According
to a GVU Users Survey, 84.8% of Internet users
use Search Engines to find websites.
In today's
competitive marketplace, the Search Engine
Optimization is the most effective,
results-oriented online marketing strategy
available. With over 400 million searches
performed daily - everyone wants a piece of the
action. But just "wanting" top rankings, and
knowing what to do and not do to get them is
where you can separate yourself from the crowd.
Hard as it may be to believe, there are site
owners who are not convinced that they need to
use search engine optimization. If you know
someone who needs their eyes opened a bit, this
article just might help.
Most of the professionals reading this
article will need very little convincing that
search engine optimization is a necessary
part of any website trying to make money or
attract attention online. But there’s a good
chance that you work for, or with, people who
either haven’t heard of SEO, or don’t
understand why they need to optimize their
website. Maybe they’ve invested money in all of
the more conventional advertising methods, and
even placed banner ads or other paid ads online.
Why do they need to spend more time and money to
achieve a high ranking in the search engines?
You might start by asking them where they
think the traffic for their website is coming
from. Despite what they might think, the
majority of web traffic is driven by the major
commercial search engines: Google, Yahoo!, MSN,
and Ask. (As of this writing, AOL’s search
engine uses Google for its search results).
According to various studies, most people prefer
to click on organic search results rather than
sponsored results, by a very wide margin.
This doesn’t mean that ads placed with search
engine programs (like Google’s AdSense) are
worthless, but it does mean that they shouldn’t
be the be-all and end-all of a company’s website
marketing campaign. Search engine users tend to
trust organic results more than paid ads, which
means that they’re more likely to click on them
– and more likely to convert. There is a catch,
though: they have to see you in the results to
click on you. A good position in the search
engines can’t be bought in the same way as a
banner ad or a sponsored listing.
Studies have shown that most search engine
users don’t click past the first three pages of
search results; many don’t even click past the
first page if they find what they’re looking
for. Your own experience using search engines
probably confirms this. What does this mean? It
doesn’t matter how many search engines spider
your site; if it isn’t listed in the first three
pages, it might as well be invisible. Indeed,
getting on the first page, among the top three
results, is even better.
Here is a thought that should really give
them something to chew on. They might not be
doing SEO for their website, but it’s an even
bet that their competitors are. In that case,
their rivals are getting all that lovely website
traffic that they should be getting for
themselves. That should make them sit up and
take notice if nothing else will.
