The Blog on Branding

Why is SEO Important?

Because It Can Turn Into Free Money.

[why is seo important]

91/month

• #1 – www.redlineseo.com – PR0
• #2 – www.galleon-seo.co.uk – PR3
• #3 – www.webnauts.net/seo.html – PR6

SEO is important because more people click on the organic search results than the paid.

“Top organic results = ROI!”

Paid Search (Google Adwords)

Let’s say you owned a Chinese Restaurant in Pittsburgh and paid for a Google ad on the right side of the search results.

“chinese restaurant pittsburgh” gets typed in 260 times a month on Google according to the Google Keyword tool.

After advertising on Google for 30 days, you realize the following with paying for “chinese restaurant pittsburgh”

• “chinese restaurant pittsburgh” got 260 impressions (people that typed that in)
• 13 people clicked on your ad and landed on your site (13/260 = 5% click through rate or CTR)
• You paid Google .91 cents a click (13 * .91 = $11.83)
• 5 of them made online reservations (5/13 = 38% conversion rate)
• The average order is $60 ($60 * 5 customers = $300)
• You spent $11.83 to generate $300 in monthly revenue

“Paid ads on the right-side can generate money.”

More people click on Organic Search

So now you say to yourself, wow, 38% of people that land on my website after typing in “chinese restaurant pittsburgh” are making online reservations and I only spent $11.83 to generate $300 in revenue!

Can’t I pay google more to get more than 5% of people that searched for “chinese restaurant pittsburgh” to my website?

Nope. You’re maxed out on the paid side of things, but did you know that up to 60% of searchers click on the first Organic Search Result?

The impact of being #1 (60% CTR)
Let’s say you were the #1 search result for “chinese restaurant pittsburgh” … you could expect the following:

• 260 people a month searching for “chinese restaurant pittsburgh”
• 156 people clicked (landed) on your site (156/260 = 60% CTR)
• 59 of them made online reservations (59/156 = 38% conversion rate)
• The average order is $60 ($60 * 59 = $3,540)
• Monthly revenue is $3,540

The impact of being #2 (20% CTR)

• 260 people a month searching for “chinese restaurant pittsburgh”
• 52 people clicked (landed) on your site (52/260 = 20% CTR)
• 20 of them made online reservations (20/156 = 38% conversion rate)
• The average order is $60 ($60 * 20 = $1,200)
• Monthly revenue is $1,200

“…But, being in the top organic spot is priceless.”

Is it really free money?

No, in order to show up high for the term, “pittsburgh chinese restaurant” you need to do the following.

1. Look at your competition … can you beat them?
2. Write lots of relevant content that people love to read and comment on
3. Make your website a place that other people talk about and link to online

It may cost $3,000 a month to make this happen and get yourself ahead of the competition, but the $3,540 you make in month 4 will be free money moving forward, as long as your competition doesn’t try to outdo you.

;o)

Joey Rahimi Joey is from Manhattan, NY but has been living in Pittsburgh for over 10 years now. He is a die hard Steelers and Knicks fan, and really loves PITT Basketball (Carnegie Mellon is D3). Want content written for your Brand that shows up #1 on Search Engines and brings you new customers? Contact us.