Guess What? - 2006 Online Sales Increased from 2005

In a late and ho-hum manner, comScore Networks announced that 2006 online sales grew over 26% from the year ago period. Ho-hum because thats pretty much been the case for the last few years. It now stands at a whopping $100 billion in online sales for the Nov 1 to Dec 28 period in the U.S.

This records only the actual sales - you can bet even more people VISITED the website of the seller before they bought the item in a store. I know I did. (Especially when some of the shopping I did was on Dec 23 - a little late for even FedEx!)

What that should tell us that is that your web presence should be more important than ever for doing business. Even if you don't 'sell' anything on your website, having visitors come to your website influences their purchasing decision in the future, AND brands your name and key attributes in their mind. It's a fact that ONLY 2% (usually less) of visitors to a website make contact or buy from a website. What that means is for every 2 leads or transactions, there were likely 98 more prospects that visited the website. That's 49 times more!

Use that fact to your advantage, and keep it in mind when preparing your marketing and advertising budget. With a good online marketing program, you can have thousands of 'invisible buyers' that may buy from you, whether by phone, website or in person.

Thanks for reading and have a Happy New Year!

What's Search Engine Optimization Got to Do With It?

As paid search marketing gets more popular, some people ask us why should they bother to do search engine optimization? The answer is simple: They compliment each other, not do the same thing although it may appear they do.

For one, optimization will get your website covered for keyword phrases that are very relevant to a searcher and you would not buy. For example, 'mountain resort spa golf skiing hiking Canada' is a search an avid outdoors person would make, to find a condo that would accommodate his/her activities. Google that and you will find little on the paid side that would be a fit. However, on the natural or unpaid side, websites that meet this criteria are much closer. And if they match, you can be sure it will get clicked because the searcher is looking exactly for that.

Another reason is that many search engine users don't look at or click on paid search listings. That's one of the reasons natural or unpaid listings get 3-4 times more click thru. Also natural listings have more credibility because users know they aren't bought.

These aren't the only reasons nor is this a reason to not use paid search. Besides getting visibility for the keyword you choose, some people actually prefer clicking on the paid side as they feel that the ad is more relevant!

To us, it's a simple case of providing search results to your audience whichever way appeals to them the most. The additional cost to the client is minimal and the results will be much better.