SEO, SEM and Conversion Optimization - Creating Synergy

Organic search engine optimization (SEO) works to move your website up in the natural - or unpaid - search results. If done correctly, well managed SEO initiatives will result in bringing more traffic to your website.

Search engine marketing initiatives, such as Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising through Google AdWords or Yahoo and online advertising can also bring you increased traffic - at a cost per visitor, of course. So can email marketing intitiatives. Improving your ads and good campaign management can maximize your click through rates, bringing more potential customers into your site.

However, all the "potential customers" in the world won't necessarily mean that your sales will perform at the levels you'd like - especially for ecommerce sites. In order to really get your business or ecommerce shop on the fast track to success, you need to create a "hybrid" optimization program that includes your search marketing initiatives, including PPC and SEO, other website promotion techniques, along with conversion optimization.

Conversion optimization is the practice of maximizing your conversion rate - the number of visitors who take the desired action - buy something, etc. divided by the total number of visitors to your site. So if you have 100 site visitors per day and 10 make a purchase, your conversion rate is 1/10 or ten percent.

If you can double your conversion rate - to 20 percent, for example - you'll double your sales (as long as the average purchase stays constant, but you may be able to increase that too through conversion optimization techniques. And, your sales will double with the same amount of traffic!

Now, just think. As your site ages, your orgainic search rankings improve, you use techniques to improve click through rates on your ads, and you've implemented and monitored conversion optimization techniques - NOW we're talking revenue increases!

The combination of these techniques can create a synergy of sorts. Think about it. Say you discovered that your conversion rate was low because your website didn't seem like it had enough security to protect your shoppers' privacy. So you go ahead and have your web developers or IT people beef up security on the site and you make it well known to your visitors that your site is now secure. There's a pretty good possibility that not only your conversion rate will increase because more visitors will be willing to shop with you online, but the amount of your average order could also increase as a result of the new shoppers who may be willing to spend more than your old faithful customers who didn't give a rip about security or didn't know enough about it to really care. Voila - a synergy is born!

For more on conversion optimization, you may want to read 9 Ways to Convert Website Visitors to Customers. If, after reading the article you think your conversion rate is stifling your sales, feel free to contact us for all of your web design, web development, ecommerce solutions, seo, email marketing and website promotion needs and get your business on the fastrack to success.