Establish Search Marketing Objectives
"I want to be the first Website to pop up when someone inquires about anything I sell."
Yes, we often receive such requests. This is not an objective. It is an impractical demand. Few sites can enjoy #1 search positions on Google for the majority of their target phrases. The only way is to pay top dollar for Pay Per Click advertising. If you do pay for #1 with PPC, your search marketing may be so expensive it makes it impossible to return the investment and make a profit.
To state that being at the top of Google is your initial Search Marketing objective is counterproductive. You should start with business goals to establish search marketing objectives that will deliver business results. E-Power Marketing has put together some questions that should help you in determining your preliminary Search Marketing objectives. Well-thought-out answers to these questions can help in formulating an attainable, reasonable Search Marketing plan.
* Who is your target audience?
* What actions do you want visitors to take?
* How much revenue do I want my Website to generate next year? In two years? In five years?
* How many visitors came to the site? How many arrived from search engines?
* How many purchased, took an action step or other conversion steps? How did they arrive on my Website?
* How long are visitors staying on my Website? Why are they leaving?
* How many visitors are there for every sale, action step or conversion?
Now you can establish objectives:
* To achieve conversion goals, we must increase Website traffic by X%
* To achieve profitability goals, we must increase conversion rates and/or sales by X% or cut costs by X%.
Share these objectives with your search marketers. They can devise strategies and tactics to achieve those goals.
If you cannot calculate these metrics, then you should ask your search marketer how to measure your results. Search marketing gives you the tools to determine all these numbers, as well as give you the insight to reach your goals.
Continue reading: Know What You Are Buying.
|
