Could Efficient Search Engine Marketing Be Bad For Us?

As with lots of things Internet based there is as much data around the necessity to optimise an internet site as is possible to disseminate, understand and act upon, but, is it possible that there are some companies and websites that need to carefully weigh up the results of an effective Online Marketing campaign.

Current Internet wisdom would have you believe that the only way to do any trade on the Internet is to be positioned highly enough through effective Search Engine Placement that your site appears on page 1 of Google. Any and all organisations are encouraged to use optimisation services via a decent Search Engine Optimization Company and carry out a system of ensuring that their website is noticeable to the virtual market. However an effective Online Marketing drive may well open the site and the business to much greater numbers of possible clients than can be coped with using the existing business systems, assets and structure.

Unlike conventional retailing, where, to some level, business hours and the availability of the items or service can be controlled, the fully optimised website is open for business 24 hours day, across several time zones and with a possible market of millions. If the optimization process has been taken on board as opposed to pay per click, it cannot be switched off. Even if the work is slowed down, it will take weeks, maybe a number of months before the organisation falls off page 1.

The initial results of a successful Search Engine Placement project will be a massive increase in hits on the website and almost certainly a massive increase in the qualification and follow up of larger numbers of leads. The question a lot of firms will have to ask is whether they are able to handle larger numbers of enquiries and requests for information, many of which will not result in a sale.

If the SEO Company has done a reasonable job then increased visitors should, (assuming all other areas of the proposal are in place), lead to massive increase in the volume of sales. Sounds great, but the question is can the Company support this heightened activity, I would suggest there is hardly anything that is more annoying for both sellers and buyers than to have a line of people ready to spend and the firm being unable to meet demand. In most cases this will lead to clients dumping the Company in question and going to where they can get the service or product, even if they have to pay more.

The problem of course is that there is little a firm can do about the volume of hits once it hits page 1, the question the marketers need to ask themselves in these companies is whether they have to be on page 1 at all.

The frequently quoted statistic of over 90% of all purchases being made from page 1 is only appropriate if a piece of the remaining 10% is all you need to meet your business objectives. Analysis of the market may divulge that sitting on page four, five or six may be all that is required. More is not necessarily better.