The Value of SEO Optimization
October 17, 2011
I came across these resources that can help anyone understand the revenue potential of organic keyword ranking and the on page and off page elements required to achieve high rankings. The entire process is referred to as SEO or search engine optimization. Oganic results are those website listings you see in Google, Yahoo or Bing that were not paid for by the site owner. They "organically" rank based on their value to the person doing the search.
The Value of Organic Search Click Through Rates
As you can see in this chart from Market Samurai, there is a significant difference in traffic generated based on your organic search results/keyword ranking. The distance from #2 to #1 represents a 3x increase in organic traffic!!! As an aside Market Samurai has a great tool for ranking and tracking keywords over time so that you can not only check your progress vis a vis the competition, but quickly identify those keywords that will result in the greatest revenue gain.
Organic Search Click through Rates
Source: Market Samurai
Methods for Achieving High Organic Rankings
There are many elements that go into achieving a high organic ranking. As detailed in the table, these elements roughly divide into on-page elements such as the quality and length of the content and off-page elements such as trust as expressed by inbound links and social media.
Developing a strong SEO optimization strategy ensures that all of these elements are managed to achieve the highest ranking possible. You can download the Periodic Table of SEO Ranking Factors here.