A search engine optimisation campaign is meant to deliver targeted traffic. But that is only the beginning. You should not just be paying for the targeted traffic, otherwise you could very well do the job yourself. You could look for similar sites that are open to partnerships and buy your traffic. A SEO should be doing so much more. Their task is to convert the targeted traffic into customers and this is where knowledge and experience in the search engine marketing field comes in handy. Conversion is based on relevance, copy that sells, proper website functionality, etc.
Your ROI is the best indicator of how well the SEO is doing their job. Their task is to bring you more and more targeted traffic via free search engines traffic, paid listings, link partnerships etc and then test and tweak your site for the best possible conversion.
Usually the conversion rate is significantly different from industry to industry. For example in high end industries where sales can be as much as several hundred pounds a sale or more, the conversion rate is very low but it's compensated by the high value of the sale. On low value products such as posters, for example, the conversion rate will be higher but each sale will also bring in less revenue. To give you a rough idea of the conversion rates that apply to various sites, SEOs consider them blessed if their conversion rate is 7% or there about.
When you're negotiating the contract with the SEO always tell yourself "ROI" and try to get the best deal based on a higher conversion rate and a better ROI. Amateur SEO individuals and companies as well as common SEO scams tend to focus on search engine rankings rather than profits. The notion of ROI is the most relevant concept that gives you a clear idea of the ability and experience of the search engine optimisation company you are using. Those that have been in the business for a long time and have obtained great results for their clients will go the extra mile to bring you that extra bit of ROI your site can produce.
This article was first published on 25 August 2004 and does not necessarily match current events or the current opinions and views of bigmouthmedia ltd.
