Every few weeks, I will share interesting research and statistics that may help validate the importance of investing the time and dollars into optimising your site. I meet so many people who think SEO is not a priority – my goal is to help you prove that it is.

Here goes…

According to internetnews.com, “Online Marketing Eats Into Traditional Media, ”

“Interactive marketing will near $55 billion and represent 21 percent of all marketing dollars spent in 2014 as advertisers shift money away from traditional media to search marketing, display advertising, e-mail marketing, social media and mobile promotions…”

This comes as no surprise, but it does prove that each of these elements (search, display, e-marketing, social media & mobile) are important, work together, and should be considered for every site/online strategy. The tools will change but tactics remain. Ask your SEO/Marketing specialist what will work best to attract the best leads for your business.

The post talks specifically about Search Marketing (my favourite):

“Search marketing continues to do well, in both adoption, today 80 percent of marketers use it, and money spent. “Search marketing accounts for 59 percent of the overall interactive pie. We project spend on paid listings, which includes paid inclusion, and search engine optimization (SEO) to grow at a CAGR of 15 percent, to $31 billion by 2014,” according to the report.”

This means it’s important to keep an eye out for relevant places to have your site listed. The key word is relevant – be careful when getting involved in a network that will list your site in all directories, not just ones that are pertinent for your business – especially if you are paying for the listing. Building a good reputation online is crucial and should be a priority to every SEO specialist.

This excellent article gives some pretty nitty gritty stats for SEO.  From intraspin.com, the post “10 statistics that demonstrate the value of SEO” reports this:

“77% of search users choose organic over paid listing when searching, 67% choose organic search when purchasing.”

More reason to ensure you are successfully optimising your site. But don’t just plow your key terms all over your home page. The Search Engines catch on and change their algorithms periodically. Refine your key terms (3 – 5 word phrases), refresh and add to your content, build your links internally and externally and figure out how you can better interact with your customers/prospects online.

One more stat from this post:

“When the searcher is purchasing, organic click-through generates 25% higher conversion rates than equivalent Pay-Per-Click (PP) click-through.”

Wow! Another reason to have someone (within your company or by using an SEO specialist) who is always keeping their eye on your site.

That’s it for now…I’ll keep digging and you keep reading!

Welcome to Volume 1 of SassySEO Insights.

Each Volume will contain smart & sassy tidbits about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), SEM (Search Engine Marketing), SMO (Social Media Optimisation), Social Networking, Marketing &/or Media to get you fired up and ready to improve your site.

If you’d like to subscribe to SassySEO Insights, please email me at kristin@theRohans.com.

Here are my favourite posts for the week that highlight important values of Search Engine Marketing & Website Optimisation.

The first post I want to share is from the Ad Contrarian: Why Can’t Marketers Talk Straight (Bob Hoffman). I prefer simple descriptions that quickly get to the point, too. Why use language that delays understanding or action?

Once you decide on your key terms and develop your content, don’t confuse prospects with fancy words. Help them enjoy visiting your site and learning from you. Once they know they can get the straight story from your site, they’ll come back again.

The next post is from Seth Godin: When tactics drown out strategy. I’m a huge fan of Mr. Godin and agree with his views. It’s key to know what you want to accomplish before you jump in and use the latest tactics and tools. Are you trying to find new customers? Are you trying to strengthen your customer community? Are you trying to sell certain products? Though Facebook and Twitter might be the answers, know what the questions are first.

The last post for SassySEO Insights Vol. 1 is from Darren Rowe’s site, TwiTip: 5 Steps to Take to Prepare for a Post Twitter World (by Chris Johnson) Building real relationships is more important than how many followers I have. If I don’t make personal and genuine connections with my customers and colleagues, I risk losing out on sales, on opportunities (professional & social), and won’t enjoy my work. Helping others and connecting them is important, too. What goes around, comes around – positive & negative. I like to be on the positive side.

What do these posts have to do with SEO?

1 – Content is key to a successful site – take time to develop good key terms instead of lengthy verbiage. Don’t confuse visitors. Make is easy for them to navigate and understand what you do.

2 – Develop a strategy before you hop on the latest tool craze. Fads come and go, but your site needs to have focus and a long-term plan so you can get customers and make sales. That is why you have a business.

3 – Be authentic and build real relationships. Most customers buy from people they like and trust. Word of Mouth is still the number one referral.

Good luck and happy optimising!