Searchmetrics offers SEO services, informed by its own data, so it’s not farfetched for the company’s CMO, Doug Bell, to first recommend that brands “not downshift” or “rush” to use paid search. He said brands should inform consumers or businesses, but not veer from their previous strategy.

Patience is key, Bell said. “We’re seeing increase traffic to websites, but a drop in click-through rates,” he said. “I’m old enough to remember in 2008 when we went through the financial crisis.”

Bell kept a big orange book with all the data the company saw at the time, which he pulled out to look view.

“I’m seeing extreme parallels in traffic, with people shopping, but not necessarily shopping aggressively,” he said. “I would just tell marketers to hang in there and eventually you will see consumers get through this crisis point and the click-through rates will rise. We will see a lot few abandoned carts.”

“It’s not shocking we’re not seeing a big increase in paid spending,” he said. “We’ve been predicting, in partnership with Forrester, the point of diminishing returns is rapidly arriving. Our data shows it’s actually accelerating. If you look at a PPC bid for furniture or jewelry, they’re sky rocking and that’s an early indication marketers are shifting the dollars to paid from tradeshows or other events.”

Earlier this week, Searchmetrics began rolling out a rebranding strategy. In the past 10 years, the company transitioned from a European SEO powerhouse to one that also supports companies in the United States from its office in San Mateo, California.

Connection and collaboration have become an important strategy for the company, so its new logo depicts two hands, one hovering above the other. “We were no longer representing who we were are and what we will become,” said Doug Bell, CMO at Searchmetrics.

Bell said companies in the SEO space need to simplify offerings, so any smart marketer can use them. “We’ve been very good during the past 10 years at building and selling Ferrari’s for race car drivers, but we really need to be delivering Volkswagen Beatles,” he said.  

Bell admits it’s been a quieter rollout based on the COVID-19 crisis.