Search Engine Optimization/Search Engine Marketing: They Really ARE Rocket Science!

* 83% of all companies do not have articulated Web strategies.

* For search engine optimization, think of the Yellow Pages model. Brooks called the Yellow Pages “the most successful marketing medium in the history of mercantilism.” The reason: They are category-organized and contain competitive information for consumers and businesses. When people look in the Yellow Pages for a product or service, they are very far along in the buying cycle, so conversion rates are huge. Example: It’s 100 degrees outside, your 80-year-old in-laws are down for the weekend and your central air conditioner is blowing hot air into the house. In the Yellow Pages you find a heating-air conditioning guy who will come over in 20 minutes, and you buy on the spot. Conversion is instantaneous. Translating this simple concept into search engine marketing — using hot-button keywords and having your company come up in the top 10 Google listings — is the name of the game and a highly complex task.