In efforts to increase sales and profitability, more and more companies are turning to online marketing initiatives – specifically, search engine optimization. Search Engine Optimization or (SEO) is the art and science of blending technical and marketing skills together into a finely tuned website that is both search engine-friendly, ranks well for specific keywords and phrases, and is tailored to your audience from a buyer and seller perspective.
According to a recent U.S. study, only 20% of all businesses outsource search engine optimization programs to professional SEO firms. The remaining 80% either do not conduct search engine optimization at all or they believe they have the resources and skills to do it in-house. Of this 80%, it is probable that 90% of these companies can’t be found on the web – they don’t exist. In order to generate any amount of significant web visibility, your website must typically rank within the top-30 results.
So, the question comes down to what is in your company’s best interests?
Conduct your SEO program in-house or out-source it. To answer this question, let’s first take a look at the knowledge, skills and resources necessary to implement and maintain a successful search engine optimization program.
SEO knowledge and skills required
1) Basic understanding of how search engines and directories work.
This may seem overly obvious, but you would be amazed how many people do not understand how they actually work. This knowledge provides the foundation for your SEO program.
2) Website design
Although SEO is not completely a technical marketing process, it does require a fair amount of technical knowledge of what constitutes search engine-friendly web design. Certain web design elements can either help your search engine rankings or hurt them. You simply have to know which is which.
3) SEO experience
This is the most important and most difficult knowledge to obtain. If you have never implemented a SEO program, then you are in for a big surprise. Search engine optimization programs require a lot of research and are extremely time consuming. Most importantly, they require actual SEO experience. This means knowing what SEO strategies and tactics work and which ones don’t.
In-house vs. out-sourced SEO programs
If your company is considering conducting your search engine optimization program in-house, here are some questions to consider.
• Who will be responsible for analyzing, developing, implementing and measuring the success of your SEO program?
• Is this considered the role of your IT department, Marketing department or some other individual(s) within your company?
• Do they have the time, knowledge, and resources to successfully implement and maintain your search engine optimization program? And do they really care if it works or not?
IT Department
Typically your IT department handles multiple daily tasks from trouble-shooting your company’s LAN or WAN to fixing the sales department’s laptops? Out of a busy IT person’s day, what priority and focus do you think he or she will commit to for your SEO program? And even if your IT department has some skills in web design or development, these skills make up only a small percentage of the knowledge required for a successful search engine optimization program.
Marketing Department
Typically, your marketing department juggles many marketing projects at once and faces strict completion deadlines. From handling new print collateral campaigns to getting ready for new product or service launches, marketing personnel’s time is spread very thin. In addition, how knowledgeable is your marketing department in the technical aspects of web design and search engine optimization? Do they have the time to become well-versed? Do they have sufficient internal resources? Often the answer to both questions is no, they do not.
Other individual(s) within your company
Ok, so the responsibility falls onto someone outside of your Marketing or IT department. Who will that be and why are they responsible for your SEO program? Providing these individuals with a new “project of the month,” will typically result in another check mark off of their monthly to-do list and frustration by top management of why their website is not producing any sales results.
Summary
From a business standpoint, it makes sense to try to leverage internal resources to maximize your company’s productivity and profitability – whenever possible. However, there must be a line drawn in the sand between knowing what your organization’s capabilities are and what they are not.
As you can see, there is more to search engine optimization than meets the eye. In order to implement and maintain a SEO program, you must acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and resources. This can be done by hiring a professional search engine optimization firm. Professional SEO firms have dedicated resources and experience to support your company’s web marketing initiatives. By leveraging their experience and know-how, your company can quickly and more efficiently implement a successful search engine optimization program.
About the author:
Corey Wenger is owner of Key Position Web Marketing and is a professional Search Engine Optimizer and Consultant who has over three years of experience in helping companies increase sales and profitability through strategic web marketing programs. For more information, please visit www.key-position.comor email him at corey@key-position.com
"Pay-Per Click" Ad
Campaign: Earn More By Spending Less
by: David Riewe
What is "Pay-Per Click"? "Pay-Per Click", is an easy to understand
advertising strategy. There are around 300 million searches at major
search engines everyday. This causes 80% of internet traffic. Placing your
websites on these search engines is very important in reaching as many
potential customers as possible. But in order to be seen and clicked most
frequently, your website should be viewed at the top most of the search
list. Most people only reach up to the third page of a search engine so
the lower your rank, the lesser the chance you will be clicked. In
"Pay-Per Click" advertising, you pay to be always visible on the internet.
You select keywords or key phrases about your website, and the highest
bidder ranks the best. There is no upfront cost. You only pay after a
visitor clicks your link. This is why it is called "Pay-Per Click".
Everyday millions of people around the world click on Pay-Per Click
Advertising Campaign. With the booming internet industry and the ever
growing online business, an ad of virtually anybody on the planet can be
seen on the internet anywhere in the world.
The "Pay-Per Click" advertising campaign is the premier growth area in
online marketing. Last year, an estimated $741.2 million was spent on
"Pay-Per Click" advertising. The usual search engine optimization can take
weeks or even months to produce results. "Pay-Per Click" advertising can
attract customers at an instant. Why? Because, this cutting edge ad
campaign can be placed on any website and can be viewed by potential
online customers, anywhere, anytime and all the time. The only challenge
is placing the ads on proper websites that will attract possible customers
for a specific product or services.
"Pay-Per Click" advertising campaign attracts the right consumers at
the shortest possible time. This is the most cost effective way of
marketing products or services. You can also monitor the customers who
visit your site, what they are looking for and what they are buying. With
the right creativity on using the right search-phrases, we can direct the
right people who are willing to do business with us.
"Pay-Per Click" advertising can easily be managed 24 hours per day and
7 days a week through the internet. This allows you improve the campaign
strategy by effectively responding to the activities of both customers and
competitors.
So what are you waiting for? "Pay-Per Click" now and let your business
take the fast route to success.
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