Boost your business with a #1 ranking website for a search term! Use website SEO to boost your website ranking and optimize your website!
This is part 2 of a 2-part series on search marketing & SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
Is Search Marketing For You?
Before we begin talking about ‘Search Marketing’ we need to firstly understand the value of a search term.
How Much Is a Search Term Worth?
If you’re a sunglasses store, do you make more sales from visitors searching for ‘brown sunglasses’ or ‘black sunglasses?’
While various tools allow us to see the terms users type into search engines, as well as how often, they cannot show us the value of those searches.
How To Understand The Value Of a Search Term
You need to make some hypotheses, test, and repeat – the classic web marketing formula.
If a user types in a search term and finds your website, you need to ask yourself the following questions.
3 Questions To Ask Yourself
Firstly, is it relevant?
Secondly, will they be happy with what they find and stay and browse some more? (Are they looking for apples but you only sell pears?)
Thirdly, will this traffic from that search term result in financial rewards or other organizational goals?
If you answered ‘YES’ to all of them great, let’s continue.
What’s Next?
Then let’s take a look at the competition for that search term. This will give us valuable insight into how hard it will be to rank for the given term.
If you feel that it’s worth it, then I’d recommend buying some test traffic for that term so that you can see how well it converts.
(Have a look at our Paid Marketing App for this)
WHY? We need to be certain that it converts! There’s no point spending a fortune on ranking a website, only to find in 1 year that those visitors don’t convert!
We NEED ACTUAL visitors to test on so that we’re 100% certain it’s worth it.
At this point, you’re doing well!
Is It Worth It?
Finally, we need to work out if it’s worth embarking on a search marketing campaign since a campaign like this costs money.
I want you to write down those 3 points (‘3 Questions To Ask Yourself’ above) so that I’m sure you fully understand them.
This is not something you rush into.
What a Recent Study Shows Us About Website SEO
DID YOU KNOW THAT WEBSITE SEO DRIVES OFFLINE SALES?
A WebVisible/Nielsen study found that…
86% of consumers use the Internet to find local businesses from which to buy offline.
Yes, that’s OFFLINE sales as a result of an online action.
I’ll shortly cover the value of a search term.
What Is a #1 Ranking Website Worth To You?
We recently looked at the basic premises if a search term is worth ranking for.
What We’ve Covered
Firstly, we’ve identified search terms that visitors are using.
Secondly, we’ve confirmed that if they find your website they’ll find it interesting and stay and browse.
Thirdly, we’ve confirmed that if these visitors convert it results in financial benefits or other goals being achieved.
Fourthly, we’ve DOUBLE CHECKED with ACTUAL visitors that the above THREE points are true.
What’s Next?
There is a cost to running a search marketing campaign and we need to work out if it’s worth this cost. I.e. Are you likely to have a positive ROI?
Remember in step 4 we used ACTUAL visitors to the website to test the hypothesis.
Why Do Businesses Love Search Marketing?
Let’s say that an advert generated 5,000 impressions (the number of times people see your ad), of which 100 visitors have come to your site and 3 have converted for TOTAL PROFIT (not revenue!) of £300. Each visitor for that search term is worth £3.
Those 5,000 impressions (in 24 hours) could generate a click-through rate of between 18-36% with a #1 ranking (Remember Google shows 10 results, so not everyone clicks on position 1).
This would mean 900-1800 visits per day, at £3 each, or between 1-2 million dollars per year. (Not all niches have that level of traffic, but you get the maths)
No wonder businesses love search marketing!
You can see why it’s worth spending money on certain terms!
What I Need You To Do
I want you to write down the average lifetime value of a customer. I.e what is each customer worth to your company.
Then we need to determine:
WHAT IS THE VALUE TO YOU OF a #1 RANKING WEBSITE FOR a SEARCH TERM?
Once you know this, it makes it much easier to see if search marketing is worth your while.
Go on do the maths now!
6 Simple Reasons Why Website SEO Is a Good Idea
Let’s focus on the reason behind SEO.
Why Website SEO Is a Good Idea
1) Website SEO Is Not a Cost But An Investment
An investment with a high return. You may rank on page #2 for certain keywords and see that these have a great conversion rate.
This means that you know that you’re leaving money on the table.
Lifting your rank to the top 3 spots on the first page (where most 80% of clicks go), can provide a massive return on your modest investment into SEO.
It’s why SEO has been likened to investing in real estate – the returns can be truly stupendous when you get it right.
2) Website SEO Turns The Spotlight On Your Sales Rockstar
Your website obviously! It’s open 7 days a week, all year long, and never calls in sick or reports late to work. It does whatever it’s told to do, and pulls in sales, leads, and opt-ins like clockwork.
Your website is your ‘perfect employee’, multitasking effectively, tackling thousands of prospects at once, and only limited by what you ask of it.
Search engine optimization lavishes attention on your sales rock-star, generating the highest performance by giving it the right emphasis and focus in your marketing arsenal.
3) Website SEO Is a Crucial Part Of Your Marketing Mix
SEO is the master when it comes to pulling in prospects, and can help boost conversions too.
Although, SEO alone cannot help you reach your highest marketing potential. Social media, branding, and other marketing strategies all come into the mix and complement SEO.
It’s the combination of strengthening and reinforcing each element to grow your business exponentially… faster.
4) Website SEO Impacts The Research/Buying Cycle
SEO will increase your sales without proportionately increasing your marketing costs, thereby growing profits exponentially and over time.
SEO can further all your business goals at a better ROI than most other comparable forms of online marketing because of this fundamental effect of better conversions and more sales at a little incremental cost.
5) Website SEO Pricing Is Variable
As a specialized service, SEO involves teams of people working behind the scenes. Giving them a small budget practically ties their hands, and you cannot expect stellar results from their restrained effort.
As with all things, some people will do a better job than others, and as a result, charge more. Remember that SEO is not a cost. It’s an investment.
Going back to our real estate example,
- Location impacts property price. (i.e. which search terms you target & in which country)
- Competition impacts property price. (i.e. many people competing for the same terms in the same country)
- House prices are different depending on the quality of the house (i.e. depending on how strongly you rank for a search term will impact cost)
So when looking at providers you need to be aware of the above!
6) Website SEO Can Multiply Your Impact
How much did it cost to print your business cards or marketing brochures? (You probably spent more on your website!).
I bet you carefully proofread those cards, brochures, or flyers before sending them off to the printing agency.
Yet, most people don’t have a search specialist “proofread” your expensive, infinitely more powerful marketing tool – your website – before you launched it!
Would you design, review and print your marketing materials, and then place it on a shelf? Obviously not.
By ignoring SEO, that’s exactly what you’re doing with your fancy new website. a website that could have been viewed by thousands of your best prospects and ideal clients.
A website that you’re now leaving to the whim and fancy of Google to rank at its will.
7) Website SEO Is For EXPERTS
Just because you own top-of-the-line printing equipment in your office, would you print your business cards yourself? No, I’m sure you don’t. You probably order them from a professional company with long experience with printing.
SEO is your digital marketing tool. It can multiply your impact massively by getting your website in front of targeted eyeballs. There’s good reason to have it handled by professionals who know their job.
Are You Missing Out On a Great Opportunity?
I want to spend a little more time looking at search marketing/SEO.
Search Marketing & SEO Are The Same Thing
By now I hope you’ve figured out that search marketing and SEO are the same thing. Search marketing is a more modern term for SEO.
Let me start by asking if you allowed a professional to design, conceptualize and print your marketing materials or did you just ask a staff member to put something together in Word and print it in B/W from the office printer?
Since SEO dictates how VISITORS see your website in the search results, don’t you think it’s smart to make sure that your website stands out?
Think about it, if thousands of people are viewing a random snippet of text from your website in the search results like this website is doing…
you’re wasting a GREAT opportunity. You’re letting a wonderful chance to get free advertising slip through your fingers.
What Is The First Point Of Contact With Your Online Audience?
Your website.
It can generate leads, qualify prospects and attract potential new customers, partners or investors.
But unless people can find it, and see it, your website is good for nothing. SEO plays an invaluable role here.
What Does SEO Do?
It gets your business found, noticed, and loved.
What SEO Have You Done?
- Have you optimised your website text for the search engines so that you can attract the right type of visitors?
- Have you optimised the way your website appears in the search results?
- Are your competitors getting all the customers because they rank better?
These are all important questions and if you answered ‘YES’ to any of them you really need to do something about it.
Don’t you think it’s time you took your online marketing a little more seriously?
Your Next Step
Right now, I want you to read this fantastic article in Forbes about SEO. (It’s not technical and gives a well-constructed overview)
Get Your Search Marketing Basics Right In 5 Quick Steps
I feel like we’ve been covering such an important aspect of marketing that it’s difficult to do it justice!
Firstly, did you read the article in Forbes I shared with you?
If not, please do so now.
I want to briefly recap what we’ve recently covered so I can be sure you’ve got the major points.
What You Need To Do
Firstly – identify search terms your visitors are using.
Secondly – if they find your website they’ll find it interesting and stay and browse.
Thirdly – these visitors result in financial benefits or other goals being achieved.
Fourthly – we’ve tested the above with ACTUAL site visitors through paid traffic.
Fifthly – we determined the average lifetime value of each customer.
What You Need To Know
Is the value of a #1 ranking website for a search term. I.e. what’s it worth to you to be ranked #1 for a term?
Once you know this, it makes it much easier to see if search marketing is worth your while.
So while it might cost £3000 per month on SEO, it might be generating you £15 000 per month in return. That’s why it’s important to know the value of it!
Why Website SEO Is a Good Idea
- Website SEO Is Not a Cost But An Investment
- Website SEO Turns The Spotlight On Your Sales Rockstar (Your Website)
- Website SEO Is a Crucial Part Of Your Marketing Mix
- Website SEO Impacts The Research/Buying Cycle
- Website SEO Can Multiply Your Impact
Do you remember how SEO also can have a MASSIVE OFFLINE IMPACT?
Remember the stat…
86% of consumers use the Internet to find local businesses from which to buy offline.
Yes, that’s OFFLINE sales as a result of an online action.
I hope you’ve understood how important SEO is in the online as well as offline marketing mix and the value of it if it’s done correctly.
I started out by saying that SEO is an extremely complex field that takes time and investment. If you’re taking on some big competitors you need a lot of time and patience!
We’ve found that MOST companies haven’t even got the basics of SEO right and this is the best place to start.
It’s Time Your Website Got Noticed. Take Action.
We realise that website SEO is a big field and a bit daunting for clients, so we’d recommend ensuring you get some SEO quick wins. If you’d like a little help optimizing your website to rank better, have a look at our
Website Ranking (Search Engine Optimisation) App
I want to briefly explain the differences in the various packages. SEO is a complex field and is an ongoing discipline.
There are two key parts:
- On-Page Optimization (Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines)
- Off-Page Optimization (Improving Your Presence On The Web)
This app focuses on the first aspect since it’s important that the search engines understand your website.
What’s Next?
You’ve reached the end of our search marketing series:
Join us for another series!
5 Social Media Tips To Impress Your VisitorsOr view the Lab41 resources.
