Rand Fishkin posts about the SEO growth phenomenon that many of us in the business have been in experiencing over the past year.  As the economy sours, more and more businesses have come to the realization that the ROI of SEO is hard to beat, and that they will be beaten if they are not in the game.

So what does this mean for you and me?

1. SEO consultants are going to be very busy and hard to get a hold of over the next quarter or two

2. Just like any idiot (read “me”) could get into real estate a few years ago and make a buck, SEO is now going to start attracting a large number of people who previously had jobs at start-ups, banks, real estate agencies, possibly auto makers, etc.  Don’t be surprised if the guy who just turned you down for a loan offers to get you to page one of Google for your keyword.

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19 Response Comments

  • Mike | PlanetChiro  December 1, 2008 at 2:43 pm

    Love that title Andrew, and sadly it’s true. I’m getting pitches from them already. Going to be a fun 2009.

  • Andrew Shotland  December 1, 2008 at 3:52 pm

    I think you are right Mike. Sure beats a sharp stick in the eye.

  • Will Scott  December 1, 2008 at 8:34 pm

    I actually lost an account recently to a guy who used to be in video production…

    … until he stood next to me at a trade show and realized no one was interested in what he had to say…

    … and I couldn’t even take a pee break.

    Worst part of the story is that since he used to rep us he’d heard all our stories.

    Sad, but I guess one has to keep food on the table and it seems there’s enough to go around.

  • Andrew Shotland  December 1, 2008 at 8:43 pm

    Which brings me to my next small business marketing post: “Real Marketers Go Before The Show”

  • Will Scott  December 1, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    LOL, seriously.

    Let me know if you need me to scout iStock for an image.

  • David Saunders  December 2, 2008 at 8:57 am

    You are so right…. I started out doing SEO as a sideline to a busy wedding DJ business and almost became a Realtor as I knew I could do well with the search engines of the day – 1997

    In a way I’m happy not to have taken my Realtor exam and just stayed working SEO – the ‘phone isn’t ringing off the hook but I am kept busy and 2009 is looking nice…..

    Cheers

    David

  • Jonah Stein  December 2, 2008 at 5:19 pm

    Andrew, I was wondering if you can help me. I am looking to finance 125% of my 2006 appraised value on a luxurious 2 bedroom live-work space a few miles south of Emeryville. It is conveniently located near 880 and within walking distance of the West Oakland BART.

  • Andrew Shotland  December 2, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    No problem Jonah. Is that a long tail query or are you just happy to see me?

  • Jonah Stein  December 3, 2008 at 10:08 am

    Andrew

    I just followed some links of someone talking about your post. Did you know that in 2002, San Francisco job placement organizations were training displaced Dotcom workers to get jobs in real estate and as mortgage brokers..

  • Andrew Shotland  December 3, 2008 at 10:12 am

    The circle of life my friend.

  • The Mortgage Guy  December 6, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    I had someone call me the other day at the office and try to offer me services to get my page rank up. I didnt ask where they were from, but I was kinda curious afterwords.

  • John P  December 9, 2008 at 8:35 am

    This sounds like me, i got my site to number one and now brokers are asking me to do work on there sites.

  • John P  December 9, 2008 at 8:36 am

    not sure about the no follow but hey its your blog

  • Andrew Shotland  December 9, 2008 at 10:30 am

    One more good comment John P and you are out of nofollow prison.

  • Andy in Spain  July 6, 2009 at 3:55 pm

    I used to rely on realtors here in Tenerife. In fact I spent a hell of a lot of my time tapping them up for business and convincing them to use a mortgage broker.
    Unfortunately the lack of regulations in Spain means anyone can walk a client into a bank and get paid on the mortgage so it ended up being a waste of time.
    Realtor+Greed+Ignorant client = really crappy business for me.
    Eventually discovered WordPress and SEO and have been studying SEO intently for a year.
    Just started my 3rd mortgage site now (in link) and the other two have meant I have expanded and expanded throughout the crisis.
    Given all the other brokers here have disappeared I have to be quite pleased with how things have gone so far.

  • sean  October 3, 2009 at 2:01 am

    So what makes for a good “seo consultant”?

  • Justin  January 21, 2010 at 12:30 am

    @ Andy : It’s definitely awesome that so many bad brokers have dropped out; true there may be less business in general but my phones been ringing off the hook with great referral partners looking for a good broker – realtors and CPA’s. Gotta love it!

  • Omar  August 31, 2010 at 1:54 pm

    Thanks for your post rand. Your post was written 2 years ago and what you envisioned is already happening now. Almost anybody can learn SEO in just a few months and start competing with other SEO’s. The SEO used to change so fast that it was difficult for anybody to keep up with the changes. Now even the pace of the change has slowed dramatically. Even worse, now SEO services are coming from India and they are much cheaper.