With 2012 here in just a few days, many local business owners will be taking a look at what happened in 2011. From a marketing standpoint, business owners are asking themselves the following questions: What worked? What failed? What was the best form of marketing? What was the worst? What will I spend my money on in 2012 that will show the best return on investment?
Inevitably, business owners want to get in front of people looking for exactly what they do, instead of pushing their message to a group of people who may or may not have a remote interest in the product or service. Most traditional methods of marketing , such as tv and radio, get the message out to as many people as possible, whether they want to hear about it or now. For example, when I’m watching the local news and I see a loud ad for a used car lot, the advertiser has no idea if I’m in the market. However, if I’m online searching for “used cars raleigh nc”, there’s no doubt that that’s exactly what I’m looking for, and any advertiser whose website is on the first page has a chance to capture my interest and my business.
But what exactly does it mean to website traffic if your site is ranking well on google? Let’s compare traffic graphs for three sites competing in the used cars market. Two of these sites are on the first page of google (and in the map results) when typing in “used cars raleigh nc”, while one of them is struggling on the third page.
Can you guess which is which? Not exactly an SAT question here, obviously the site in yellow is on the third page. Would it shock you to find out that the site in red is the “A” result in the maps, while the site in blue is the “E” result? Probably not. As you know, moving up incrementally in the search results can make a big difference. More website visits leads to more calls, more leads, more inquiries, more pop-ins, and ultimately more sales. All because of the investment in search, which is usually much less expensive than more traditional forms of advertising.
So in 2012, do you want to be in front of the audience that’s searching for exactly what you provide? Or do you want your competition to be there?
Let’s look at one more example here, this time in the Raleigh restaurant industry. Can you guess which of these five (delicious) restaurants are ranked on the first page of google for “restaurants in raleigh nc”?
The yellow and the blue sites are both on page two of google, while the purple, red, and green sites are enjoying being on the first page. Do you think these sites are seeing a difference in traffic to their restaurants because of their rankings? Personally, I know I’m always looking for new restaurant ideas online.
So if you’re trying to get in front of people who are looking for exactly what you do in 2012, it might be time to invest in search – and investing in the prospects that are looking for what you do.
