1. Turn searchers into visitors
2. Turn visitors into customers

If your SEO is in the beginning stage, you should:

• See better numbers in your monthly ranking report.
• See more visitors displayed in your Google Analytics or other website tracking software.

Sometimes, ranking for popular keywords can take time – even if the SEO is good.  If this is true in your case, your SEO specialists should provide the following:

• A sensible explanation for the current ranking
• Their clear plan to improve the ranking
• The approximate outcome of the plan (with a rough time-frame)

When the specialists reach higher ranking, the new ranking should be associated with new revenue.  (This shows that the keywords were selected well, and landing pages crafted well.) If you have achieved high ranking, the benefits of SEO should include:

• More Clients.
• A Better Bottom Line.

Do you hear the funky sound of new mail or the ring of the phone?  Can you hear the ding of the cash register?  Do you see a sharp rise in your bottom line?  You will hear it in the store.  You will see it in the bank.   Real SEO brings results, not rhetoric.

Yes, this means you might consider testing Wednesdays to see if you get a boost. But if someone waves this newsletter or eROI’s study in your face to make a point about when you should mail, you have my permission to pick up the nearest big-city phone book and repeatedly deliver two-handed, concussion-inducing blows to back of their head with it.

Ken is not against testing timing for your campaign nor does he discredit the possibility that timing can make a real difference.  But Ken’s point is simple: Keep the main thing the main thing.  He continued:It’s perfectly fine to use eROI’s findings as a reason to test Wednesday mailings to see if they get a boost, but if you create compelling e-mails that people want to receive in the first place, you won’t have to have the day-of-week, time-of-day discussion at all and, as a result, will be able focus on more important things—like creating compelling e-mail campaigns that people want.Ken’s point is worth repeating.  Feel free to pinpoint the time that best suits your unique audience.  It’s possible that Lunch time may work better for your audience or that Saturday night is the sweet spot for your demographic.  It’s possible. Feel free to test your results.  See what happens.  See if it maximizes your clicks and reads.  But don’t get too worried about it.  What will trump when.

Let me explain.

The right way is to give your coupons to the people who will not otherwise buy your products.  When you give coupons to these potential customers, you help turn “potential” into “actual”.  Your company receives more sales in the short term and a broader customer base in the long term.  This approach can yield healthy return on your up-front investment.

The wrong way is to give coupons to the people who will buy your products without coupons.  When you give coupons to loyal customers, you have the same number of sales with lower profit margins per sale.  The approach is investment without return.  That’s bad.

Fatal, actually.  The risks of doing things the wrong way have long worried marketers.  “The effectiveness of coupons as a promotional vehicle has remained a controversial topic for at least two decades,” write scholars Jorge M. Silva-Risso and Randolph E. Bucklin.  The article published by Journal of Product & Brand Management later added, “One concern expressed by managers is that coupons are redeemed predominantly by loyal consumers who would have purchased the brand in any event.”

If you do not target your promotional coupons, your money might be gone with the wind forever.  But, if you get those coupons in the right hands, your money will sprout wings and fly back into your bottom line.  Targeting turns waste into profit.  It all comes down to “who”.

Local search is new.  Opportunity’s window is open.  But competition will increase, and the opening will narrow with the passage of time.

There is usually a moment after the introduction of a technology when opportunity calls.  If you are among the first to seize the opportunity, your success is greater than those who follow behind you.

There was once a day when Google was new.  When search engines began, it was easy for anyone to rank number one.  But only the few were aware of the opportunity.  Most missed “a chance of a lifetime” when the ranking code was easy to crack and the competition weaker.  But some who had their wits, seized the chance early on and probably netted extreme returns.  You can still rank high if you invest your money or time; but the best gold goes to the first diggers.

There was a day when factories were new as well.  Streamlined manufacturing processes and technologies emerged.  At first, these represented a chance to reap unrivaled profits. But when the competition caught on to the opportunity, these processes and technologies became common.  Soon, they would become necessary for survival.  The early bird ate the worm.

Today, local search is new.  Hundreds of millions of local searches are occurring.  And yet, the competition is slim, weak and fairly easy to beat.  Those who pursue local rankings today stand to reap the best profit.  But if the opportunity is true, then the window will not be forever open.

The signs of increased competition are flashing quickly and brightly.  ZenithOptimedia made the following comment regarding their advertising spend projections,

“No matter how high our expectations for internet advertising, it always seems to exceed them.  We have upgraded our forecasts once again – in light of strong growth in online video ads and local search – and now expect the internet to attract 8.6% of global adspend in 2008 and 9.4% in 2009.”

The Kelsey Group was reported in late 2006 as providing the following projection:

“The forecast asserts the local search segment will grow from $3.4 billion in 2005 to $13 billion in 2010, with online classifieds growing from $12.3 billion to $18.1 billion.”

This is the time to invest in local search.  Local search is new.  And it will not be new later.

1. Choose your target keywords.
2. Add your business listing to numerous local search engines.
3. Infuse a copious quantity of relevant business information into your business listings.
4. Modify the categories, descriptions and more to coincide with target keywords.
5. Post engaging photos and videos displaying the best of your business.
6. Invite customers to post positive reviews of your business.

When you provide these features, the search engines will learn to trust you, to respect you and to uplift your ranking.Once you’ve reached the top, continue to make your listing shine.  Update the information, hone the message, add new features.  That fortifies your spot on top – and encourages more viewers to dial.

How Search Engine Optimization Resembles Fishing.

SEO is the abbreviation for Search Engine Optimization.  The term refers to the science of ranking high on the search engines for your target search terms.  It’s almost an “art form” if you ask me.  Google and the other engines can be pretty mysterious when they want to be.  But then, one day, the thought came to me – The best way to explain SEO to a newbie is to explain it as a fishing trip.  So, that’s what I’ve decided to do today.  If you want to remember what SEO is all about, just remember these three words: Pool, Rod, Bait. Pool. When you’re going fishing, you first have to pick your fishing spot.  You don’t want to fish in just any pool, or creek, or ocean.  There are specific fish you’re after.  You want to know where they are swimming before you drive out of your way and throw out your bait.  So, you ask around at the pro-bass shop, you check out the forums and phone your pals.  Where’s the best spot to get these fish?The same is true with  SEO.  When you’re going to market yourself on the search engines, you want to first know what your target audience is searching for.  You don’t just want to rank for any term or phrase.  There are specific terms that your target audience is searching for.  You want your site to be shown in the results for those popular searches.  So, you brainstorm and you check out Google’s average search volume data.  What are right keywords for my business? Rod. After you’ve decided where you’re headed, you then drive down to the spot and carry your stuff to the shore.  You get all your gear in place and ready for action.  You load your bait on the rod and cast it into the water.  After the prep, your hook and bait are right in the sight of your fish.The same is true with  SEO.  Once you’ve decided your target keywords, you then optimize your website to get it ranked higher forthose target terms.  It takes some time to get all the backlinks and all the content tweaked, the meta tweaked, the title tweaked, your mother-in-law tweaked.  After a few months, people searching for your keywords see your website near the top of the search engine results.   Bait.  After some time of fishing in the water, you begin to try new types of bait.  Based on experience and a little improv, you find just the thing that makes the fish bite down on the hook.  All you need to do then, is reel in the line.  Your bag of fish begins to expand.The same is true with  SEO.  After you have solid rankings for your target keywords, you can track what gets first time visitors “to convert” into customers.  With experience and a little improv, you try different feels for your webpage, different wordings for the sales copy, different images for illustrations, different buttons and words for your call-to-action.  You try these things out until you hit the sweet spot when visitors are consistently choosing your company, when visitors are consistently entering their information and clicking “submit”.  All you need to do then is open your inbox and watch as your business begins to expand. SEO is all about fishing for the right pool of search terms, casting your webpage high for those terms and enticing visitors to bite on your bait.  Once you’ve done all of those things, the return of your investment starts to pile up.