Optimizing Your Online Presence

Here is a basic tenet of business: if you have an online business presence, you need traffic to your site. There is simply no way to grow your business if people are not coming to your online store or office. This is where search engines come into play, as they are the best way to get your site address to the masses.

SEO: The 2-Fold Value

As you know, the main purpose of SEO is to get traffic to your site. However, there are other considerations that need to be thought of as well. One of those is the implied value of SEO.

When we think of organic search traffic (that which is not paid for), we can see that about 70 percent (or more) of visits to websites come through this model of organic traffic. The numbers are interesting.

In a study, a little more than 22 percent of respondents said that they only view the first couple of first results that come up from an online search. Nearly 40 percent report that they look only at the first page. 20 percent will look at the first two pages; about 10 percent said that looked beyond the first three pages.

When you break this down, we see that more 60 percent of people will only look at the first page of a search result. People are impatient, it seems. They do not want to dig for results, even though those deeper entries may offer better services, lower prices, etc.

So, what does this mean to you, the business owner? It means you need to work to get your company listed on those first three pages (at least) and higher if at all possible. This is the traffic-value of organic SEO.

Implied Value of SEO

Another aspect that we often do not consider when thinking of SEO is the implied-value that comes along with ranking high on the engines lists. When a site is listed high on the search engine lists, that site (or brand) is perceived to be of higher value to those who see the listing. This does not necessarily have to be a true perception, but it often is present nonetheless.

Some studies have reported that more than 35 percent of those asked believe that a company ranked high is in the top of its industry or field. In a way, it pre-qualifies the company before the surfer has even visited the site. This can be a huge advantage to those who can make it to the higher portions of a search engine list.

With all of this in mind, we can see that website owners must do all they can to improve their rankings, and this involves using all of the available SEO tools including website optimization, PPC, social media, etc. This is the only, and best, way to get your site moving up toward those incredibly valuable first three pages. There is no one magic bullet that will do everything you need, so start developing a plan that covers all of the bases. This will pay off in many ways.