CEOs and marketing managers use many marketing strategies to achieve their sales and profit goals but many are unaware of the power of search engine marketing. As a result, search engine optimization (SEO) sometimes gets short shrift. That's unfortunate because it's a very effective marketing strategy and gives you an excellent ROI.

CyberAtlas reported only 24 percent of e-businesses surveyed receive the majority of their site traffic from search engines, which means three-quarters of them could benefit from search engine optimization services. Most traffic comes from search engines, so when your site is not correctly optimized to attract these prospects, this represents a lost opportunity.

Consumers in Search Mode

What do consumers want when searching for information on the Web? Convenience, speed, and relevant information. How do they find products online? Jupiter Media Metrix reports 47 percent  of shoppers use search engines (September 2001):

28% type product name in search engine

  9% type brand name in search engine

  5% type store name in search engine

  5% go to search engine shopping channel

A well positioned text link in major search portals can drive qualified traffic to your Web site, generating leads and conversions. Good positioning is particularly advantageous for software firms because their products are ideal for online sales. But any e-business can benefit from a marketing strategy that helps shorten your sales cycle and improve your bottom line.

The Value of Search Engine Optimization

Search engine positioning is a powerful marketing tool. It's effective because the traffic is very targeted. Prospects who find your site through search portals are actively looking for information on your products and services. They'll be motivated when they land on your site and see your offer.

SEO is cost-effective compared to other marketing strategies. For example, the cost of a keyword banner campaign ranges from $2,500 to $35,000 monthly, depending on the number of keywords. A professional SEO campaign with an equivalent number of keywords ranges from $1,000 to $10,000 monthly.

SEO can be a powerful branding tool while driving traffic to your site. Search engine text links outperformed banner ad copy three-to-one in a February 2001 study by NPD Group. More than twice as many respondents recognized companies listed in the top three search listings than companies featured in banner ads.

SEO produces high conversion rates. Log file analyses have shown that search engine traffic outperforms banner ads and email marketing campaigns by producing more transactions, registrations, and software downloads. The Proof Is in the Pudding

As an e-business, you can drive sales directly from your Web site without making office calls if you have a well-designed site, a professional search engine positioning campaign designed to bring prospects where you want them, and a well-developed sales conversion process. The three case studies profiled below illustrate this.

Software Company: Welocalize.com, a provider of integrated globalization solutions for Web site internationalization, drives sales with a three-point strategy: 

1. Three product Web sites designed to drive visitors to call an 800 number or fill out an online e-Quote form.
2. Search engine optimization services producing qualified traffic to a specific landing page.
3. Prompt and effective sales follow-up on leads.

Using this strategy, traffic patterns for the three product sites ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 user sessions per month, with 95 percent of the business originating from site-generated leads. Ninety percent of the site traffic is driven by search engines.

Welocalize targeted and won large multinational firms as clients with a limited sales team and a very effective marketing strategy. Some contracts went into the six figures to integrate Web sites, intranets and extranets for the convenience of staff, clients and partners worldwide. Read the original case study for these facts by clicking here.

Conferencing Solutions Provider: Frustrated with its banner ad campaigns, Action Conference Call decided to reallocate its entire online marketing budget to search engine optimization, by hiring SEO specialist firm Webster Group International.

The resulting SEO campaign produced 86 top-20 rankings in major search engines and directories. The result was a 500 percent increase in sales within 18 months. No other marketing strategy was used.

The company's plan for more growth includes launching multiple sales sites optimized for search engines. This is advantageous because some directories will list only the homepage. With more than one product to sell, creating multiple sites for each product line is a good way to get the necessary visibility for increased sales. Read the original case study for these facts by clicking here.

Camera Accessories Retailer: DCProDirect increased revenues 24 percent in six months through SEO, using the services of Inceptor, quoted in Marketing Sherpa as "a technology company specializing in helping eretailers get their thousands of SKUs listed in search engines." Its challenge was to expand online reach without raising cost-per-acquisition. The company compared three marketing strategies: banner advertising, direct mail and SEO.

Before SEO, site logs showed only 4 percent of traffic came from search engines, producing  less than 1 percent of converted sales. Within six months of launching an optimization campaign, 24 percent of DCProDirect's online revenues came from search engine traffic.

Comparing the results of banner ads, direct mail and SEO, the company found in favor of SEO with conversion rates up, cost-per-click down, and cost-per-acquisition down dramatically.

* CR = Conversion rate (promotion recipient to sale)
* CPC = Cost-per-click
* CPA = Cost-per-acquisition

Note: The above case studies were published in MarketingSherpa's B2BMarketingBiz section.

SEO is a very effective marketing strategy, but don't take my word for it. The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) reported in October 2001 that 79 percent of major U.S. companies advertised online last year, and 75 percent used SEO. American businessmen and businesswomen are recognizing the value of SEO and using it with first-class results.

The Right Marketing Strategy for You

SEO is both an art and a science. It requires persistence by highly trained personnel as  optimization tasks are complex and time-consuming. That's why savvy marketers are outsourcing these services. A reputable SEO provider can increase your site visibility (number of page-one listings) considerably. To  help you select a reputable provider, read my next article, "Search Engine Marketing: The Outsource Advantage."