Dear Client,
If we have been fortunate, we are indeed facing some of the most challenging times we may have ever witnessed. I know, like myself, you are in an uncomfortable position. A business you have spent building passionately for so many years has had to change path overnight due to no fault of your own. A business doesn’t even feel like the right word for it because I don’t think either of us genuinely sees our work as a ‘business’ alone.
What we also both know is that we will rise through this time, and we shall come through the other side, strong and determined. Your patients will still need you, and there will be a market recovery. There always is – especially for brands that are respected and have a great rapport with their audience.
It is my duty as the trustee of your SEO services to give you precise, honest, and helpful options for your business during this temporary pandemic situation. We find ourselves in awkward positions with certain suppliers who are not being sympathetic to challenging times and are being entirely short-sighted in their decision making. We are not going to be that supplier.
At Digimax, our entire team is equipped and working full speed. We hold regular face to face e-meetings to check in our colleagues and support them with anything they may need. In return, they are working exceptionally hard to continue to deliver to everyone that trusts us.
The short answer to the question you may be asking is that you are in full control of your SEO. If you want to freeze your SEO for the next three months – we will do this right away without question.
Before making any decision, please understand the following:
How SEO works
Every month we create chatter about your brand online in a measured and effective way, which helps rank you higher and maintain your existing Google rankings. Big brands have the advantage that the chatter we are trying to create for your brand is occurring naturally for them. When Google crawls through the Internet, it sees this chatter as ‘votes’ for your website, and then Google starts to HOLD your ranking position when others try to overtake your rankings. Over time this chatter helps increase your rankings as you may have already experienced.
Google has a strict algorithm when it comes to anyone ‘influencing’ its index. The reason we use Google is that Google is incredible at serving relevant websites to us as a result of our searches. So, it would be fair to say Google’s number one priority is to protect the quality of its index (Google’s USP).
When we stop SEO (the chatter) entirely, Google flags this as unusual behaviour. If the chatter is meant to have been genuine all this while, then why would it stop abruptly like that? People around the Internet don’t suddenly stop talking about a brand that still exists. The result of this can be loss in rankings and months of SEO work undone. In the worst-case scenario, the result can be worse, but I won’t go into that here.
How long does SEO take?
Unlike other digital marketing services that are immediate, and often interruption-based, SEO is long term. Much of the rankings you see today are a result of the work we did in January. The work we are doing today, we will see the results for as late as early summer. Google takes time to process our work and to affect its index. We slowly and consistently make moves that impact the future of your rankings. Therefore, we have always been firm believers of SEO as being the best future-proofing long term marketing method available.
My thoughts
If you are still planning to be in business after this is all over, which no doubt you are, then you will want to hit the ground running when we are back to normal workings. Recovery-SEO from a result of freezing will mean starting on a back foot, and it will take time to get back to where you were once ranking. This move could take a few months, if not longer, to create a recovery. I am confident if we apply the same approach we used to rank you to your current positions, we will be able to achieve this, but it will delay what you need most at the time – maximum visibility by patients that will be searching for you again. We also don’t know how arduous Google is going to make this.
Your options
1) Continue SEO as it is, and let’s review together where we are at the end of June 2020.
2) Continue SEO as it is but freeze any payments until the end of June 2020 to help with your cash flow. These payments you can make back to us in one lump sum by the end of the year or over a series of payments if you choose this option.
3) Move to a maintenance plan until the end of June. The maintenance plan is £425 per location per month and is solely focused on us trying our best to maintain your rankings. This involves continuing SEO but with the focus on not losing your rankings rapidly. On the 1st of July, your usual plan would resume.
4) Freeze SEO until the end of June 2020 completely, resume on the 1st of July. Of course, if the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down and you are struggling – get back in touch, and we can postpone this again.
5) Stop SEO altogether completely now and in the future. (This means revoking your exclusive right to your SEO location with Digimax and re-applying in the future should you wish to reinstate SEO.)
Whatever you decide, we are here for you to offer unbiased and responsible advice. I welcome you to schedule a call with me to discuss the above in more detail if you have unanswered questions or need clarity.
Please complete this form to give us your decision in writing: Click here
Aside from this, I hope you and your families are staying safe, positive, and healthy during this period. If there is anything, me or my team can do for you even outside the remits of work such as getting food delivered to vulnerable relatives – our team is ready to go the extra mile to help everyone.
I look forward to hearing from you. Once this is over, we need to celebrate!!!
P.S Once we are back on our feet, I would love to invite you to get involved more formally with my charity Wells on Wheels. We only just experienced some testing times right now, while as the young girls in rural India experience quite a lot worse in my opinion on a daily basis. If we can come together as a profession and donate wheels for every Invisalign, Cosmetic or Implant case – imagine the impact we could make. Each wheel is £28. I will make an announcement when the programme is ready and practices are back in full swing again.