SEO
Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) is a process and not a product per se. It’s a dynamic world, with competing interests, and new domains and web pages being created minute by minute. So it’s unrealistic to believe that once you have your web site ( build it they will come) you are done. In effect, you are just beginning.
There is a taxonomy to the web and to your web pages. There is a semantic correlation to how your site should be built ( architecturally, with directory keyword names), page names ( with keywords in the page name, the body content, the proper meta), heading structures ( top down, easily viewed) and a host of other seo factors.
Your industry, whatever it is, has its own idiosyncratic competition, with its own unique search terms and visitors. Their reasons for searching may be infinite, but there are three main ones:
- Information gathering prior to actual action ( purchase your product or service, writing a book)
- Purchase the product or service
- Know you or your brand but forgot your domain name
Collect data from your clients as to how they found you, and you will know which category above they fit into. This could be actionable data on your part:
- You don’t have enough information to give possible clients to allow them to dig deeper into your site, lending credibility to your product, manufacture, services, integrity – what ever they are looking for.
- You don’t have a memorable domain name
- You haven’t optimized your site enough to help visitors find your product or services
The other result that comes from collecting that data is your Return on Investment (ROI). IF you don’t know how your site is creating revenue then you don’t know the value of the site. To know your ROI requires you understand your business better than anyone else. You must know the value of a client over the lifetime of either the client or your business. Then you must know how much your web site is a factor in obtaining the client. And you must know the cost of the website;
- Original development costs
- maintenance costs
- hosting and domain costs
- emergency costs
- etc…
Once you have that information you should be able to calculate the ROI. At that time then its worth inquiring how much SEO has played in those variables, and what it would mean to increase traffic by say 1%. Knowing the ROI lends itself to some important business decisions.
Our SEO services add value to your web site, whether it is just being created or was an afterthought. But presumably you know that the value as outlined above is also cost efficient compared to other forms of internet marketing. More about that in various posts…