Economic Times for SEO

Why does the state of the economy have to do with SEO and SEM? - Everything.
SEO is only the first step towards SEM. Marketers are often compared to guerrilla fighters. "Guerrilla marketing" was a buzzword for marketing online marketing a few years ago.
Mao spoke eloquently and in depth about the role of a guerrilla in society: "The guerrilla in the population is like a fish in a river. If the water is foul, the fish dies. If the water is good for the fish, the fish flourishes."
It's very much the same for marketers. Marketers flourish when the economy is healthy.

Not enough people realize the financial engineering that has created the boom economy in Australia is based on the building industry and real estate market. Most Australians point proudly to the resources boom, but it is just a spike that contributes big numbers. Mining doesn't affect the whole economy anywhere near as much as housing. Mining and resources sales are powerful forces in the regions near the mines.
The resources sector contributes to a healthy balance of payments. One of the indicators of Australia's inflated economy is that the balance of payments is not healthy. The boom has produced an import-driven market where local producers are being priced out of the market. Where is this inflation-driving money coming from?
The long term drought hasn't helped, but market forces could, arguably, have absorbed the drought factor if the import market weren't controlling prices.

Is it a bubble?
The housing boom -government-subsidized building and real estate sales- has created the boom economy. The country has become drunk and addicted to credit. Home ownership is the basis of credit. A home owner can always get a credit card. It's an assumption that homes will always increase in price, and many factors can be quoted to support it.
The family income of the average Australian household is leveraged by credit to 160% (1.6 times the annual income.) That's an average.
On the ground, I know two households who have leveraged their annual income by more than 200% by manipulating credit. Despite all the howling about long hours and job stress, both these couples only worked half a year.
By separating their individual incomes and each working only half a year, they pick up another form of income: government subsidies. One partner applies for broad liberal payments based on their income, easily ignoring the contributions of the other partner. They get even greater leverage by letting the government pay off the credit cards and mortgage.
It's a bubble that has to burst someday. Or does it?
Laberal commentator Ian Martin spelled out the government's attitude before the last federal election. It's an attitude reflected persistently in the press and popular opinion.
There is an Aussie saying: "It's past a joke."
All parties involved seem locked into this scheme, if by nothing else then by the perceptions and attitudes across the country.
There are payments for every stage in life. Most are not means tested. For example, every new mother gets $4000 for giving birth, no matter what the household income.

How does this affect SEO/SEM?
I'll be discussing this issue at length in the next few articles. One factor is that Australia has not experienced a dot-com boom. Most of the country simply didn't have adequate Internet access when the dot-com boom roared through the US, UK, and Europe.
Google wisely only opened offices in Australia two years ago. New amendments to copyright law inordinately influenced by record company activism nearly drove them out in Jan 2007. Google threatened publicly to refuse to index Australian websites. Over 150 exclusions to the law allow a still-tenuous Google presence. Yet Google represents 80% of searches from Australia.
How the changing economic times will affect web design and marketing companies remains to be seen. SEO and SEM may be the means to open the door for Australian small and medium sized business to experience the power of marketing on the Web - to fulfill the lost promise of the web to allow small companies compete in an open market.
The proliferation of SEO companies certainly indicates a need vacuum being filled. It's more a vacuum caused by bad web design and poor access to the Net than an entrepreneurial push though. As online business owners become more savvy, that will change.
I imagine that will be when the SEO companies shake out the chaff, too.

SEO/SEM in Australia is a special issue for so many reasons. Join me was we explore. It will be a fascinating and informative journey. Sphere: Related Content