This Recession WILL hurt SEO Companies

I've avoided using the R word these past few weeks as everyone I seem to talk to is extremely busy - could be the tidal surge before the financial storm, hard for me to answer right now on a personal level as I'm no money expert to be honest. But it is still slightly concerning.

I think, though, that we small SEO's with good and long enough experience, are in demand right now because company owners have to do something. This will continue for at least up till Xmas to help maintain business levels for clients who now realise that they HAVE to do something to keep their companies cashflow flowing.

For this reason I am being extremely careful with who I choose to work with and ensuring all deposits are paid BEFORE I start any SEO project. It's not an easy decision to come to and some business people have got a little frustrated that I am not budging (much) when in negotiation. As a businessman myself I have to ensure my time is covered and that I am not left out of pocket by some other business that is willing to take one last gamble before they go broke.

I have recently had one project go on hold due to the client having to chase a bad debt. Until that debt is paid the client is not able to invest in their SEO. I think this is going to b a recurring event in the next few months and one which is going to be a frustrating experience that's going to be a test of patience (for both mine and clients).

Redundancies are now showing in the web industry too, Yahoo, Yell and Ebay are all reporting that staff will be cut.


Yahoo Staff Cuts

Ebay to cut jobs

Yell cutting jobs


As well as those companies listed above I also fully expect to see some of the larger SEO companies letting staff go in the next few months. This will probably cause an influx of small SEO businesses to be set up, creating more competition for the likes of one man SEO bands like myself. Bummer? Maybe.

But on the upside I think that some people on being made redundant will utilise their redundancy payouts and invest in setting up their own alternative businesses. This could result in the need for more experienced SEO people to get involved at an affordable rate.

Which is where the likes of small SEO's can thrive as we can charge out at a lot less than the SEO giants, yet still achieve site rankings for businesses who want to take on the big guys in their own fields.

Hard one to call and we will have to see how it plays out. Hopefully working in this industry will still remain fun AND a challenge, rather than just a frustrating scary challenge (a place I was in when I started out all those years ago).