Do I need SEO

Chances are if your company has a website, search engine optimisation (SEO) will increase your customer base and profits. An estimated 93% of all internet traffic is conducted through search engines such as Google. Without SEO your company’s website will be located low down search engine rankings and practically invisible to potential clients.

Resolving this issue is vital to business success. A recent study has found that 97% of visitors do not look beyond the top three results while the top 10 positions received 78% more traffic than positions 11-30. Understandably businesses are realising the importance of SEO and the industry will have an estimated worth of $12 billion by 2010.

There is a fundamental difference between SEO (search engine optimisation) and SEM (search engine marketing). While SEO primarily uses code work, images, text and information to boost a sites ranking SEM is done with off site work; this usually includes link-building, business partnerships and online marketing campaigns.

The terms ‘pay per click’ (PPC) and ‘organic results’ are often bandied about in the SEO industry. Put simply PPC is a service offered by most search engines where companies choose a search term they wish to return results for. When this word or phrase is entered the companies website will appear at the top of a list as a ‘sponsored link’, these sponsored links can also be found in the right hand column of search engine pages. Due to this preferential position, companies must pay a rate per visitor to their site; this rate can change according to the popularity of the search term.

Organic methods include making improvements to a company website’s relevancy in accordance to a specific search term. The method focuses upon getting the top spot underneath the sponsored links and due to its organic nature does not incur a cost per visitor to the site. However, regular work must be undertaken to keep the site at the top as competition for some search terms is fierce. The use of organic search listings is an especially important element of the industry as it is believed 77% of Google users use natural search links.

In terms of the timescale for success, the laborious task of restructuring the code elements of a website can bring immediate results. However the restructuring efforts of SEO companies usually set a platform for long term results based upon site content. A crucial factor however is the search terms that will be targeted, as more popular terms will have a longer period before results can be realised.

SEO is clearly an important element of modern business. Companies who do not realise the importance of SEO will be left by the wayside. As with many facts of business it is fundamental to stay ahead of the competition. Smart businessmen will already be utilising SEO services, for those who are not a simple choice arises; start using SEO or surrender the competitive edge to rivals.

 Posted on: Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 12:12 pm
 News, SEO.
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