SEO - The Cornerstone To Increased Revenue
The ultimate purpose of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to increase your company's revenue right? Would you like to discover a few secrets that will boost your SEO efforts? Yes? Great stuff! Then read on.
Unless you've been on another planet for the past decade, you will know that SEO is the ultimate way to increase company revenue and increase website exposure and traffic. Many are still not a hundred percent sure about how this happens however; therefore understanding the Search Engine Optimization process is essential if you are serious about gaining success online.
You might know that it is essential or even business critical for your web pages to appear on the first Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) when people search for your products and services. To achieve this, you need to know who is searching for your products online, and how they are searching for these products. Sound like a tough challenge?
It gets better - in effect, you need to get right under the skin and deep into the minds of potential customers who may be searching for you. You need to know what they think, what they do, and what you can do about it before you are able to form the basis of your Search Engine Optimization campaign.
Your searchers or target market are the most important part of the search marketing puzzle, and this is why in SEO, you first need to understand the role they play before implementing your campaign. Simply put, these are the people who will put the pennys in your pocket, so knowing how your target market searches online makes all the difference in the world.
First Things First In SEO
The very first thing that you need to know about searchers is that they are not always experts on your website's content. In fact, they may not even know how to search for your services and products - the first lesson is therefore; you have to put yourself in the searhers shoes to understand how they might search to find what you have to offer. Let me explain.
Chances are good that you know the best words or search terms for your product, but do your potential customers know these terms? Most likely, they won't. They might not know your product's name and they might not even be able to spell it. For instance, they may not know that you call them 'notebook computers' because they think of them as 'laptops'. If you optimise your pages for 'notebook computers' you could end up missing out on a lot of 'laptop' searchers. This means that you need to understand the terms that most website browsers use when they search for your products online.
Who Are Your Searchers?
Yahoo! Research and Vice President of Emerging Search Technologies Andrei Broder segments searchers into three types:
1. Navigational Searchers:
Navigational searchers search for a specific web site, either something that they have visited in the past, or a website that they have been referred to by a friend or a site that they have heard about.
For example, they may search for "spur web site" or "rooftop cinema long street".
2. Informational Searchers:
Informational searchers are searching for a range of information websites relating to a specific subject. They believe this deep information exists, but they do not know where it's located.
For example, they may search for "accounting law" or "shark diving information".
3. Transactional Searchers:
Transactional searchers are aiming to perform specific activities. They search in a specific way, looking to buy products, access databases and download various types of files such as images, software, songs or even links to download a fix for a computer, sign up for a newsletter or donate to a charity.
For example, they may search for "lady gaga radio" or "antivirus download".
Now that you know the type of searcher that may be looking for you online, the next step is keyword planning to begin the most vital part of your SEO campaign.
Why SEO Keyword Planning Matters
The 3 biggest benefits to keyword research and planning in SEO includes increasing brand awareness, increasing website traffic and increasing website conversion rates. Let's take a quick look at each of these benefits that good SEO keyword planning helps to generate.
1. Increase Brand Awareness
An astounding 66% of searchers believe that sites that appear at the top of the search engines results pages are the top companies in their industries. Visibility creates awareness and trust in your product, and ensures that customers are easily able to find you online. In advertsing it's a well known fact that repeated exposure to brands build familiarity, and familiarity creates trust. So it goes without saying, make sure that your brand is on the first SERPs pages.
2. Increase Website Traffic
The more exposure you have online, the more website visitors you will have. SEO creates a chance to draw traffic to your homepage, or specific pages - bringing more potential customers to your website all the time.
3. Increase Your Website Conversion Rate
What are conversion rates and how does website traffic influence conversion rates? Conversion is what makes a browsing visitor turn into a purchasing customer - simply put, it's bringing the horse to water, and making it drink.
If they can't find you however, they can't buy from you. Conversion is the ultimate ROI, and ensures that visitors who find your site stay long enough to make that purchase.
When you begin to know your web audience and the best ways to target them, you will be able to reap the rewards - gaining more traffic, better results and increased sales as you provide them with the right information at the right time, right when they are actively seeking you out.
In a nutshell, SEO keyword planning helps you interpret what searchers actually want, so that you can target the searchers who you are most likely to convert into leads or customers. This is what makes search marketing such a power tool - allowing you to reach your customers and help them find you online with relevant and targeted SEO tactics.
About the Author
Piet Alberts is an online marketer and creative director in Cape Town, South Africa. He started an Online Marketing & Web Design Agency, Clay Ant Creative, in 2006. Clay Ant Creative offers complete creative, design and online marketing support, including search engine optimization, e-mail marketing, and web design and development.
Feel free to reprint this article on your own web site, as long as you include the resource information above. Questions? E-mail Piet.
Published at http://ww.clayant.co.za/library/internet-vs-traditional-media.php by Clay Ant Creative, An Online Marketing & Web Design Agency.
