Search Engine Optimization

The Basics of SEO

SEO is the active practice of optimizing a website by improving internal and external aspects in order to increase the traffic the site receives from search engines.  When the pages from your site appear at or near the top of the first page of Google, Yahoo, and MSN you enjoy a large and constant stream of qualified visitors.  If your site cannot be found by search engines or your content cannot be put into their databases, you miss out on the incredible opportunities available to websites provided via search - people who want what you have visiting your site. Whether your site provides content, services, products, or information, search engines are a primary method of navigation for almost all Internet users.

Search queries, the words that users type into the search box which contain terms and phrases best suited to your site, carry extraordinary value. Experience has shown that search engine traffic can make (or break) an organization's success. Targeted visitors to a website can provide publicity, revenue, and exposure like no other. Investing in SEO, whether through time or finances, can have an exceptional rate of return.

About two-thirds of all clicks occur on organic search results and every one of those clicks are free. Organic optimization can increase qualified traffic to your site and is very cost-effective, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  The basic goals of search engine optimization (SEO) are to:

• Create full visibility of your site for the search engines

• Optimize your site and page structure

• Create complete and targeted content

• Create quality internal, outbound, and inbound links

There is no better, faster, or more dramatic way to improve your online business than earning great search engine rankings.

Leveraging Organic and Paid Search

Working simultaneously on both the paid and organic optimization efforts of a web site gives us a huge advantage towards producing optimal results from both efforts.

It starts with the obvious benefit of applying the deep understanding we gain concerning the keywords which attract visitors and the way people navigate and convert on the website. The benefit is intensified by our software which tracks the specific keywords, whether paid or organic, that visitors search on before coming to the site and then properly valuing the role each plays in revenue generation. This knowledge allows us to continually optimize both our organic efforts and our paid-search campaigns in ways that would be impossible without this proprietary view.

Results

StrategyNode has successfully optimized sites ranging from a tiny 10-page site in the very competitive diet arena to a 50-million page content site.

• 62% of search users click a link on the first page of search result.

• 23% of searches progress to the second page.

• 80% of unsuccessful searches are followed with keyword refinement.

• 77% of search users choose organic over paid listing when searching, 67% choose organic search when purchasing.

• When the searcher is purchasing, organic click-through generates 25% higher conversion rates than equivalent Pay-Per-Click (PPC) click-through.

• 40% of SEO campaigns aware of their ROI achieve returns in excess of 500%.

• Daily use of search engines rose from 33% in 2002 to 85% in 2008. The average day in 2005 reported 60 million people using a search engine.

• The validity of these statistics depend on various experimental factors (i.e. large, representative samples of searchers/searches), and on accurate statistical analysis.

• Increased organic traffic for a highly localized information service from 1,000 to 70,000 visitors a month in six months and eventually to over 120,000 a month.

• Increased organic traffic by 70% in 4 months for a home services business.

• Increased organic traffic by 75% in the first month after optimization for a media company’s content site.