The Most Valuable Prospect & The Most Valuable

By Author: John Tang
Total Articles: 512
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Prospect Lists, Telephone Directories, Databases, Mail Lists, Print Advertising, Radio & TV advertising, Trade Shows, Direct Mail, Coupon Books and Mailers, Restaurant Placemats, Billboards, Direct Mail, and, oh yes, Telemarketing you know them all. All proven methods supposedly as part of marketing strategies to promote sales, generate leads and establish brand names. What do they all have in common? Among countless other things, all have low levels (small percentages) of success. They all depend on the laws of probability that a tiny percentage of recipients of the marketing message will be received at precisely the time the prospect is actually interested in actually buying the very product or service that is being offered. For instance, it is commonly believed, and accepted that a 1% response rate to a direct mail piece is good. And if you follow up the mailing with a telephone call (at significant additional expense), you can increase this rate to a lofty 3%!

Aside from the sarcasm, it is clear that traditional marketing is a numbers game that is inefficient almost by definition and certainly in measured ...
... results. The cost in production, editing, delivering, following through et al create a precarious cost-benefit justification for even the most aggressive marketer.

Enter Google, Yahoo and MSN most commonly believed to be the three most used search engines on the web. Most everyone knows what they are about by now. You can search for absolutely anything on these search engines and almost find what you are looking for in minutes, if not seconds. But, most importantly, you are doing the search exactly when you, the potential buyer, yes, the prospect is ready to search and often make a decision and even buy something!

Let's take this a step further. I needed to buy a new 2-line telephone today. I went on Google typed in a very specific keyword phrase to get the most exact match and ordered my phone which will be delivered directly to me tomorrow. Here is what else happened today. I got 2-3 unsolicited phone calls trying to offer me a $100,000 line of credit, another product I never heard of and the services of a recruiter who didn't know or understand anything about my business. I received in the mail a pre-approved line of credit, a coupon saver book, the latest bargains at a grocery store and a movie rental mailer. I watched some TV seeing countless ads for cars, tomato sauce, cereal, the miracle knife etc. While in my car I saw billboards I can't even remember, heard countless ads on the radio. You get the picture. None of these traditional methods of selling me were effective. We can list all kinds of reasons but here is the main one I wasn't ready, willing or able to buy any of them. I didn't initiate these interactions. While, on the other hand, it was only when I decided I wanted to buy something and knew where to look for it that a sale (my purchase) actually occurred and it took minutes to do!

Here's the problem. I generally find what I am looking for on the 1st or 2nd page of Google sometimes I will dig into page 3. Try do a search on Google for instance notice that the first page list rankings #1-10 then right next to it see how many total results there are (just look at the right side of the blue horizontal stripe on top half of the search page). When I bought the telephone, the search brought up the top 10 results of over 7.5 Million results. This means that there are 7.5 million competing web pages for this one keyword phrase (2 Line Telephones) alone! So how can a company with a website compete to get this most valuable of all prospects the online searcher who is actively searching for your product? If you are below page 3 for any keyword phrase having to do with your business, you are essentially not functional for generating new business from new customers on the web. Your website is relegated to being a static brochure usable by only those who already know who you are.

The Answer

Getting top rankings, and as high as possible, is the key to an effective business presence on the web. The most valuable prospect can only be achieved using the most valuable tools which starts with the search engines. It is through hiring a skilled Search Engine Marketing Company employing a full complement of Search Engine Optimization strategies to achieve high search engine rankings.

There is no gimmick or wizardry that can achieve top rankings. Google et al have all become highly respected and very valuable companies because they are providing fast, reliable results. Those excellent results are due to getting the most RELEVANT pages ranked the highest so they are easy to find.

Skilled Search Engine Optimization Companies understand exactly what the search engines are looking for when ranking sites based on a particular keyword. This has been and will always be a moving target so it is critical for any SEO company to stay on top of the ongoing changes so they may quickly adjust and adapt to those changes to keep their clients competitive on the web. There are literally dozens upon dozens of specialties and sub-specialties within Search Engine Optimization. A skilled SEO company or Internet Marketer will be well versed, experienced in all of these areas.

In addition, Internet Marketing Companies must be excellent consultants. They must be great listeners to fully understand the client, its market, its products and its customers. They must also be great researchers to understand the universe of keyword phrases, the volume of searches done on them, the competitive websites and where the competitive opportunities exist. As mentioned earlier, they must know all of what Google deems important in ranking web pages. As such, the Search Engine Marketing Company must use optimization methods that exist outside of the website as well as within the website to truly compete and ultimately win top search engine rankings.