Internet Marketing A Vital Strategy in 2005

Business owners and marketing execs have long known that to get leads from their website they have to feature in the search engine results. Because achieving natural search results has seemed so difficult, most businesses turn to pay per click or adwords.

The perception that natural search results are a better investment has until recently not had any hard evidence to back it up. The Strategem Research and Survey Sampling International (SSI) survey on search engine user attitudes and behavior revealed that only 27 percent of Google users click on paid ads. Across all search engines the number is 39 percent.

A new study by OneUp Web has produced quantifiable data as to what the average Web site can expect to achieve by appearing in the top ten of a natural SERP (search engine results page).

When a site enters Google's top natural SERP for the first time they can expect an exponential increase in traffic and double the number of conversions.

According to the study, in the first month a site appears on Google's first SERP, its conversion rates rise by an astounding 142 percent. The second month, conversion rates nearly doubled (194 percent).

In terms of unique visitors, the average site appearing in Google's top natural SERP could expect a 337 percent increase in traffic in its first month and a 627 percent increase in the second month.

Internet marketing strategist Sally Falkow writes a blog on Internet marketing strategy for marketing and PR professionals tasked with the results from their company website. URL http://falkow.blogsite.com

“These studies show beyond a doubt that natural search gives a better return,” says Falkow, who writes about ways to improve your natural search results in her blogs. “Marketing conferences in the last half of 2004 had a strong concentration on internet and search marketing. But the emphasis was still on paid search.”

“Using good web content in different formats – like corporate blogs, RSS feeds and optimized press releases – you can catapult your company into greater search visibility in a matter of months. And it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg either.”

BTI Communications is one company that took her advice. They are in the fiercely competitive telecom market. In the last half of 2004 the new technology of voice over IP exploded and new players came into their market – some of them with very big budgets.

Although they had a website they had no search engine visibility. A carefully researched web content strategy included a blog, RSS feeds and optimized press releases. This has resulted in over 100 page-one search results on targeted terms like voip architecture, voip solution provider, voip business phone. And their web traffic has increased by 60 percent.