| Importance of Search
Engine Positioning
According to a survey by the Georgia
Institute of Technology, more than 86% of
all people find out about other sites
through the search engines.
A survey conducted by Forrester Research
asked web users what they rated as the
most effective way of getting them to a
web site in the first place. 57% replied
search engine positioning, 38% replied
email, 35% replied external links, and 28%
replied word of mouth.
And, as you may already know, merely
submitting your site to the search engines
is not enough. Unless your site appears in
the top 30 of the major search engines,
there is hardly any point in submitting
your site at all.
That is the reason another study by
ActivMedia Research shows that 66% of
online marketers find that search engine
positioning drives traffic. A top ranking
in the search engines can bring you highly
targeted traffic. If someone visits your
site after searching for a product or
service that you are selling, it means
that he/she is interested in what you are
selling and hence is a potential customer
for you. Hence, search engines send
pre-qualified customers to you.
Also, consider what the April 2000 issue
of Target Marketing Magazine had to say
about search engine placement:
Top Ways Websites are Discovered
| Banner ads |
1% |
| Targeted email |
1.2% |
| TV spots |
1.4% |
| "By
accident" |
2.1% |
| Magazine ads |
4.4% |
| Word-of-mouth |
20% |
| Random Surfing |
20% |
| Search Engines |
46% |
Hence, unless your web site is at the top
of the search engines, you are losing
thousands of potential customers, which
can translate into hundreds of thousands
of dollars in lost profits. The search
engines are by far the most important
source of traffic for your web site. Don't
ignore them. |
Search Engine Ranking Tool
