When making a buying decision, especially for large ticket items, prospective customers invest time researching their purchases on line. Seeking information prior to purchase, customers request information using common search engines such as Google and Yahoo! A website link that appears as a result of this user request for information can offer the website owner a unique opportunity to earn credibility and hopefully, a sale. When customers today think about buying, they begin the process with an internet web search.
SEO or “Search Engine Optimization” is the practice of presenting an organization’s web page so that it will be easily found and displayed as a result for potential customer searches. The term ‘optimization’ simply means that when a user is searching for information related to a particular product or service, that web page will be displayed by search engines so that readers will be more likely to “click over” and visit that page. Websites appearing high on the search engine results page are more likely to receive reader attention, so positioning a page to achieve a high results page placement is hugely important.
The world’s biggest corporations pay great sums of money to optimize and maintain their web pages to attract internet users. This process pays off many times the invested time, money and effort. Otherwise, these savvy companies would invest their marketing dollars elsewhere. In the end, major companies earn sales by optimizing their pages so that users will be more likely to visit.
Major companies use SEO techniques to earn new revenue. But is the same methodology available to earn revenue for smaller organizations? By using local buying characteristics, even the smallest of businesses can compete with the multi-national corporations to win sales. Ultimately, the internet is a level playing field upon which all companies can compete. Winning sales using SEO on a local level is very possible.
National organizations generally compete based on product performance and price considerations. However local businesses can also compete based on location and local services provided. Differentiating between the two types of organizations and the differences between product and service offerings offers an opportunity to position the small business website to compete where larger companies aren’t strong. In this fashion, the smaller organization can compete for and win new customers.
Of course the major decision point surrounding investment in an SEO is the ultimate cost. Google believes that average cost for new customer acquisition using direct mail is about $70. For email campaigns, this cost drops to $60 and Google’s cost per click model works out to be about $8. This pay per click model may require users to pay for clicks that don’t result in sales however. Pay per click also requires customers to click on the advertisement contained on the Google web page.
Even if the average product might not fit an organizations’ business model, the proportions still hold value. Direct mail costs a great deal to identify a new customer, while an email campaign is somewhat less. The Google paid link program is quite a bit cheaper still. SEO however, if properly orchestrated, can be even less expensive and more efficient – especially over the long term.
An optimization campaign to attract new business using the company web page can take a few months with an investment between several hundred to a few thousands of dollars. Google’s pay per click program can cost as much as several dollars per user visit. These costs add up quickly!
The real advantage to SEO though, is that the links presented as search results are not viewed as paid advertisements by viewers. Internet users typically trust the optimized page much more than one they would reach by clicking on an advertising link.
In short, an optimized page using SEO methodologies can position a company web page to attract viewer traffic and convert readers into customers. An investment in SEO can efficiently win new customers and build new revenue streams. As users are more likely to click on the results contained on the search results page before they will click on an advertising link, SEO offers a great opportunity to present your company’s products and services exactly when users are in the purchasing process. Investing in SEO can be more cost efficient over the long term than many other forms of internet advertising.
Need more revenue? SEO Consultants in Denver help companies of all sizes compete for revenue using the internet. Visit our home page for more information or check out our SEO Denver Blog for the latest in SEO news and information. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.
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