Could Effective Search Engine Marketing Be Bad For Us?
As with a lot of things Internet based there is as much information around the need to optimise an internet site as is possible to disseminate, appreciate and act upon, but, is it possible that there are some organisations and internet sites that need to carefully think about the fallout of a successful Online Marketing campaign.
Received Internet wisdom would have you believe that the only way to do any trade on the Internet is to be ranked highly enough through effective Search Engine Placement that your site is listed on page 1 of Google. Any and all companies are persuaded to use optimisation services via a reputable SEO Company and carry out a system of making certain that their website is noticeable to the virtual market. However an effective Online Marketing drive may well open the site and the Company to much greater numbers of potential clients than can be coped with using the existing Company infrastructure, assets and structure.
Unlike traditional retailing, where, to some extent, business hours and the availability of the product or service can be controlled, the fully optimised website is there for business 24 hours day, across several time zones and with a possible market of millions. If the optimization process has been taken on board as opposed to pay per click, it cannot be turned off. Even if the work is slowed down, it will take weeks, maybe a number of months before the firm falls off page 1.
The initial results of a thriving Search Engine Placement plan will be a massive increase in hits on the website and almost definitely a massive increase in the qualification and follow up of larger numbers of leads. The question many companies will have to ask is whether they are able to cope with larger numbers of enquiries and demands for information, many of which will not lead to sales.
If the SEO Company has done a good job then increased visitors should, (assuming all other parts of the proposal are in place), lead to massive increase in the volume of sales. Sounds reasonable, but the question is can the firm support this increased activity, I would suggest there is hardly anything that is more irritating for both sellers and buyers than to have a queue of people ready to buy and the Company being unable to meet demand. In most cases this will lead to clients dumping the Company in question and going to where they can get the service or product, even if they have to pay a higher price.
The problem of course is that there is not a lot a business can do about the volume of traffic once it hits page 1, the question the marketers need to answer in these companies is whether they have to be on page 1 at all.
The often quoted statistic of over 90% of all purchases being made from page 1 is only relevant if a section of the remaining 10% is all you need to meet your business objectives. Examination of the market may reveal that being listed on page four, five or six may be all that is needed. More is not necessarily better.
March 9, 2010
Tags: marketing, online marketing, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, web site marketing Posted in: Miscellaneous
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