Mediarun Search Marketing News

SEO is 'not a strong point for retailers'

April 14th 2010

Search Engine Optimisation News

It is to be expected that top retailers know what good search engine optimisation is all about - especially because they are all about conversions and sales.

But new research has shown that the opposite appears to be true.

According to search engine marketing industry analyst Conductor, the top 500 internet retailers spent $1.2 million (£780,000) a day on a whopping 88,758 keywords during the last quarter of 2009.

However, just a third of their highest-priced keywords made it into the top 50 of natural search engine results pages listings.

According to Conductor, the most active participants in paid search were online-only retailers and these were the most visible in terms of natural search - with 72 per cent making it into the top 50 regularly.

High-profile consumer brands were close behind, but other retailers were lagging much further down the rankings - highlighting the importance small and medium-sized enterprises should place on appointing a tried and tested natural search marketing company to head up their SEO (search engine optimisation) campaign.

Nathan Safran, senior research analyst at the company behind the research, said: "Too many organisations treat SEO as an after-thought.

"It needs to be ingrained in the company's culture."

Safran claimed that the results suggest small firms need to seriously consider the effectiveness - and return-on-investment of - SEO marketing.

He said that companies need to assess the size and scale of potential search marketing campaigns, create an in-depth plan that will deal with every eventuality and continually compare the results - in terms of natural ranking - with competitors.

Similar advice was recently given by Econsultancy, which claimed that when businesses embark on a search engine optimisation campaign, they need to remember they are writing for humans, consider their long-term growth strategies and ensure that they budget effectively.

"It's all too easy to forget why you're doing [SEO marketing]," the website said.

Adding: "Remember that the only reason to spend money and effort ranking highly is to attract and convert human visitors. That makes it essential that your website is attractive and useful to the real people."

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