Two Search Marketing Caveats... Conversion and Content
How important is SEO? Without a conversion plan, not much.
That's the message from Stoney deGeyter at www.searchengineguide.com/degeyter/007360.html
While rankings are important, too much attention is paid to the "search" element of a marketing campaign and not enough to conversions after a prospect visits your website. deGeyter wisely notes that the key evaluation figure here is percent of conversion, not number of conversions. Focus not only on increasing traffic to your website but also on increasing the conversion percent from your visitors.
If you need ammunition to convince anyone on your campus that creating special landing pages to increase conversion in indeed a wise investment of time and money, have them read this article.
Building a relationship after the first conversion from Search Marketing
Shari Thurow's advice at www.clickz.com/experts/search/results/article.php/3587096 in her article "Debunking Search Engine Myths" can't be repeated often enough.
No matter how successful you are in bringing people to your website, if the website itself doesn't provide a valuable experience for the visitor then "a positive branding experience can disappear with only one click."
The most valuable message here: start an Internet Marketing effort by first building a strong website based on the interests of the audience you wish to attract. Build content first, and make it easy to find. Then begin your SEO and other marketing efforts. If you just add a Search Marketing program to get people to an indifferent website, you're heading for diappointment no matter how high you are ranked and no matter how strong your special landing pages.
Always remember the bottom line for any website: Content, Content, Content.