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SEO and the ROI Debacle

Making an Educated Decision about Whether SEO Might Work

If a company's potential customers rely on the Internet and search engines in particular, it would be foolish not to take reasoned measures to rank well for strategic keywords that could drive traffic.

As a starting point, look at the cost of search engine optimization (consultant, employees, etc.), profit margins and sales volume.

If you sell industrial equipment, search engine optimization may be a wise choice. If you own a trophy shop, maybe SEO won't help much. Again, what is your market? Could someone in the year 2006 actually go to a search engine instead of the Yellow Pages and enter: "My Favorite City trophy shops." You bet. Maybe you would need only a small search engine optimization program.

Look at Google. Who is ranking? Do you care? Here are some other questions to explore:

What do you sell?
How much do you charge?
What is the value of a customer - initially and long-term?
How is your other marketing working for you? What is the cost per lead? What is your customer acquisition cost?
How many items or services would you need to sell to be comfortable paying for SEO?
Can you train someone or a team on staff? Who will evaluate their knowledge and skill?
Can you hire a consultant?
What does the SEO vendor charge per year?

Don't get in over your head. Insist that the SEO vendor starts small. Choose a finite number of keywords and make those work for you before spending more.

Need keyword ideas? Check traffic databases to see how people search.

If you have a store that could be influenced by online search behavior, take some surveys. Ask actual customers how they heard about you. Ask them if they ever searched online before buying.

Fathom SEO's TrafficScout, an Internet keyword marketplace activity report, helps online marketers find out whether people really search for their products and services. The complimentary service offers a number of features, including:

Predictions of how many annual searches are conducted for select keywords and phrases in a given industry
Projections of website visits based on natural search engine visibility
Lists of key questions to consider when assessing the cost of lead generation resources

The TrafficScout report is available here.

It's a great introductory glimpse into your market and the future. But Fathom SEO is about more than a quick look. Precise keyword/phrase section is a core part of what we do with ongoing programs...

If you sell a low-priced item like baby bibs you may need to think seriously about how many orders it would really take to cover the cost of SEO. Depending on the consumer interest level, it's possible to succeed especially if you offer depth in colors, sizes, prices and a selection of complementary products.

In-House is the Norm

If you're going to go the in-house course (and most business do), you'll need to factor in payroll, benefits and training costs.

In MarketingSherpa's 2nd Annual Search Marketing Survey (released in 2005), respondents said traffic grew a great deal more after six months when an agency was involved:

Agency optimized 110% increase
In-house optimized 38% increase

SEO firms may be better at what they do, but most companies aren't concerned enough to outsource.

For example, two thirds of companies with an online presence report that they handle 100% of their search engine marketing programs in-house (including paid advertising and natural search engine optimization), according to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization annual survey.

MarketingSherp's Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007 notes that 74% of companies take care of SEO on their own.

Read excerpts from this SEO study online: