Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned; Burning Inflation is Why You Should Consider SEO
A long time ago, there was a Roman emperor called Nero. Nero was… let’s just say he wasn’t the best of people or leaders.
The city of Rome caught fire around 64 AD, which resulted in mass destruction. Many of the city’s houses were turned to ashes, while half of the population was left homeless.
Usually, when a calamity strikes a city, the government takes charge and does the best that it can to control the calamity and alleviate the consequences.
Nero, however, didn’t do that.
According to a legend of questionable authenticity, Nero continued to play his musical instrument – fiddled – while his city was engulfed in flames. According to other traditions, Nero did deploy measures to put out the fire. But those efforts proved useless, and the city continued to burn.
Regardless of which of these traditions is true, this incident exposed Nero’s incompetence as a leader.
What does this story have for us living in the 21st century? A lesson.
Don’t you recognize something here?
Burning inflation has engulfed countries across the world. And the governments? Well, they are playing a role similar to Nero’s. Some of them are “fiddling around” while inflation burns through their economies. Others are unsuccessfully trying to control inflation. But inflation continues to burn out of control, destroying businesses and opportunities.
A significant number of US-based businesses cite inflation to be their biggest problem. And understandably so. A country’s businesses are the ones hardest hit due to inflation. Rising prices constrain the customers’ buying power. Apart from that, inflation also pushes the prices on the supply side. This burdens business owners more, pushing them toward making difficult decisions.
In this way, inflation significantly restricts business growth.
But can you escape inflation? Only if you shift your business to the moon. But then there will be no customers. So, no. You cannot avoid inflation.
Inflation is only expected to go up. As a business owner, you have to live with inflation and figure out ways to make your business profitable even as the prices soar and buying power diminishes.
But how can a small-to-medium-sized business with limited investors and resources battle an enemy as brutal as inflation? By offering viable solutions and building customer loyalty.
This is why businesses keen on thriving through inflation invest in search engine optimization or SEO as their shield against rising costs.
How SEO Helps Businesses Stay Profitable Despite Inflation
SEO helps businesses reach the right prospects through the channel they use most – the search engine. But despite knowing all of its benefits, you may not even consider SEO as you think of ways you could battle inflation. It is another expense, after all. Why would you add it to your “list of things that can help fight inflation?”
Here are a few reasons why SEO might be your way to go when battling the flames of inflation:
SEO Is Affordable AND Effective
Claiming SEO is another expense is reasonable. However, not adding this to your business strategy because of it is not.
You have to market your business in some way, despite inflation. Otherwise, your business will start losing customers, its growth will stagnate, and eventually, it will fall due to rising costs.
In this situation, the most affordable marketing method is SEO.
Unlike paid ads that bring expensive traffic by charging for every click your website gets, SEO brings traffic without charging anything for the clicks.
This alleviates the high amounts you need to spend on running ads and diminishes your ad spend.
Yes, you may still have to pay SEO agencies a retainer. But the retainer amount may still be less than the amount needed to run ads. That’s because, in the case of ads, you would need an ad spend, the budget you need to run ads, and then pay ad experts their retainer on top of that. This significantly increases your marketing budget, and that’s something everyone is looking to avoid during inflation.
This is why paid marketing is not too viable, especially when dealing with inflation. This marketing method may not generate enough returns, even if you increase your investments.
Besides that, customers trust organically ranking websites more than paid ads. They would click the first organic listing in the search engine space, even if that means scrolling down to reach it.
So, SEO is not just more affordable than ads. It is also more effective. And that’s what you need to help your business through inflation, a technique that brings web traffic without costing a fortune.
But it’s not just bare web traffic that SEO brings.
SEO Helps Your Business Attract Customers
SEO brings conversion-ready traffic to your website. Such web traffic comprises prospects already searching for what the business sells. And when they are taken to your website, they are more likely to purchase, contributing to your business’s revenue. And isn’t it revenue that every inflation-ridden business is seeking?
For example, a customer looking to buy groceries online would search with keywords like ” groceries near me.” SEO will then help your grocery store website rank for this search and help your business be visible to someone interested and ready to shop from you.
Once your business attracts more customers, it gains more revenue. Increased revenue helps you offset the rising costs, pushes your bottom line, and helps you stay profitable, despite inflation.
Fosters Customer Trust and Loyalty
Customer trust and loyalty insulate a business from the consequences of inflation. A loyal customer base sticks with a business, despite rising costs and supports it through tough times. This is why businesses with loyal customers manage to fight inflation better than those without them.
SEO fosters customer trust and loyalty by helping businesses be intuitive to their customers’ demands and proactive at delivering results.
Getting professional consulting in internet marketing and SEO services connects you with a team of reliable content writers. These writers work with keyword research and audience analysis specialists. This allows them to create content that addresses the prospects’ problems and offers a viable solution.
When a business consistently offers practical solutions to the customers’ most pressing problems, they eventually start trusting this business. And trust is the seed that ultimately grows into customer loyalty.
Besides writing valuable content for customers, content writers can also research up-and-coming trends and topics. With this research, they can create content that helps you appear as an industry thought leader and reinforces your online reputation.
Customer trust, loyalty, and a sound online reputation strengthen your business against economic challenges. Moreover, these factors help your business be the top-of-the-list choice for inflation-ridden consumers looking for critical solutions.
Helps You Capitalize on the Right Opportunities
When trying to stay profitable during rising inflation, every penny counts. You cannot afford to miss sales opportunities, ever.
SEO experts keep track of changing customer demands and optimize your website accordingly. This helps you capitalize on the sales opportunities that come your way and generate revenue.
For example, customers actively look for bargain deals and discounts during inflation. Keyword research, a critical part of SEO, can identify when there is a rise in search terms related to sales and discounts. This can help you determine when your audience is looking for a bargain and empower you to inform your business strategy accordingly.
Knowing what the customers are looking for and using this information to guide your business strategy helps you capitalize on as many opportunities as possible. This, in turn, improves your bottom line and helps you stay competitive and profitable during inflation.
The people of Rome suffered due to the fire. That’s because their leader Nero either really fiddled as the city burned or he deployed some truly ineffective measures to put out the flames. But your business does not have to suffer at the hands of burning inflation as the government tries to grapple with the economy and control inflation (somewhat unsuccessfully).
Your business has the means to put up with the flames of inflation. Why wait for the government to control the rising prices so your business can stay profitable? Invest your resources in organic methods like SEO to help your business thrive through inflation. But do your research before trusting just any SEO service provider. Letting the wrong people do your SEO can do more financial damage to your business than good.
Landau Consulting, an NJ SEO company, is trusted by several NJ businesses. Landau Consulting, with its team of SEO experts, keyword research specialists, and writers, works with your business to devise strategies focused on making your website visible and business profitable during these inflationary times.
You can reach out to Landau Consulting and discuss your problems and possible solutions at www.landauconsulting.com/contact. To check out what our clients say about us, check out landauconsulting.com/clients.