SEO: What You Can Expect
So exactly what is SEO and do you have to use it? Search engine optimization is utilizing tools and methods in making your site top rating in the results of search engines. Getting yourself in the first page and, even better, in the top half of the page (above the fold) will assure that there will be public awareness established of your website's existence and subsequently yield more traffic, traffic that could lead to possible income and business. The answer to why you need SEO an easy one. Read on.
Have you noted the mounting costs of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising or sponsored ads on the search engines? Research shows, 72% of clicks in Google's search results are on links in the natural listings, rather than the sponsored listings. Natural or "organic" listings are the free ones - and those are the ones you wish to have. With search engine optimization you can get the benefit of generating a high traffic volume. Let’s just say you get only a turn out of successful sales with 10 to 20 percent of your traffic. If you get a hundred hits or more a day, you get a good turn out of sales already. If you get only twenty to ten hits a day, you only get one or two if not any at all.
When your site starts ranking high in the natural or organic listings of the search engines, you can anticipate that:
More people looking for your business can find it easily.You generate more business, depending on how well your website is tuned to communicate with your online audience.
Other sites start linking to your website as the place to go. Your PR efforts reap dividends as journalists find your site and "feature" you. Momentum ramps up over time and your site can start ranking high for multiple associated search terms.
Your target audience easily finds your site.
Is it not evident by now that people who are researching, have a need or want for something about your business are going to utilize a search engine because it's convenient? Most of these searchers won't go past the first page of results on a given keyword and some will not go even "below the fold" (the first panel of results displayed) if they discover a site that has what they are looking for. Make it easy for your target audience to find your website with top search engine placement, then watch them flock to you - and stop paying so much for clicks.
Generate more business.
Most businesses think that driving more traffic to their site will result in more business, but that may not be right if your site is not tuned to your prospects' wavelength. What motivates your target audience? What issues are they trying to solve? What's their psychology?
Many organizations have misconceptions about getting business through their site and selling online. They try to sell based on their corporate structure, rather than taking the time to build decision paths for prospects' questions and concerns and taking them only as far as they want to go in their buying process. In short, they fail to engage their web visitor and build a relationship. When your website is shaped to communicate with your target audience, the conversion rate increases and you generate more business.
Other websites start linking to yours.
Inevitably, when your website is simple to find and communicates well, it becomes a link-worthy site. Your customers and prospects start broadcasting the news about your website by blogging it, instant messaging it and linking it as the place to go to. With no extra exertion on your part, links to your website start showing up all over the Internet. This is "word of mouth" advertising - also known as viral marketing - and it's what all marketers crave. A recent report by MarketingSherpa focuses on what's working in viral marketing right now. One of the graphs in this report shows why experienced marketers use these tactics:
1.Reach can explode.
2.It's cheap.
3.Leads can be highly qualified.
4.Breaks through the online/e-mail clutter.
5.It's cool.
6.Improves natural search ranking.
Anne Holland, president of MarketingSherpa, commented, "Interestingly, although only 25% of marketers hoped a viral campaign would improve their search rankings, 64% hoped their online reach would 'explode.' Um, guys, guess what getting higher search rankings does to your reach?!"
Video and audio clips, online games/quizzes/polls, podcasts and providing e-cards can have a viral effect for your website - if these are a strong fit for your target audience. A link-worthy site will gain higher and higher search engine rank in the natural search engine results.
Journalists notice your business. A customer once told me how his business was written about in various magazines and newspapers every 3 to 6 months. He said journalists would call to interview him on various community facets of his business, saying they found his website by doing keyword searches and that his site supplied relevant information for their stories. Of course, these search terms were also key to his business.
You can experience the same thing from your website if it is easily found by your target audience, communicates effectively and has some appeal to journalists who need a good story (or even good background information).
Momentum builds over time.
A great deal of work is commonly involved up front to get a site ranking well in the search engines. But, because search engines take time to update their databases of results, solid organic optimization is a long-term marketing strategy, and it can take 3 to 6 months to see strong results from an SEO campaign. When a campaign has been started on a strategic long-term objective and is maintained properly, it becomes easier to build and gain momentum.
We have seen sites initially realize strong rankings for several less-competitive keyword phrases; as the campaign built over time, the same site gained good rankings for competitive two-keyword phrases. Then, as the site stayed on a clear top search engine placement growth track, it started getting good rankings for very competitive search terms. And not long after, the same website can move up yet another level by ranking well for all sorts of search terms that have similar meanings or forms of the same keyword - even when the site had not been optimized for those search terms. Google refers to this last mentioned idea as stemming technology. When momentum builds over time, it's the outcome of a well-executed, long-term organic optimization campaign that delivers higher and higher search engine rank.
No matter where your site is today, know that a well-thought-out SEO campaign can move you further along the natural growth stages. These include:
1.Average presence - Your website can be located if prospects have the time and energy to make the exertion.
2.Above-average presence - You're more easily found and provide some of what your visitors are looking for.
3.Contender - Your site creates a buzz in the industry; your products/services are well-known and the site delivers traffic, sales and PR mileage.
4.Player - You're well on your way to becoming the "800-pound gorilla" in your market. Keep up the good work.
Search engine optimization requires a great deal of work to be fully realized. There are many areas you may have to modify in your site to realize search engine optimization. These will include getting loads of information about the keyword phrases that are popular in regards to your sites niche or theme. You may also need to rewrite your sites contents so that you are able have the right keyword phrases in your site without fashioning it too commercial, but light and informative. There are certain rules and guidelines to be followed when making your site’s content applicable and conducive to search engine optimization.
If you are ready to take the leap into marketing your business on the web, or optimizing your website for the search engines, give us a call or send us an email! We offer many services, from website evaluation to full SEO and online marketing campaigns, that will help you put your business on the right track with respect to all things cyberspace! Hit our Contact form or Call Today!
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