? Can you still achieve SEO success with fewer internal and external support?
If you are required to make cuts in content, technical support, or even SEO research and strategy, even if the market demand remains stable, it is reasonable to expect that the outcomes and results may differ.
Take the time to reassess your goals, communicate them clearly, and ensure they are objectively aligned with the available budget and resources. If you are asked to do more with less, it’s important to acknowledge it upfront.
AI technology is currently a valuable tool that can assist you in accomplishing more with limited resources. Utilize it intelligently and with a focus on quality to maximize its benefits.
Narrow Digital Footprint
While it may not be a preferred approach, it is crucial to acknowledge the importance of this tip. Typically, I advocate for more being better, especially when it comes to high-quality content, features, functionality, and various aspects of customer journey paths and funnels.
However, during lean times or when resources are limited, it becomes necessary to reduce your digital footprint.
Whether it is due to resource streamlining or your own focus and budget constraints, you have to scale back. If market demand has diminished, it’s essential to narrow down your focus to areas where people are still actively searching and have specific needs.
This could involve condensing your topic and keyword list to address the strongest part of the sales funnel or focus on the most profitable product or service offering.
With a narrower focus and fewer resources, you can also streamline your website’s resource requirements. It may involve getting highly detailed with a specific section, sub-section, subdomain, or microsite. During these times, you’ll likely have to make strategic and tactical decisions that you wouldn’t have to make in times of abundance.
It may not be feasible to optimize the entire site, so narrow your focus as much as needed and concentrate your efforts there.
Focus Resources
Unless you find yourself in an exceptionally rare situation, attempting to handle all aspects of SEO single-handedly is an impossible task. It requires a range of resources, such as IT support, web developers, UX specialists, content writers, brand strategists, legal/compliance professionals, and often management approvals.
And there might be additional roles that I haven’t mentioned!
In the early days when I started practicing SEO in the mid-2000s, I could manage about 80% of the work on my own. However, as time went on, collaboration became more essential for valid reasons.
Nevertheless, when budgets are reduced, it becomes crucial to carefully consider where the remaining funds should be allocated.
In some cases, the allocation may be dictated to you. However, if you still have some control, you will need to prioritize how you allocate the budget and deploy your resources.
This could mean prioritizing content creation over technical updates, or emphasizing technical improvements over UX enhancements, or focusing on conversion rate optimization (CRO) instead of link building.
It is important to be strategic, utilize your updated strategy and goals, and deploy your resources in a manner that doesn’t stretch you too thin.
Short-Term Focus
Unless you find yourself in an exceptionally rare situation, attempting to handle all aspects of SEO single-handedly is an impossible task. It requires a range of resources, such as IT support, web developers, UX specialists, content writers, brand strategists, legal/compliance professionals, and often management approvals.
And there might be additional roles that I haven’t mentioned!
In the early days when I started practicing SEO in the mid-2000s, I could manage about 80% of the work on my own. However, as time went on, collaboration became more essential for valid reasons.
Nevertheless, when budgets are reduced, it becomes crucial to carefully consider where the remaining funds should be allocated.
In some cases, the allocation may be dictated to you. However, if you still have some control, you will need to prioritize how you allocate the budget and deploy your resources.
This could mean prioritizing content creation over technical updates, or emphasizing technical improvements over UX enhancements, or focusing on conversion rate optimization (CRO) instead of link building.
It is important to be strategic, utilize your updated strategy and goals, and deploy your resources in a manner that doesn’t stretch you too thin.
Long-Term Focus
If you find yourself in a fortunate position where you can consider long-term strategies or if you have experienced a decrease in demand but still have some SEO budget available, there are actions you can take to build for the future.
By adopting a long-term focus and implementing a strategic approach, you can gain an advantage over competitors who are either completely cutting their budgets or solely concentrating on short-term outcomes, even in areas with no current demand.
I can draw from past experiences working with clients during previous downturns. Despite their slowed demand, we collaborated with them to invest in initiatives that would yield long-term benefits, positioning them as leaders in their industry when demand eventually rebounded.
If you have budget available, even in the absence of immediate demand, consider investing in website technology and infrastructure, establishing a solid foundation of content, building a thought leadership platform, and enhancing your ability to cater to the entire sales funnel as the authority in your industry.
If short-term demand is low, it’s highly likely that your competitors are reducing their efforts, giving you an opportunity to surpass them and emerge stronger on the other side – especially if you’re not already in the top position for your key focus topics and terms.
Measure Efforts
Consistently monitor and measure the ongoing developments. It is crucial to have your own set of performance data to provide an objective perspective on various aspects.
This entails establishing connections wherever possible between budget reductions, market conditions, resource constraints, and their impact on performance.
By doing so, you can continue or initiate a process of understanding the true consequences of downturns, reduced investments, and market factors on your SEO endeavors. Furthermore, it will enable you to establish benchmark data for future reference.
If you have historical data from previous downturns or budget reductions, utilize it as a valuable reference and guide.
Do not proceed without projections, expectations, and a systematic measurement approach. Whether you’re part of a publicly traded company or a small business, data serves as an objective guide that minimizes uncertainties as much as possible.
Conclusion
Once again, I must admit my dislike for writing articles on this particular topic.
However, as a realist, I have personally witnessed the impact of economic conditions on my clients and, consequently, on my agency in recent months.
If you find yourself facing a reduced SEO budget, consider it a better scenario than having no budget at all.
In fact, I strongly urge you to advocate for some level of budget and investment, as I mentioned in the “long-term focus” section earlier.
Regardless of your specific circumstances, I understand that the situation is tough. I stand in solidarity with you.
It can be mentally and physically challenging, but remain resilient, my friend.
SEO holds significant importance, and by staying focused, maintaining objectivity, and making the most of the resources and opportunities available to you, you can navigate through these difficulties and emerge on the other side stronger than before.