Why Choose Search Engine Optimization?

The web is growing at an exponential rate. Today, there are currently in excess of 8 billion web documents, increasing at a rate of roughly 7 million per day (per Cyveillance). A recent Commerce Department study reports that more than 80 percent of the United States population is online and by 2008, it is projected that 95 percent of the United States population will be online.

Every day, individuals use major search engines to launch over 725 million queries for products, services and information solutions. But can they find your web site within this vast universe of content? Successful online marketers fully recognize the potential of this enormous market, and as a result are developing comprehensive search engine optimization strategies for capturing their share of this immense volume of queries.

CyberAtlas Research recently surveyed web site owners and found that search engines provided most sites a considerable amount of traffic. Over 80% of all the sites surveyed generated 50% or more of their traffic from search engines and directories. Furthermore, visitors from search represent a highly pre-qualified potential customer pool actively searching for your product or service offerings.

The fact is, search engines are the most popular vehicle to connect users to web sites - they provide the very first step in the online communications link. Search engine results are the bridge between potential consumers and your web site. Therefore, it is crucial that your web site is listed prominently within search results for keywords and phrases relevant to your products, services or information.

The Answer: Search Engine Optimization

The Internet is an interactive medium where we can be "in touch" with interested parties 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Potential customers use search engines and directories to locate content and discover new web sites every day, and a typical search query will often result in a million search matches. If you have not considered a search engine optimization strategy, you are losing valuable business. Did you know...

• Over 80% of Internet users utilize search engines and directories to find web sites, according to Forrester Research.
• 92% of online consumers use search engines to shop and/or purchase online according to a report published by the NPD Group.
• The first 10 results for any search have click-thru rates of 65% according to a study by Berrier & Associates.
• A study conducted by IMT Strategies found that search engines are the #1 way (46%) people find web sites. Random surfing and word-of-mouth ranked second (20% each).
• Traffic from search properties is the most valuable kind of traffic as it is comprised of people actively looking for a product, services, information or solution.

What Creates Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty?

Users of search engines are on a "mission" to solve a "problem". How quickly they are able to find an answer to their problem is directly related to customer satisfaction. How quickly they are able to find your web site, if they are searching for you by name, is directly related to their opinion of your brand. So a lifetime relationship with your brand is very literally at stake every time someone conducts a query via a search engine. Only one of two outcomes is possible each time a member of your potential audience, or an existing customer, performs a search in a major engine:

• they will find your web site
• they will find a competitor's web site

Which Will It Be?

The answer is entirely dependent upon the quality and success of your search engine optimization. It's as simple as this: a search engine optimization strategy must be created and implemented so that your web site can be found in the major search engines and directories when someone performs a keyword or phrase query relevant to your site's product or service offering.