• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • 1 (888) 747-7453
  • 1 (709) 747-7453
  • info@lornepike.com
Client List     |     Blog     |     Testimonials
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
in St. John's & Saskatoon | Lorne Pike & Assoc

in St. John's & Saskatoon | Lorne Pike & Assoc

  • Website Design | SEO | Social Media
    • Website Design
    • SEO
    • Social Media
  • Facilitator | Coaching | Training
    • Facilitating
    • Interview Coaching
    • Media Training
    • Speaking
  • About
    • About
    • Blog
    • Client List
    • Contact Us

Should SEO be YOUR main marketing channel?

'Lemonade Stand 50 Cents Each Qiqi Lourdie June 24, 20112' photo (c) 2011, Steven Depolo - license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/Interesting survey results were released this week by MerchantCircle and Reply.com. Some 2,500 small businesses in the United States were asked which marketing vehicle they would choose if they could pick only one to promote their businesses.

The winner? Search engine optimization. In fact, I admit to being surprised by how easily it beat everything else:

  • 32.9%   Search engine optimization (SEO)
  • 19.7%    Traditional media
  • 17.9%    None of the above
  • 16%       Social media
  • 9.8%      Paid search advertising
  • 3.7%      Mobile marketing and advertising

(If you want more detail on the survey, Search Engine Land has a great summary.)

It’s worth noting that these companies are indeed small. Unlike the places that list $10-million companies as “small business,” only a fifth of these had more than four employees, and almost two-thirds had annual marketing budgets of $2,500 or less. When you’re that small, you don’t make marketing decisions casually. You really want to know you’re giving your dollars the best possible chance to generate a return. So when one channel wins a vote this easily, it’s worth exploring.

Should SEO be your company’s main marketing vehicle? Definitely maybe. It’s getting harder and harder to find any business or organization or government department that would not benefit considerably by being found easily by people who are actively searching. But every industry, market, and consumer type will of course be unique. Most of my clients are based in Atlantic Canada, in Newfoundland and Labrador. and more specifically in or around St. John’s. Search engine optimization — properly done —can make these companies much easier to find online, by potential customers two blocks away and in Timbuktu. If they’re breaking into a new export market, SEO can help establish a footprint there before a sales rep ever books an airline ticket. Backed by solid Website content, SEO can help establish their products as viable solutions to recognized problems, and position their companies as thought leaders and credible choices in a crowded marketplace.

However, SEO does require that good content in order to work well. You cannot climb to high search engine rankings in a competitive industry if you are not offering any substance for the people or search engines who find you. In the long run, your search engine optimization will never be better than your Website content deserves.

Also, as hard as it may be to believe, there are still some people who prefer Yellow Pages or word of mouth when looking for certain types of product. There are still some people who do not use search engines at all, or even computers. I firmly believe that that number will decrease as time goes on, but as an example, if you’re a corner store — or even a $10-million company — marketing to seniors in a rural area that has limited Internet access, SEO is not going to reach your market as well as more traditional channels will. Yes, that example may seem overly obvious, but equally true situations may not be so apparent.

Most companies in St. John’s or in any community should see SEO as a very promising marketing channel. But too many companies have lost too much money pursuing new marketing channels just because they worked well for other businesses. Make sure you understand your company, your industry, your customers, and the marketing vehicle itself, before you commit to SEO or any marketing channel.

Without that proper level of planning, you may succeed in making your small business an even smaller business.

      

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Brian Carey says

    December 10, 2011 at 10:58 am

    Great info Lorne, thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Lorne Pike says

      December 10, 2011 at 11:45 am

      Thanks Brian; much appreciated!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

“We got great value for the dollar”


“Lorne provided us with marketing, advertising, social networking and web-based advice. He was always knowledgeable about the subject-matter, had creative ideas and clearly put much effort into his work for us. We got great value for the dollar and he was flexible to meet the needs of a startup business.”

— Elizabeth (Budden) Coleman, DataSentinel, St. John’s, NL, Canada

Did You See These?

40 questions for your website design 2021

“We’ve talked and talked. Nothing changed. How can a facilitator help?”

When do you need a facilitator?

I lose weight. You get more productive.

How to recover when you’re blowing an interview

6 ways to make a New Year’s Resolution that works! (Part 2)

Footer

About Us

Looking for a professional facilitator, innovative marketing consultant, website designer, or SEO and social media help? Need exceptional media training or interview coaching? We create solutions that deliver results.

More About Us

Here we are

St. John’s, NL

Office Space NL, Suite 123,
510 Topsail Road
St. John’s, NL, Canada, A1E 2C2
Toll-free: 1(888) 747-7453
Local:       1(709) 747-7453
info@lornepike.com

________

Saskatoon, SK

Broadway Collective, 101-733 Broadway Avenue, Saskatoon, SK, Canada, S7N 1B3
Toll-free: 1(888) 747-7453
info@lornepike.com

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • xing

It’s time

Want to make your marketing or communications more effective, with an industry expert who listens and cares? Let’s make that happen.

Return to Top
·
Home
·
Blog
·
Testimonials
·
Contact
·
Sitemap
·
Copyright © 2023 Lorne Pike & Associates 
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are as essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT

Yes, I am ready to make the most of my interview!

Please send me more info on Interview Coaching.