How SEO Can Benefit Your Business

I actually tried to find some info on this topic as a research basis for this post. Nearly every article or post I found was more an explanation of what SEO is than a definite explanation of how it can be of benefit. (Please note this is not a PPC post.)

Therefore, this post will explain how SEO can benefit a business without a long spiel of what SEO is and how it works.

Client:

I understand enough about SEO to know I should probably be including it in my marketing mix. I understand enough about email marketing to know that it is benefiting my business without needing to understand how it is conducted. You tell me how SEO can benefit me. I don’t need a lecture on SEO, I need bottom line data.

Answer:

This is a three fold answer.

First here are some facts about the search engines that require your attention:

General Click Statistics

• 42% (1 – please see note ammended to this point) of people click the first result in the natural listings of search engines. This figure has been seen to escalate to in excess of 70% if there is a complementary high PPC listing on the searched keyphrase. *
• The amount of time spent by searchers on a number one organic and number one paid listing both exceed two seconds, and those focusing on the paid search term seem to linger longer (2)
• 14% less people click the last listing on the first page (no. 10)  than click the number one listing **
• 86% of searchers will research or amend search if not answered on the first page in favor of continuing to click to deeper pages (3)
• less than 32% of searchers click through to the second page of search results (3)
• 8% of searchers will click through as deep as 3 pages before abandoning their search(3)

Point: listing on page one is important

Local Click Statistics

• Increasing numbers of people are clicking on the local OneBox results – especially if the map co-ordinates of the corresponding letter seem to be within their locale, and if the description of the OneBox listing is clear and motivational. While no conclusive studies have been conducted to date, the trend is being watched.
• Businesses that are registered with local business search and thus have a map and contact details assigned to their brand name and location on search are seen to be more ‘trustworthy’.

Point: Local listings in the OneBox and on brand name terms are important

Review Statistics (4)

• The ability to refine site search results by customer rating led to 22% more sales per unique visitor on a same-session basis and 41% more sales per visitor on a multi-session basis.
• 74% of people say that they choose companies and brands based on what others say online about their customer service experiences, local reviews included.
• Almost two-thirds of consumers read consumer-written product reviews on the Internet.
• 81% of consumers consider reviews to be important to their decision making process
• 26% of search results link to consumer generated content
• An RSS study measured a 43% higher click-through on RSS feeds with reviews than without.

Point: Reviews are becoming more and more vital – investigate SMM

Blended Search Click Statistics (5)

• 31% of people are likely to click an image result in the blended listings
• 36% of people will click a news result in the blended listing
• 17% will click a video result in the blended listings
• images are the most clicked ‘type’ of result after specialized a specialized (vertical) search while news listings hold the title of most blended click type listing 

Point: Image, News, Video are more and more searched in vertical and more and more important in general search. Don’t ignore your existing opportunities and escalate new initiatives.

Second, this is what professional SEO can and should do for you:

1. Get your business listed for brand name terms and top converting terms in the first page within 3-8 months (brand name immediately [within 4 weeks], converting terms by eosow [end of statement of work])
2. Get your business a local listing in the OneBox by registering with local search and encouraging reviews by eosow
3. Linking with related sites and achieving backlinks via diplomatic relations not only based on relevant quality content, but on consumer, affiliate and partner reviews and referrals throughout contract
4. Integrate with other online initiatives to encourage online consumer reviews on site and through shopping and other portals throughout contract

Third, professional SEO should be able to monitor all your efforts:

SEO works hand in had with web analytics. They are inter-reliant but different, related but mutually exclusive. SEO and web analytics (in my SEO world) provide a perfect modern day working example of ‘united we stand, divided we fall’. In very simple terms, SEO efforts require proof of success.

While it in nearly impossible to predict the success of an SEO campaign from the outset to the number of variables involved, it is possible – and should be mandatory – for SEO efforts to be monitored and reported upon at the very least. Tactical refinement should follow, but sadly that is often not the case.

Log files are a web devs fodder and playground. However it is not particularly easy, nor is it always intuitive, for non web devs to intuitively gain insights regarding the success or failure of an SEO campaign from this data. Web analytics programs should be applied.

Web analytics programs provide insights on paid vs. organic traffic split in keyword data, referral site data, entry page, exit page and bounce rate data, and much, much more. For any SEO campaign to be effectively monitored web analytics are imperative, not only from an insight perspective, but from a reporting perspective for you, the client.

Finally…

Regardless of whether your SEO agency or person of choice is hired as a consultant or full fledged implementation developer, the onus is on you to agree to their recommendations, or kibosh them at every turn.

Before you choose to go down the SEO route, make some branding decisions and decide what you are prepared to let ‘go’. SEO cannot work within tight brand constraints effectively except on brand name; and unless you happen to be Hilton Hotels, your brand probably doesn’t have the traffic you need.

SEO will bend and work to your requirements as much as possible, but if you are hard ass about your brand, don’t bother outsourcing – hire in-house and watch your attrition rate sour; unless you have relatively big bucks, in which case an outsource company will tell you within 2 months they can’t help you – assuming they have any ethics… or unless you are huge, silly big, in which case most folks end up just being frustrated and nothing ends up happening anyway.

 End of post – not so hard to be genuine with your clients… not so hard to be a genuine client… crap hard to deal with a client in reddot or other cms who is not willing to place seo above personalization and tracking wihout knowing the possibiliites = too many variables… ‘nother post

Happy Labor Day Canada! 

(1) RedCardinal [Note: I realise this data is old ('06), but it is the only research of this kind I could find. Assuming it is accurate within an acceptable margin of error of 5-10%, I think that it is safe to say that, based on the research found via the link from resource (3) below, the CTR on the number 1 listing is probably higher now than in 2006.]

(2) Enquiro

(3) GrokDotCom

(4) Bazaar Voice

(5) Search Engine Promotion Help

* I cannot find the data to substantiate this figure. I heard it or read it somewhere and filed it in my memory banks, but I may have filed it incorrectly. If anyone has real data with a source, please can you let me know? Thanks!