You hear terms like clicks, keywords and conversions thrown around in SEO (search engine optimization) and SEM (search engine marketing), but what is the bottom line?
Impressions matter, but without clear conversion funnels or “preferred visitor paths” what leaks is consumer interest and intent. Don’t write a Nancy Drew novel or bore people with the suspense, get to the point.
If you want your website to be “more than just a welcome mat” for site competing for consumers interest, then keep an objective perspective when crafting copy and images when considering the real value proposition to streamline conversions.
Don’t be aloof or try to brand on first site, create a common thread to segment your audience and allow them to make intelligent choices to find a message and / or angle that “works” for them.
Just as a marketing campaign for batteries can range from “our hospitals trusts” brand – X when life matters – to appeal to the utility in us or “jam out longer, play more video games or hear X% more music with Brand –Y” – the range of their emotional / market appeal is immense.
Let’s not confuse SEO with actual marketing; the two must work in tandem. Having visitors arrive on a whim or laced with intent from a search engine, only to find a lackluster offer, disjointed message or page lacking the message, relevance or continuity that attracted them is a poor landing page experience, period.
Within 10 seconds from landing on a page from a search engine, an email or another link from other sites, the clock is ticking and people are either looking for an escape hatch, a link or a BIG SHINY BUTTON with “click me” figuratively written all over it.
Conversion is a process of refinement; its constant pruning and fine-tuning all serve a common goal to convert clicks into customers. Yet, without keywords those consumers may never find your offer to click.
SEO delivers traffic, but please don’t confuse the messenger with the message. In this instance, the message “your content, pages and offers” must still stand on their own merit and offer substance, utility or emotional gratification.
Although search engine optimization and using search engines is not the only type of traffic, it does deliver qualified traffic based on the continuity and relevance of the keywords used to initiate the search.
Most websites receive 85% of the traffic to their site from search engines, so, to ignore the benefits of SEO means that (a) you are leaving money on the table for competitors or (b) you are satisfied with a mere sliver of market share.
Without consumers there are no conversions, without keywords or optimizing (or paying for them using PPC) there are no click-throughs from search engines which means, you may as well go back to the yellow pages and sit by the phone waiting for it to ring.
With the current climate of internet marketing, having a website is not enough and when it comes down to sales and / or building a list, getting people off the bleachers and into the game, there is nothing like using SEO as a medium, using video to break the ice and set the stage and then segueing to a timely contact form to formulate the perfect balance of marketing meets motivated buyer or at least pique common interest.
What you do with that traffic and how you reward the viewer’s attention is entirely up to you.
In closing, here are a few other posts on the topic that we would like to “serve up” as an offering to you as a tasty mental morsel to digest at your leisure.
Remember, just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come and even if they do, you still have to offer more than the next competitor to ensure that your site stands out.
Business goes where it is most welcome, and depending on your perspective and how your site engages users determines just how unique your brand, products or services fare amidst a sea of options online.
Suggested Reading:
- How to Use “Action Words” to Increase Traffic and Reader Response
- Conversion Optimization: Increase Conversion Not Just Traffic
- Keyword Research: SEO, Traffic and Conversion
- SEO and Intent: Where Search Meets Results
- SEO or Conversion Optimization
- SEO Keywords Vs. Conversions
- Internet Marketing or SEO
- SEO Visibility and Conversion
Keep in mind, traffic flows, you do not necessarily have to recreate the wheel, just learn where the affinity for the ideal audience or consumer and then stand in front of it (with a funnel to pique their interest).
No one method is a solution, but rather a part of a systematic process of facilitating the appropriate mood and emotional appeal to connect with those who would pass on your offer, if it lacked the “whats in it for me” action/ reward modality.
Conversion is not some magical process, its just giving the reader what they want when they want it, or fulfilling your promise or intent that drew them to your website to begin with.
These tips are not rocket science, but they can steer you in the right direction to at least see the error in doing nothing, so you can mix things up a bit in 2010.
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Hello
I am just learning about SEO and I have not so much knowledge about SEM.I came to know some new things about traffic of SEO.Thank you for this post.
I made this viewable on my end and decided maybe I should add this in as well. This part is not found within your Google Adwords account, it is base on your own research and tools. Some of my affiliate links are only connected to certain keywords with specific tags, so I can research these keywords.
In that process, or to quote: “systematic process of facilitating the appropriate mood and emotional appeal to connect with those who would pass on your offer” – would you be able to share some of the A/B Tests with us and the testing community? You can also follow us on twitter @abtests