SEO is a powerful strategy, but is it really right for every business?
We talk a lot about SEO here at Quez Media, and are proponents of the idea that almost every business can use SEO to improve their online visibility, attract customers, and build their brand reputation. But that word “almost” catches significant attention; are there any businesses that can’t benefit from SEO, or otherwise shouldn’t use it?
Disadvantages of SEO
Let’s explore the idea by focusing on the disadvantages of SEO:
- Time. SEO takes time to develop; you won’t see results after a day, or a week, or even a month. But after several months of effort, SEO will start paying returns that make your investment more than worth it.
- Complexity. SEO is a hard strategy to learn on your own, and has many moving pieces, so it’s difficult to master. Fortunately, you can work with an expert to mitigate your own lack of knowledge.
- Cost. Despite offering a high ROI, SEO demands a significant upfront investment (either in time or money; your choice). This makes it difficult for low-budget companies to take advantage of it.
Industries and Purposes
There are some businesses that actually try to avoid visibility; for example, certain B2B tech applications try to limit publicity to avoid potential security vulnerabilities. If you’re trying to avoid attention, SEO can actually do you harm. Other than that, there aren’t any major industries that can’t benefit from additional visibility, which SEO can always provide (even if you have to use strategies like local SEO and long-tail keywords to get it). In fact, if your industry rarely uses SEO, that means you’ll have an even better opportunity to capitalize on it since you’ll face less competition.
So are there any businesses that shouldn’t use SEO? Yes, if you’re deliberately trying to avoid attention, or if you’re dealing with a highly restrictive budget. Aside from those scenarios, SEO is a practical strategy for virtually any company. Contact Quez Media to learn more about how SEO can benefit your business specifically!
