How SEO agencies can stay profitable in a downturn

Key takeaways

• Build a 13-week survival cashflow model to see exactly how long your cash will last if revenue drops by 20-30%.
• Cut costs strategically, not across the board. Protect client-facing roles and tools that generate revenue, and scrutinise every non-essential subscription.
• Create a formal contingency plan with clear triggers for action, like a 15% drop in pipeline value, so you're not making panicked decisions.
• Focus on client retention over new business. It costs far less to keep and grow an existing SEO client than to find a new one in a downturn.
• Review your service pricing and packaging. Consider offering more flexible, value-focused retainers that solve immediate client problems.

What is SEO agency recession budgeting?

SEO agency recession budgeting is the process of planning your finances to survive and stay profitable when the economy slows down. It's not just about cutting costs. It's about making smart, proactive decisions with your cash, your team, and your services to protect your business.

For an SEO agency, this means looking at your numbers differently. You need to know how much cash you have if clients pause work or reduce their budgets. You must identify which costs are essential and which can be trimmed. The goal is to create a financial plan that gives you options and keeps you in control.

Many agencies only react when trouble hits. Proactive SEO agency recession budgeting means you have a plan ready to go. This reduces stress and prevents you from making rushed, damaging decisions like cutting your best people or slashing prices out of fear.

Why is recession budgeting different for SEO agencies?

SEO agencies face unique challenges in a downturn that make standard budgeting insufficient. Marketing budgets are often the first thing clients cut, but SEO is also a long-term investment clients may want to protect. Your budgeting must account for this tension.

Your main asset is your team's time and expertise. Unlike a product business, you can't build inventory in advance. If client work dries up, you still have to pay salaries. This makes your utilisation rate (the percentage of billable time) your most critical financial metric in a slowdown.

Cash flow can become unpredictable. Clients may delay payments or ask to move from monthly to quarterly billing. Your budgeting needs to model these delays. Specialist accountants for SEO agencies often see this pattern first and can help you prepare for it.

Finally, SEO sales cycles can lengthen. New business takes longer to close. Your budget must extend your financial runway to cover this gap, making a detailed survival cashflow model non-negotiable.

How do you start building a recession budget?

Start by building a 13-week survival cashflow model. This is a detailed forecast of every pound coming in and going out for the next three months. It shows you exactly how long your cash will last under different scenarios.

First, list all your expected cash inflows. Include confirmed client retainers, known project fees, and any other income. Be conservative. Assume some clients may reduce their spend by 10-20%. Do not include speculative new business you haven't signed yet.

Next, list every single cash outflow. This includes salaries, freelancer fees, software subscriptions, rent, taxes, and professional fees. Categorise them as "essential" (must be paid to operate) or "discretionary" (can be paused or reduced).

Now, create different scenarios. Model a "best case" where revenue stays flat. Model a "likely case" with a 20% revenue drop. Model a "worst case" with a 40% drop. The goal is to see how many weeks of cash you have in each scenario. This is the foundation of all effective contingency planning.

What does strategic cost cutting look like for an SEO agency?

Strategic cost cutting means removing expenses that don't help you serve clients or win business, while protecting what makes you money. It requires careful thought, not blanket reductions.

First, audit all software and subscriptions. For each tool, ask: Does this directly help us deliver SEO work or manage client relationships? Can we move to a lower tier? Are we paying for seats we don't use? Cutting just five unused £50/month subscriptions saves £3,000 a year.

Review freelancer and contractor usage. Could some specialised tasks be done in-house if you have slack capacity? Could you renegotiate rates with long-term freelancers? Don't cut quality, but ensure every external spend is necessary.

Look at non-client-facing costs. Can you reduce office space or go fully remote? Can you pause non-essential training or conference budgets? The key is to protect client-facing team members and tools. Laying off a strategist hurts revenue. Cancelling a fancy coffee subscription does not.

According to a IPA Bellwether Report, marketing budgets are often vulnerable in downturns, making internal efficiency paramount.

How do you create a survival cashflow model?

A survival cashflow model is a simple, weekly forecast that tracks your bank balance under pressure. It answers one question: "When will we run out of money?"

Use a spreadsheet. Column A is the week number. Column B is your opening bank balance. Column C is "Cash In" from clients. Column D is "Cash Out" for all expenses. Column E is your closing balance (B + C - D).

Be brutally honest with the numbers. If a client usually pays in 30 days, model it as 45 or 60 days. If you have a tax bill due, include it in the exact week it's payable. The model is useless if it's optimistic.

Update this model every single week with actual numbers. Compare what you forecasted to what actually happened. This turns your survival cashflow model from a static document into a live management tool. It tells you if your contingency planning is working or if you need to take more action.

You can build your own or discover where your agency stands financially by taking our free Agency Profit Score, which gives you a personalised report on your financial health in just 5 minutes.

What should be in your contingency plan?

Your contingency plan is a written list of actions you will take if specific financial triggers are hit. It removes emotion from decision-making during a crisis. Every SEO agency should have one before they need it.

Define clear financial triggers. For example: "If our pipeline value drops below £X for two consecutive months, we enact Phase 1." Or "If cash runway falls below 8 weeks, we enact Phase 2." These triggers are based on the data from your survival cashflow model.

List actions for each phase. Phase 1 (early warning) might include: freeze hiring, pause all non-essential spending, and the founders forgo dividends. Phase 2 (serious) might include: reduce founder salaries, implement a 4-day work week to cut payroll, or formally renegotiate office lease.

Assign responsibility. Who authorises moving to the next phase? Who communicates with the team? Who contacts key clients? This clarity prevents paralysis. This structured approach is the core of professional contingency planning.

How can you protect client revenue during a downturn?

Protecting existing client revenue is your number one priority. It costs five times more to acquire a new client than to retain an existing one. Your SEO agency recession budgeting must focus on keeping the clients you have.

Proactively communicate value. Don't wait for renewal. Show clients clear reports linking your work to their business outcomes (leads, sales, organic traffic). Demonstrate that pausing SEO will hurt their long-term revenue, especially if competitors keep investing.

Offer flexibility. Could you create a smaller, "core" retainer that covers only essential maintenance and reporting? This is better than losing the client entirely. You can frame it as a strategic partnership to see them through a tough period.

Upsell retained clients on high-impact, project-based work. If they pause their retainer, propose a one-off technical SEO audit or content strategy project. This brings in lump sums and keeps the relationship alive. Your budget should allocate time for account managers to have these strategic conversations.

What financial metrics are crucial to monitor?

Three metrics become vital during a downturn: cash runway, gross margin, and utilisation rate. Monitor these weekly instead of monthly.

Cash runway is the number of weeks you can operate before running out of cash. Calculate it by dividing your current cash balance by your average weekly operating expenses. In a downturn, aim to keep this above 12 weeks at all times.

Gross margin (the money left after paying your direct team and freelancers) tells you if your work is profitable. If your margin is shrinking, you're either undercharging or your team is taking too long. Target 50-60% for a healthy SEO agency.

Utilisation rate is the percentage of your team's paid time that is billable to clients. If this falls below 70%, you have too much bench time and are burning cash. This metric forces you to align team size with actual client demand.

When should you seek professional help with recession budgeting?

Seek help if you're making assumptions about your numbers without confidence, or if the stress of planning is distracting you from running the agency. An external perspective is invaluable.

If your survival cashflow model shows a runway of less than 3 months, get help immediately. A specialist can help you explore options like financing, restructuring payment terms with suppliers, or strategic pivots you might not see.

If you're considering significant cuts like redundancies or office closure, professional advice is essential to understand the legal and financial implications. Getting this wrong can be far more costly than the initial consultation.

Many SEO agency accountants offer scenario planning workshops. They use their experience with other agencies to stress-test your plan and identify blind spots in your SEO agency recession budgeting. This can be the difference between navigating a downturn and being overwhelmed by it.