Is SEO the Secret Sauce?

With the economy doing slow laps around the toilet bowl, many business owners are starting to panic. They look at a shrinking income coupled with rising costs, and they realize there is trouble ahead. Many of them are looking for any answer to try to breathe new life into the business. So is SEO the secret sauce that will save the day for businesses now struggling?

It sounds weird to hear me say this, but most often, probably not.

I believe SEO work is important for any business seeking to gain web traction. As a freelance writer who specializes in SEO, you know I believe that content is king. But SEO is a part of a web business, not a magic pill to suddenly turn the tide of the badgered economy.

A Little Syrup for the Eggo Above.
Ok, I know that probably sounds mighty waffle-like. On the one hand I think that every business on the web should be doing some SEO work, but on the other, I don't want them to think it is magic.

In actuality, for many businesses, organic SEO might be magic. A little SEO work by a professional can have some pretty quick results, and quick results make anything easier to swallow.

But for many businesses, it won't. Chances are pretty good that if the current state of economic affairs is the thing that is driving you to now consider SEO work, you likely have bigger issues to iron out. Does this mean you should rule it out as a strategy? No...not by a long shot. But it should be a strategy that works with others to improve the entire financial picture of the business.

One way to think of it, is say your business is like your arm (stay with me here...). Your arm gets cut, and starts bleeding. The cut is deep, and you need to think of a way to fix it.

• The Band-aid. One option is to go to the bathroom and put a band-aid on it. This may help a little with the bleeding, but since the cut is deep, it may not help much. Using only a band-aid you might also have some issues trying to get your arm to heal correctly because you are dealing only with the result of the cut - you are treating a symptom, not the issue.
• Getting Stitched up. Another option is to go to a Doctor for stitches. With stitches, you will invest a little more, trust a professional, and take a little longer to see the full effects of how it helps your arm heal. It may slow you down a little, but the professional is interested in the long-term healing of your arm. They want to close the wound, stave off infection, and help you get back to 100% use as soon as possible. If the professional knows what he or she is doing, you won't even have a scar.

So if you are thinking about how SEO might be used in your business, don't think of it as a band-aid that will allow you to survive a rough economic slide. It may work for you this way, but it also may not...and this is a dangerous bet for many businesses.

Instead, think of organic SEO as a careful, deliberate and ongoing effort to keep your business strong and healthy.

A freelance SEO writer is not a rainmaker. A genius, perhaps. A wizard or miracle cure, probably not.

So if you are freelancing for some businesses, make sure not to blow smoke up their collective dress about what SEO will do for them right now. If you are a business owner looking for a way out of tough economic conditions, think of organic SEO as a good tool, but certainly, only one of many. Be sensible.

True organic SEO work takes time. It takes effort. The work really never ends. It can be insanely profitable, while bad SEO work can be insanely expensive.