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09.09.09 Measuring The Effects And Results Of SEO  By
Lee Odden I know you're thinking, "What does a castle have to do with measuring value from search engine optimization?". Nothing really, but I'm in England for the next week or two and didn't need much of an excuse to post a photo of Hever Castle, which I visited recently. Actually, I do have a metaphor, so read on. Search engine optimization is most often known as a pull direct marketing channel or inbound marketing as many are calling it. Customers are actively looking for solutions, products and services using various forms of search and that spells opportunity for marketers to do what they can to be front and center.  Typically it's the marketing department that funds the SEO effort whether it's handled in-house, outsourced to an internet marketing agency or as is increasingly more common, a mixture of both. There are many ways to measure the effect and results from Search Engine Optimization and I think the focus on sales and lead generation by marketers and web site managers who are hard pressed to increase revenue, misses or understates the effect and benefit of SEO in many ways.
In situations where company marketers are not involved beyond approving SEO strategy and if monthly reports do not take into account a 360 view of the effect of keyword optimization, code level optimization, link building and conversion optimization and other benefits, there can be some question as to what the search engine optimization effort is achieving. This is especially true when marketing dollars are under scrutiny for cost cutting or reallocation. Now's my chance to validate the castle photo above with a nice little metaphor. Imagine if you had a castle built and the only value you measured was the castle as a residence. The benefits of having a castle as a home make it pretty hard to justify the expense. Yet, I suspect there are plenty of castle builders and owners over time that felt the need to out-do their peers, show their wealth or some other ego appeasement and did it anyway. But is that all a castle is good for? Of course not. A castle by the nature of its construction is a fortress and provides protection from enemies, keeping them out. In many cases it also kept people in. Castles are/were where ceremonies are held as well as matters of church, state and business. I could list others but I think you get the idea. To build a castle simply as a home, misses the point. Engaging a SEO program simply to increase rankings for "ego phrases" or solely to increase web site traffic also misses the point. For company owners or marketers in a situation where they're wondering about the value they're getting, here are a few considerations on the value that a holistic search engine optimization program brings: Continue reading this article. About the Author: Lee Odden is CEO of TopRank Online Marketing, a digital marketing and public relations firm in Minnesota that specializes in search, social and online PR consulting and training for companies worldwide. Odden has been cited for his internet marketing expertise over the past 10 years by the Economist, Forbes and U.S. News and contributed a chapter to the book, "Online Marketing Heroes" published by Wiley. For the past 5 years he has also been the editor of TopRank's Online Marketing Blog, a Technorati 100 favorite blog and one of the top marketing blogs according to Advertising Age. |
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