Do not invest in SEO if

Following are some of the cases where we would say “Do not invest in SEO if” as the investment in SEO might not be the best solution for your online store. Our recommendations follow.

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By now everybody knows that SEO is one of the best tools to improve performances in search engines. However, not all websites and online stores are built the same, and while SEO may be invaluable to some, others might find it a bit too much, for different reasons.  

Following are some of the cases where we would say “Do not invest in SEO if” as the investment in SEO might not be the best solution for your online store. Our recommendations follow.

1. If Speed is Important to You
   

Traditional search engines, like Google, can take time to show new pages and websites. It depends on the search engine’s indexing frequency, and in Google, for instance, it can take between 3-6 months for a website to appear in searches. Of course, only then the effort of moving the website up the search results begins, and this too may take time. It is important to note that, unlike traditional search engines, marketplaces usually index their listing much more frequently, so that wait is relatively shorter in eCommerce. However, not everybody can afford this wait-and-see time. 

If you are holding a sales promotion for the first time, you want the information to get to potential customers as soon as possible. You cannot wait for so long for it to show up in the search engine. 

Or maybe you begin selling a totally new product. In this case, SEO will not be of much help, because people will not search for a product they never heard of. First, you must introduce the product to the market, let shoppers know about it, and when they begin searching for it, then is when SEO becomes critical.  

In both cases, time is of the essence, and sellers cannot wait around for the listings to be indexed. The solution in such cases is paid advertising campaigns. Sponsored ads and PPC campaigns will reach the market directly and instantly, and will generate instant traffic.  

So whenever you need to move quickly, SEO might not be the solution for you. Advertising campaigns may just be the way to go if you want to reach shoppers quickly. 

2. If You Have Limited Resources
   

While SEO is not necessarily expensive, it does require quite a lot of work. There is optimizing texts and images across platforms, research keywords, creating links, analyzing the data, and much more. All these tasks can be a burden, especially when you have other business matters to attend to. 

There is always the option of hiring SEO professionals to do all the necessary work for you, and most often even better than you can. While very convenient, it is hardly the cheapest solution, as such services can be quite expensive.  

That is why this solution - hiring SEO professionals - might not be right for every seller. While always a good investment that will help you take your business to the next level, SEO experts may be more than what some sellers need. 

If you are just beginning selling online, or simply cannot afford the help of SEO professionals, then we recommend you take on SEO yourself. Alongside forming your business, you should also come up with a general SEO strategy, and begin making the necessary adjustments as you go. In time, you will know what is urgent and what is not and the process will become more efficient. When you feel it is time to move to the next level, you can start looking into professional SEO help. 

3. If Your Products Have Low or Flat Demand
   

The main objective of SEO is to bring your listings to people who search things that are related to what you offer. SEO is only effective if people are actually searching for these products. For instance, online smartwatches sales is a high-demand and high-competition market. In this case, you should definitely invest in SEO, for example by using such key phrases as “best smartwatch 2023” to attract potential shoppers.

While advertising campaigns can also be helpful in this case, over the long run it gets rather expensive to maintain, and SEO is a more than suitable alternative that requires almost now funds, only updating.

However, if the products you sell are very industry-focused, like industrial baking equipment for instance, you will not get many search queries. Whoever buys these products usually knows where to go to purchase them. 

In this case, there is no reason to invest in SEO, since very few people will search for related terms.    
 

4. If You Have a Brand Name or Specialty Products
   

When you already have a strong online presence and brand reputation, usually shoppers come to you. In this case as well SEO is not necessary. Coca-Cola, for instance, don’t have to invest much in optimizing the content they upload to their website, simply because they don’t compete with anybody for search result rankings. As a matter of fact, Coca-Cola doesn’t even sell its products through the website (they sell only through distributors), and even trying to compete for search result ranking may interfere with the rankings of sellers who do sell them. The same goes for other brand names.

But individual sellers can also do without SEO in certain situations - sellers that sell unique products are usually not very concerned with competition, as there is little to none. Keeping with the example above, sellers that sell industrial baking equipment have a very specific market, and they don’t need to compete with stores that sell baking equipment. Such businesses depend much more on referrals, customer testimonials and ads.   

Should I Invest in SEO?

Consider the following when deciding whether SEO is the best solution for your business:

Pros

Generate More Exposure and Traffic

• SEO helps generate more organic traffic to product listings
• Sellers can focus their efforts on specific demographics or other criteria 

Build Confidence and Trust

• SEO can help establish a reputation as an authority in the industry through content
• SEO can help your listing reach the top of the search results page, contributing to the brand’s credibility
  

Better Conversion Rates and Shopping Experience

• Through SEO, sellers make sure their content is engaging, informative and relevant, guaranteeing an excellent shopping experience.  
• Optimizing your listings to mobile devices and other platforms through SEO will ensure the shopping experience continues, no matter where shoppers browse your listings. 
• Providing high level shopping experience across platforms directly contributes to higher conversion rates. 
  

Cons

Intense Competition and Workload

• SEO requires constant optimization, mainly because the industry is so dynamic: products change, keywords change, the marketplace changes their guidelines, etc. All these require a lot of work. 
• Part of the work is following new developments and requirements, such as new keywords and products, that must be taken into consideration in order to keep competing. 
• Depending on the workload, professional SEO assistance may be required.  
  

Lengthy Process

• SEO takes time to take effect, and the results might show in a matter of months. 
• Unforeseen or foreseen (like changed marketplace guidelines) circumstances can have an effect on your SEO results. Sellers must keep up with the data in order to minimize such effects. 
  

Although it can be very helpful, SEO is not mandatory. Review the pros and cons of SEO and assess for yourself whether or not your business can benefit from it right now. 

If you decide on going for SEO, just know that the investment is well worth it.

If you decide your business does not need SEO, don’t worry, you can always change your mind.