Web content wil linfluence your search results and your brand awareness
Those of us who were at the SEMPO meeting at SES Chicago heard the first snippets of the 2005 State of the Search Marketing Industy study.
If you missed that, it’s reported today in Search Engine Watch.
In a surprising finding, the SEMPO study found that the majority of search marketers (62%) said branding was the primary objective of search marketing campaigns. Nearly as many, however (60%), said that selling products was a key objective.
The contrast in objectives is sharp between small and larger companies. Firms with fewer than 500 employees were more focused on selling products, whereas organizations with more than 500 employees are more interested in driving leads and traffic to their web sites.
Despite these self-reported goals, fewer than 24% track or measure branding impact. That doesn’t mean that analytics and measurement aren’t important: Fully 80% track increased traffic volume, 74% measure conversion rates, and 69% measure click through rates.
The impact of search on branding should not be over looked by smaller companies. I understand why they are focused on sales, but without the visibility and the brand value good search results bring, making that sale is so much harder.
Search rankings don’t sell anything. They give you visibility and brand awarenesss.
Making a sale is a two step dance – you have to reach the right audience, be seen when they search, get them into your site a few times and gain their trust .
Then the content on your site can do the selling job.
