Is Search Engine Optimization Important?
Brian Charlonis
The answer is "Yes." More than ever, you need higher search engine placement for your company's products and services to be readily available for your consumers.
If you think the buyers in your markets use the Internet to gather information, or evaluate purchase decisions, the answer is, "You bet Search Engine Optimization is important!"
Everyone has heard that the amount of people using the Internet is increasing everyday worldwide. Neilsen/NetRatings reported that every world region around the globe has shown Internet usage growth over 107% since 2000, averaging 165% worldwide. Some global regions such as Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, are showing incredible growth from 300% to as high as 428%. For those whose markets are international, this means the Internet as a channel for marketing activities is growing everyday.
It doesn't matter if you're selling products online or simply sharing information about your products and services, search engine optimization (SEO) is important. Search engines, and portal websites with search functionality are historically the most visited websites on the web.
- Forester reported that over 80% of web visitors begin with a search engine.
- Recent studies from Forester have revealed how web surfers are becoming more search engine savvy and are increasingly using search queries of three words or more.
- Studies also show that over 50% of all online purchases begin with a search engine.
Television, print and other advertising mediums are pretty accurate with their distribution; they've had years of practice and time for research to identify who they're reaching. However, they also unavoidably include other non-target audiences. It's no surprise that GartnerG2 reported that online advertising budgets have been progressively increasing year after year. It's also no secret that marketing activities on the web enable marketers to target their message with more accuracy than other traditional marketing mediums. People don't visit websites they're not interested in; they typically visit websites they expect to find what they're looking for.
The Internet has proven to be a new frontier for prospecting and acquisition of sales leads and customers for many businesses competing in many different markets. It's touted as the most efficient way to disseminate information, which lends itself strongly to B2B markets and industries that rely on relationship-based selling tactics.
There's a saying everyone knows, 'build it and they will come.' Sure you can build a website and wait for the search engine spiders to find it, index it and list it in search engine results, but don't expect visitors to come flooding in. After you build a website you need to optimize it for the way search engines work in order to capitalize on the way people use the Internet. Top placement in search engine search results can mean large amounts of qualified visitors to your website, possibly revealing large amounts of prospects and customers daily!
In order to really 'cash-in' on the benefits of search engine marketing, you'll need an expert, someone who really knows what rules the search engines are playing by today. The rules of SEO change regularly and most likely your competitors are aware of the benefits of SEO as well. As you optimize your website, don't be surprised if your competitors take notice and make adjustments to their own website to rank higher than you in search engine results.
You have many options with search engines. Not only can you optimize your site for the best rank in search results but you can actually purchase preferred placement in prime areas next to the free search engine results. They call this pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. When done correctly, PPC can be an efficient way to pull visitors to your site. Good advice would be to consult someone who has the knowledge to walk you through how to allocate your budget for the best PPC results. It requires a great deal of market, competitor and search engine keyword(s) analysis and strategic thinking. The last thing you want is to spend your marketing budget on something with no return.
The Worx Group and eVision
eVision, Search Engine Marketing from The Worx Group, can substantially increase targeted traffic to your website and improve conversion rates.
The Worx Group has teamed up with eVision to provide our clients with professional Search Engine Marketing services.
eVision's founder, George Aspland and his team have been successfully optimizing websites for large and small companies and organizations since 1998. They employ a proven strategy of legitimate SEO and other Search Engine Marketing tactics that significantly improve targeted traffic to your website.
"We do not use any of the deceptive tactics that are considered spam by most search engines," says Aspland. "These tactics can increase traffic temporarily, but can and often do get a website penalized or even banned by search engines."
Additionally, eVision and The Worx Group can provide a comprehensive plan to make pay-per-click search engine marketing part of your overall media plan. Make sure you're buying the right keywords and that your search engine marketing reinforces the power of all your media buys.
If you would like to improve your search engine results and website traffic, please contact Joe Bottone at (203) 758.3311 or at jbottone@theworxgroup.com. Don't forget to mention this article and share your feedback.
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