SEO is often seen as a one-time effort—optimize your site, get rankings, and enjoy free traffic forever. But here’s the reality: SEO is an ongoing process, and stopping it can have serious consequences for your eCommerce business.

So, what happens when you stop investing in SEO? Will your rankings immediately disappear? Will traffic dry up overnight? Let’s break down the impact of abandoning SEO and why it’s crucial to keep your strategy running.

1. Your rankings will start to drop

Search engine rankings are not static. Google’s algorithm constantly evolves, and competitors are always optimizing their websites. When you stop SEO:

• Competitors overtake you – If they continue improving their content and building links, they will push your pages down the rankings.
• Algorithm updates impact you negatively – Google releases core updates that can affect rankings. Without regular SEO maintenance, your site may not keep up.
• New content outranks you – Fresh, well-optimized content will always be favored over outdated pages.

While rankings may not drop instantly, within a few months, your traffic will start declining. If you feel like you’re struggling to cope with optimization, hire experts to help you. Check out www.clickslice.co.uk.

2. Organic traffic will decline gradually

When rankings fall, traffic follows. Here’s how it typically happens:

• First few weeks – You might not notice much change, especially if you were ranking in stable positions.
• After 3–6 months – Lower rankings mean fewer clicks, leading to a noticeable drop in organic traffic.
• After a year or more – Without ongoing SEO, your site could lose significant visibility, making it harder for new customers to find you.

For businesses relying on organic search for leads and sales, this drop in traffic can directly impact revenue.

3. Website authority and backlinks will weaken

A strong SEO strategy includes link building—gaining high-quality backlinks that boost your site’s authority. When you stop SEO:

• You stop earning new backlinks, while competitors continue growing theirs.
• Existing backlinks may become irrelevant if linking sites remove or update their content.
• Your domain authority declines, making it harder to rank for new keywords.

Without regular SEO efforts, your website loses credibility in Google’s eyes, affecting your ability to rank competitively.

4. Technical SEO issues will accumulate

SEO isn’t just about content and keywords—it also involves technical health. If you stop maintaining your site:

• Broken links and errors will pile up, frustrating users and harming rankings.
• Page speed may slow down, leading to a poor user experience.
• Mobile usability issues might arise, affecting search performance.

Google prioritizes fast, mobile-friendly websites, so neglecting technical SEO can push you further down in search results.

5. Conversions and sales will drop

Less traffic means fewer leads and sales. If your business depends on organic search, stopping SEO can lead to:

• Lower conversion rates – Fewer people finding your products = fewer purchases.
• Higher dependence on paid ads – To replace lost organic traffic, you may need to increase PPC spending, driving up marketing costs.
• Reduced brand visibility – If customers don’t see you in search results, they may turn to competitors instead.

SEO plays a huge role in long-term growth, and stopping it can directly impact your bottom line.

The Importance Of Negotiation In An SEO Deal

When you’re in the final stages with an SEO agency and working up a contract, you need to agree on the price you’re paying. Generally, a team is going to give you a quote, outlining their services and what they charge. This provides you with an idea of what you’re going to be paying each month or if you’re paying annually. However, what you shouldn’t do is take this price as the final one.

There’s always room for negotiation with an agency. Let’s take a closer look at why it’s important to negotiate so that you can get a good deal.

Every business is different

Let’s not forget that your business is unique. Your needs can be very different from the business down the street. This means that what you require from an SEO agency changes. This is why you should always negotiate. Teams know that what you need is different from other clients, which means that the price should be different too. There’s going to be personalization in what they charge you, which means there’s room for you to talk about your budget and what you’re willing to pay.

Agencies are flexible

While SEO agencies don’t want you to know, their prices aren’t set in stone. Instead, they always make room for negotiations. So, this is why you have to go with this and realize that agencies are flexible. They’ll be willing to drop the price a little if you play hard to get. So, don’t miss out on this opportunity and just go with the first price they give you.

You have so many options

Don’t forget that you, as a business, hold all the power. There are now so many SEO agencies out there that you don’t have to rush into a contract. Since you have a choice, you need to use this to your advantage. The agency will have to work harder to gain your business.