The Cost of Not Ranking on Page 1 of Google: The Business Case for High Rankings

Transcription

1

2 2 Introduction Every day, 3 billion searches occur on Google alone, a 25% increase over 2010 and a 250% increase from Customers around the world are quickly moving online to get information and make purchase decisions. Academic research indicates that 91% of searchers do not go past page 1 of the search results and over 50% do not go past the first 3 results on page 1. 1 How often does your company show up on page 1 of Google? How much does NOT ranking on page 1 cost you? Have you ever put a price tag on this missed opportunity? Many executives experience large and undetected costs that hinder their company s profitability and growth, and ultimately cost them market share because they lack a dominant Internet presence for their product offerings. When the Webmarketing123 team talks to clients about missed search marketing opportunities in which their company doesn t show up on page 1 when potential customers look for relevant products or services, we are able to quantify the actual cost of this lost business. As executives see these losses in actual dollars, the problem becomes increasingly urgent. As we guide you through the process of calculating your potential ROI, while tying improvements in search engine ranking directly to revenue, you will learn how to uncover the cost of not ranking highly on Google search results and realize this untapped revenue. You can apply this methodology to your business using your own conversion and sales metrics, and prove the business value of launching a sustainable, effective search marketing program. 1 Using the Internet: Skill Related Problems in User Online Behavior; van Deursen & van Dijk; 2009.

3 3 How Does a Lack of Online Presence Create Costs for Your Organization? People use Google and other search engines for one reason only: to get information. The keywords they use in a search indicate the topic or product offering that most interests them, which often leads to a purchase decision. Because these keywords are the first step in our analysis, let s start here. For example, if a prospect were to conduct a Google search for the key phrase, learn Spanish, as 300,000 people did in December 2011, there s a high likelihood that the prospect is looking for language instruction. Similarly, 200,000 people searched for stepper motor one recent month and another 12,000 searched for business intelligence software. Being front and center in the search results for these queries gives a company that offers these products and services the opportunity to be the first in line at the exact moment those customers signal an interest in buying. By calculating the number of times searchers look for your products each month, and multiplying that number by standard website conversion-to-purchase metrics, then by your company s average revenue per new customer, we can determine the actual amount of additional revenue your company gains by ranking higher on search engine results. Conversely, a company that does not place at the top of search results experiences the unnecessary cost of forgoing that revenue. Worse yet, a company that doesn t reach the top of search results cedes that lost revenue, and market share, to its search-engine-savvy competitors who do place at the top.

4 4 What is the Cost to Your Organization? A model we use to calculate the cost of a business s lack of search engine presence is to first identify which keywords your buyers use to describe your product offerings. Depending on your business offerings, this could range from just a handful of phrases to a few thousand. Step two is to then calculate the monthly search volume on these keywords: KEYWORDS MONTHLY SEARCHES KEYWORDS MONTHLY SEARCHES mail delivery 135,000 international mailing 3,600 shipping services 49,500 international parcel delivery 1,900 mail services 49,500 expedited mail 1,300 international mail 33,100 bound printed matter 590 postal news 22,200 mail logistics 480 mailing services 18,100 international parcel shipping 480 global shipping 12,100 lightweight mail 390 freight logistics 9,900 catalog fulfillment 390 shipping logistics 4,400 international mail services 320 parcel shipping 4,400 TOTAL MONTHLY SEARCHES: 347,650

5 5 The next step is to apply standard Internet metrics on how many of these searchers will visit your website, and how many of these visitors will make a purchase. For the most accurate measurements, we apply metrics from within your company on average close rates and average revenue per sale (or average lifetime value of a customer). The end result is the total revenue lost each month by not ranking highly on the search engines, if we assume the following conversion rates and an average revenue per sale of $5,000: MONTHLY SEARCHES SEARCHES THAT RESULT IN VISITORS TO WEBSITES (7%) WEBSITE VISITORS WHO BECOME LEADS (5%) LEADS THAT ARE QUALIFIED (20%) QUALIFIED LEADS THAT RESULT IN SALES (15%) AVERAGE REVENUE PER SALE ($5,000) 347,650 1, , COST OF THE PROBLEM: $182,516 per month

6 6 Conclusion As we have shown, search engines can be leveraged to fuel revenue growth by organizations that are willing to invest in online marketing. For organizations that do rank highly in search results, the returns are measurable and repeatable. Companies that don t rank highly on Google will experience costs not only in terms of lost revenue, but also in lost market share due to gains by their competitors. Clearly, it is critical to your company s success to achieve a strong search engine presence that will help you beat the competition. About Webmarketing123 Webmarketing123 is a digital marketing agency that helps clients convert online visibility into measur-able results. Whether it means boosting qualified traffic to your site, increasing website conversions, or driving more leads and sales, Webmarketing123 s proven digital marketing methodology is de-signed to drive your company s online success. We start by understanding what winning means to your business and where your current challenges lie. We then customize our approach to bring together the power of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, and Social Media Marketing (SMM) to create remarkable, results-driven marketing programs. To learn more about how Webmarketing123 can help your business, please contact@webmarketing123.com or give us a call at (800) CONNECT WITH US Webmarketing123.com Twitter.com/webmarketing123 Facebook.com/webmarketing123 Linkedin.com/company/321315