ROI is in the Eye of the Beholder
I cannot lay claim to this title as I came across it at a recent conference but it did inspire me to consider the implications for our industry
. For the past ten years we have been working with Small to Medium sized businesses providing Search Engine Optimisation and what has become absolutely clear is that success means wildly different things to different people.
Our aim has always been to try and deliver exceptional results at the most cost effective price possible however identifying what constitutes success is often more difficult than you might imagine. Most clients are looking to get their web site on the first page of Google without any clear understanding as to why. Sure they know they want to generate more sales or more leads but is being at the top of Google the answer?
If we consider client A who started with 20 first page positions across all search engines and after 4 months has 340 first page positions including 80 first page positions on Google all good quality phrases relevant to their industry. If the SEO company has been contracted to achieve 50 first page positions does this constitute success? If it does constitute success then success for whom? the SEO company or the client?
If we then look at client B who started with 20 first page positions across all search engines and again after 4 months now has 50 first page positions (20 of which are on Google) does this still constitute success? If the SEO company were contracted to achieve 70 first page positions have they failed?
On the face of it the answer here is simple Client A has seen tremendous success and the SEO company have done a great job and Client B has seen a modest improvement and the
SEO company has not done such a good job.
However if we look a little deeper and identify that the traffic to client A's web site has increased by 2,000 visitors per month where as Client B's traffic has increased by 4,000 visitors does this now alter our perception of success? Has the SEO company in charge of client B still failed in that they haven't achieved 70 first page positions given that they have generated double the amount of traffic then client A?
The distinction between success and failure is less clear now and gets even further clouded when we look at the leads that have been generated. Client A whilst only receiving an additional 2000 visitors has generated 100 leads whereas Client B who generated an additional 4000 visitors has only generated 80 leads.
If we go a stage further and identify that Client A has achieved 20 sales from their 100 leads whereas Client B has generated 30 sales from their 80 leads. Surely now we have identified success Client B has generated more sales and therefore have been more successful? However what if the profit from the sales generated by Client A was 100,000 whereas the profit from sales generated by Client B was 50,000?
Client A has to have been the most successful now they have generated 50,000 more profit than Client B but what if Client A paid 50,000 more than Client B to achieve this success? What if the sales achieved by Client B were three times the amount achieved by any other form of marketing at half the cost of any other form of marketing?
What if the lifetime value of a customer with Client B was four times that of Client A?
At what point does this stop being the concern of the SEO company? Surely they were simply employed to increase positions? For the vast majority of SEO companies they cannot see past positions and more importantly for them they can't see past Google positions and in fact the vast majority of SEO companies only ever report on increased positions.
However if we accept that almost every small business employ SEO companies to generate more leads or sales then why do both parties only measure the increase in positions?
Let me pose a further question if it cost 8000 to generate 20 first page positions on Google which resulted in 10 new sales each month and cost 3000 to generate 20 first page positions on Yahoo which resulted in 8 new sales each month which option would be best for a small business? Which option would offer the best ROI?
One of the biggest frustrations I have with the overwhelming majority of the SEO industry is the fact that most of the so called experts are more interested in demonstrating their own prowess and technical ability and in particular their ability to achieve Google positions. The vast majority of these experts have never built or run a small business and do not understand the problems and dilemmas small business owners face.
A typical example of this is when the SEO company asks the client to rewrite the web site and make the site much more content rich. This is good for achieving first page positions on Google but once there, the site is often poor for conversions and achieves very few sales. A success story for the SEO company but a failure for the client who in turn becomes disheartened with SEO and tells anyone who listens that SEO doesn't work.
Equally clients who are starting to see success from optimisation often jump ship and join another SEO company who promise more and because there is no real bench mark yet in the industry clients are not sure what they should be getting for their money.
There is one final consideration when we start to look at what constitutes success for a small to medium sized business. Often with small businesses timing is everything. Natural SEO could very well be the best long term solution and will without doubt over time produce the best ROI however they may only have 2000 to spend and whilst that 2000 would be best spent on SEO they need sales tomorrow and often Natural SEO cannot deliver sales tomorrow. The small business owner therefore either spends his money on other forms of marketing with a poorer ROI but quicker return on sales (even if they are fewer in numbers) or employ the SEO company and are unrealistic in their expectations when it comes to timings and out of desperation flit from one SEO company to another in order to try and speed up the process.
The reality is there is no quick fix however an understanding of the needs of the small to medium sized business owner means there are sustainable and realistic solutions. A focus on higher margin product sales and quality long tail phrases can offer up quick wins whilst higher volume generic phrases are developing. Planning for conversions once first page positions have been achieved is essential, quality data capture and lead management are crucial - improving each facet of the online sales funnel should be as much a priority of the SEO company as is generating first page positions.
Having clearly defined goals and pre-agreed targets between SEO company and clients will ensure a mutually alined understanding of what constitutes quality and realistic ROI.
Every company that employs an SEO specialist should ensure they measure every facet of the online sales process and should ensue they can demonstrate increased lead generation and sales more than the increased positions on search engines.
ROI is in the Eye of the Beholder
By: psheals
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