Simple Advice For A Smoother And Happier Wedding

What season are you planning on having your wedding in? What about the flowers? Do you want carnations, roses or something else? Planning the perfect wedding involves a multitude of decisions. Whether you are the bride, the maid-of-honor, or just the power behind the scenes, the tips given below can help make the wedding a huge success.

Dress the children in the wedding party in comfortable clothing. Choose soft fabrics that are not stiff or uncomfortable. The shoes need to be comfortable, and if they are new, they need to be broken in. Instead of messing around with their clothes, this will help kids focus on their jobs at the wedding.

Apply for a credit card that has a rewards program before paying for event services. This way, you are sure to gain some significant perks while taking care of the large expenses that come with weddings. If you use the rewards card for everything related to your wedding, you should soon earn substantial rewards.

If you want to avoid allergies or the expense of floral arrangements, consider using potted plants to decorate your wedding space. There are a number of options for decorative pots, ranging from glazed ceramic to terracotta. Consider adding custom details, such as ribbons or decoupage. The guests are able to take the plants home with them, or the couple can take them home and plant them.

You don't have to go all out when it comes to purchasing things like centerpieces for the tables in your wedding. Keep your centerpieces very simple instead of large and ornate. You do not want your guests to be unable to communicate because there is a large centerpiece in the way.

When you have selected your wedding date and theme, one of the first things to tie your wedding together will be the invitations. Traditional wedding invitations will be in your wedding colors and will let your guests know the theme. It's important to consider all possible options before choosing your wedding invitations.

Get a credit card with a rewards program prior to purchasing services for your event. Because of the cost involved, it pays to have something that pays you back. Putting your wedding-related expenses on a credit card that offers rewards can be a good idea, but only if you are able to quickly pay off your credit card dept.

Religious practices will be a part of your wedding, and also an important part of your marriage. Talking to your partner about his or her religion is important, but talking to the in-laws about their religion is essential, as well.

You might think you want to do some kind of traditional family things, but if you do not want to, don't. Be kind and loving if you have to reject your extended family's suggestions, but don't let them dominate or manipulate you. Firmly assert that you (and of course your partner too) have the final say when it comes to your wedding plans. By doing this you can reminisce on your wedding without feeling any regrets.

Try to have your reception during the middle portion of the day. Most people will drink less during the day, which will cut back on the cost to fill the bar. Post-lunch receptions usually cost less, too. The money saved here can be used elsewhere.

Instead of shopping for an engagement ring, look for a different way. Try using a family jewelry that has been passed down through the years. By using a generational keepsake, it not only is something vintage and gorgeous to wear at any time, it also can really make you feel like you are becoming one with the family.

Evenly disperse all of your invited guests among the available tables at your wedding reception. This means making sure there are no odd numbers at any table. Facilitate conversation by making table arrangements according to age groups.

Centerpieces can quickly cause your reception to be a dud financially and socially. Rather than spending a fortune on centerpieces that are almost as big as the tables themselves, keep them small and simple. This will enable your guests to talk amongst each other without any interference, which will provide a better experience for them.

Any female participants in your wedding, such as the bridesmaids, should aim to be ready before you are. Right before the ceremony, you need to be the focus. Keep in mind that if there are other distractions then the attention isn't going to be on you.

Craigslist is a good place to look when you want to locate someone local to assist you with a wedding. Before you pay them, go to meet them and take someone with you.

As an example, you might want to try a menu that includes popular contemporary fusion dishes. Add a twist by using ethnic drinks, wedding favors, or dessert options.

Getting married is something a lot of girls dream about doing their whole lives. But planning an actual wedding can be complicated and daunting. Hopefully, this article has shed some light on the planning process and you can plan the wedding of your dreams.

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Method to a stop * Relief Debt Consolidation | BusinessMarketingA ...

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400 anti-capitalist protesters arrested in Frankfurt

Boris Roessler / EPA

German anti-riot police carry away a protester and her stuffed animal during protests in Frankfurt on Friday.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Police in Frankfurt, Germany, arrested about 400 "Blockupy" protesters Friday for defying a ban on anti-austerity demonstrations.

Several hundred people took to the streets to protest the European Union's austerity measures and the power of banks, as part of?a four-day anti-capitalist "Blockupy" protest due to run until Saturday.

?According to Der Spiegel, around 5,000 police were on the ground backed up by water?canons. There was no violence.


The protesters are angry at the misery they say governments are inflicting on people with their response to the crisis, which has intensified since inconclusive elections in Greece this month fueled concerns about its future in the euro zone.

"The Greek austerity measures are making Greece go kaputt even faster," said protester Leonard Loch, 37, from Hamburg.?

?The "Blockupy 'alliance criticized the massive police presence in Frankfurt,?which is the seat of the European Central Bank and the largest financial center in continental Europe. The demonstrators were "all prudent and were holding back," Frauke Distelrath, spokesperson for the activist group Attac, told Die Welt.?

A?court on Monday authorized a rave dance party organized by protesters on Wednesday and protests scheduled for Saturday, but ruled against them taking place on the other days.?

On Wednesday, police peacefully removed demonstrators from outside the ECB's Frankfurt headquarters and detained 150 demonstrators on Thursday for defying a ban on protests.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Chelsea wins Champions thriller

Drogba scores winner against Bayern Munich after equalizing match in 88th minute

Image: Drogba scoresGetty Images

Didier Drogba of Chelsea celebrates after scoring the winning penalty kick to win the Champions League title.

updated 8:54 p.m. ET May 19, 2012

MUNICH - Didier Drogba tied the match with a header in the 88th minute, and then scored the decisive goal in the shootout as Chelsea beat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League final, 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw Saturday.

The unlikely storyline of an English team beating a German team on penalties in a high-profile match provided a fitting end to a dramatic night, as Chelsea became Europe's champion club for the first time.

The often theatrical 34-year-old Drogba, playing possibly his last game for the club as his Chelsea contract expires next month, was at the heart of the show.

Drogba sent goalkeeper Manuel Neuer the wrong way on the final kick of the shootout in front of massed Bayern fans in their home Allianz Arena. Bayern's Bastian Schweinsteiger missed the previous penalty, hitting the goalpost.

"It was written, I think, a long time ago," Drogba said to British broadcaster ITV of Chelsea's turnaround since its turmoil in March. "This team is amazing. They never give up until the end."

The shootout was needed after Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech saved Arjen Robben's spot-kick early in extra time.

It was awarded for a foul by Drogba, who earned Chelsea an unlikely reprieve.

After 83 minutes of Bayern domination, Thomas Mueller broke dogged Chelsea resistance with a header past the outstanding Cech.

Chelsea's first Champions League title came four years after losing in a shootout to Manchester United.

Drogba succeeded where his captain John Terry, who was suspended for Saturday's finale, failed in missing the fifth penalty in Moscow four years ago which would have given the club's Russian owner Roman Abramavich the Champions League title he has craved.

Abramovich must now make a fascinating decision on the future of interim coach Roberto di Matteo, who took over from the fired Andre Villas-Boas after a last-16, first-leg defeat to Napoli, and inspired a team which then appeared sulky and fading.

Victory also sealed Chelsea's last remaining route into next season's competition which is crucial to its elite status and finances.

Everything seemed stacked against Chelsea when Bayern won the toss to send the shootout to the home, south end of its stadium.

After Bayern captain Philipp Lahm scored first, Juan Mata has his kick saved by Neuer.

Cech then saved Ivica Olic's fourth penalty for Bayern to put the otherwise excellent Schweinsteiger in the spotlight.

He struck the post to Cech's left and covered his face with his shirt.

Drogba stepped up and sealed victory and awaited the adulation of his onrushing teammates.

"He's a hero. Without him we're not here," said Lampard, who scored with Chelsea's third penalty. "I'd love him to stay. What he did tonight he's been doing all his career."

With seven starters from the two teams suspended, Bayern settled quickly against a visiting team set up to absorb pressure.

The Germans' tempo was often dictated by Schweinsteiger, who excelled after collecting a needless yellow card in the second minute for handball.

Toni Kroos, Mario Gomez and Robben all failed to find the target, and anxiety rose in the Chelsea defense when Jose Bosingwa's miscue conceded a corner.

Robben, the former Chelsea winger, threatened again in the 21st when he wriggled through a tiny gap to create a left-footed shooting chance. So often Chelsea's Champions League savior, Cech blocked with his right leg and deflected the ball high up against his right post.

Drogba was being kept quiet before he linked with Frank Lampard to create Chelsea's first good chance in the 37th. Salomon Kalou was teed up to shoot low but Neuer's save was solid.

Gomez, with 13 goals in the competition this season, then wasted two good chances to draw level with Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

First, his control failed when Ribery's misdirected shot flew to his feet, then the big forward wrong-footed Gary Cahill but shot high and wide.

Bayern coach Jupp Heynckes stomped back to the bench throwing his hands in the air.

The second half resumed with the same pattern, and Cole's outstanding defending denied Robben.

The England left-back hunted down Robben's break, then blocked the Dutchman's clear sight of goal from 10 yards (meters) in the 54th. The loose ball found Ribery in an offside position before he thought he'd opened the scoring.

Cole repeated his heroics five minutes later, dashing across to block Robben's shot from 15 yards.

In the 76th, Cech stretched to tip the ball over the bar as Ribery's cross at the goal line squirted up from Cole's lunging challenge.

Cole was then booked for fouling Mueller, who responded by directing a header which Cech gathered.

One minute later, Mueller eluded Cole with a late run and headed home to spark delirious celebrations among the Bayern players and fans.

They underestimated Chelsea's admirable resolve, and Drogba soared to score with a header that Neuer couldn't keep out.

Drogba's taste for the dramatic flared up in the third minute of extra time, as he clipped Ribery's heels in the penalty area.

Referee Pedro Proenca's decision to point to the spot seemed to stun the Bayern fans, and their anxiety was well founded.

Robben fired low to Cech's left, and the Czech `keeper blocked with his arm and body, then reached across to collect the loose ball.

Bayern came agonizingly close in the 108th, when substitute Olic slipped the ball across the goalmouth but teammate Daniel van Buyten failed to anticipate the simple tap-in.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Chelsea wins Champions thriller

Didier Drogba scored the decisive penalty in the shootout as Chelsea beat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League final after a dramatic 1-1 draw on Saturday.

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Chicago: Cops, Obama office were terror targets

Chicago Police Department via AP

Jared Chase (left), Brian Church (center) and Brent Vincent Betterly were charged Saturday with plotting terrorist acts.

By Miranda Leitsinger, msnbc.com

Updated at 3 p.m. ET?CHICAGO -- Three anti-NATO protesters charged with terrorism conspiracy planned to attack four Chicago police stations, the local campaign headquarters for President Barack Obama and the home of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, prosecutors alleged in court Saturday.

While friends of the three men insisted they were just operating a home brewery, prosecutors stated that police found a gun that fires mortar rounds, swords, a hunting bow, ninja-like throwing stars and knives with brass knuckle handles.

?The?beer-brewing operation, prosecutors added, was used to fill bottles with gasoline that would later be thrown as Molotov cocktails.

"Plans were made to destroy police cars and attack four CPD stations with destructive devices, in an effort to undermine the police response" to attacks on the Obama office, the Emanuel home as well as unspecified financial institutions, the charging statement said.

The three are "self-proclaimed anarchists, and members of the 'Black Bloc' group," prosecutors said, without elaborating.


The men were identified as 20-year-old Brian Church, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; 24-year-old Jared Chase, of Keene, N.H.; and 24-year-old Brent?Betterly, of Oakland Park, Fla.?

The three were charged with conspiracy to commit terrorism, possession of an explosive or incendiary device and providing material support for terrorism.

Defense attorneys told a judge on Saturday that undercover police were the ones who brought the Molotov cocktails, and that their clients were entrapped.

Bond of $1.5 million was set for each defendant.?

Michael Deutsch, one of their attorneys, later told reporters outside the courtroom that it was all a setup. Two informants "ingratiated themselves" with the three men and "this was all their idea," he insisted.

It was "entrapment to the highest degree," Deutsch said.

But?Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy told reporters "the evidence speaks for itself" about what he called an "imminent threat."

"They were making the bombs ... (and had) directions on how to implement this," added Cook County State?s Attorney Anita Alvarez.?

Read the full charging document

The charging document states that "while the Molotov Cocktails were being poured, Church discussed the NATO Summit, the protests, and how the Molotov Cocktails would be used ... At one point, Church asked if others had ever seen a 'cop on fire' and discussed throwing one of the Molotov Cocktails into" a police station.

"Church stated that he also wanted to buy several assault rifles, and indicated that if a police officer was going to point a gun at him, then Church would be 'pointing one back'," the document states.

Six others initially arrested were released Friday.?They were all detained in a raid Wednesday on?a home in Bridgeport on Chicago's South Side,?NBCChicago.com reported.

But the group of protesters said what police thought was suspicious was actually a home beer-brewing operation.

"We were handcuffed to a bench and our legs were shackled together. We were not told what was happening," one of those detained but later released, Darrin Ammussek, told NBCChicago.com. "I believe very strongly in non-violence, and if I had seen anything that even resembled any plans or anything like that, we wouldn?t have been there."

Scenes from Chicago protests surrounding NATO summit

He claimed that during 18 hours in custody, police never told him why he was arrested, read him his rights or allowed him to make a phone call, The Associated Press reported. He said he remained handcuffed to a bench, even after asking to use a restroom.?

"There were guards walking by making statements into the door along the lines of 'hippie,' 'communist,' 'pinko,'" a tired-looking Ammussek told reporters just after his release.?

Security has been high throughout the city in preparation for the summit, where delegations from about 60 countries, including 50 heads of state, will discuss the war in Afghanistan and European missile defense.?

Among the pre-NATO protests was a march on the home of Mayor?Emanuel by about 500 people on Saturday. The big show will be on Sunday, the start of the two-day NATO summit, when thousands of protesters are expected to march 2? miles from a band shell on Lake Michigan to the McCormick Place convention center, where delegates will be meeting.?

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China embassy in US cold-shoulders Tiananmen leader

One of the exiled leaders of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 got the cold shoulder from the Chinese embassy in Washington on Friday when he tried to turn himself in to return home.

Wu'er Kaixi, 44, who now lives in Taiwan, wants to see his frail and aging parents in Urumqi, northwest China, as well as ignited a dialogue on reform with China's communist leadership -- even if it means standing trial.

But when he went to the bunker-like Chinese embassy in the US capital, the dissident activist found the smoked-glass doors locked, and no one responded when he rang the doorbell and dialed an off-hours telephone number.

Telephone calls into the embassy by an AFP reporter at the scene also went unanswered.

"Well, I guess this is as close as I can get to Chinese soil," said Wu'er, who last tried to surrender at the Chinese embassy in Tokyo, where Japanese police arrested him for trespassing and held him for two days.

"If I want to go home, what does it take? It's office hours. I call then and ring the bell, but no one comes," he said, adding that he would next take his case to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Yang Jianli, the president of Washington-based group Initiatives for China who was on hand to support Wu'er at the embassy, said "the Chinese government is doing everything it can to erase the memory of Tiananmen Square."

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, died when the Chinese government sent in tanks and soldiers to clear the square in central Beijing on the night of June 3-4, 1989, and end six weeks of unprecedented pro-democracy protests.

Wu'er, then a student at Beijing Normal University, was among several Tiananmen leaders and hunger strikers who escaped to the United States in the weeks after the crackdown.

An official Chinese Communist Party verdict after the Tiananmen protests branded the movement a "counter-revolutionary rebellion," although the wording has since been softened.

Asked as an exile of 23 years what advice he would give blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, who escaped house arrest last month and plans to come to the United States, Wu'er suggested patience.

Chen, who China pledged Thursday would get a passport within 15 days in order to leave the country, "is a hero," Wu'er said. "Everybody in the world should embrace him.

"But he needs to take this good time (in the United States) to take a good rest" before joining other exiles in "a group effort... a team effort" to bring about change in China, Wu'er added.

Wu'er was among six Tiananmen activists in exile who last month sent a letter to Beijing saying they had been deprived of their right to return to their homeland and denied Chinese travel documents abroad.

Their letter coincided with the death of dissident astrophysicist Fang Lizhi in the United States at the age of 76. Fang sympathized with the Tiananmen protests, but refrained from taking a leading role in them.

Wu'er, who studied at Harvard University but failed to graduate, is now a political commentator in Taiwan. His gesture on Friday drew only a handful of reporters and a single uniformed US Secret Service diplomatic security officer.

He said he was "extremely concerned" about the health of his father, 76, and mother, 70, with whom he remains in contact via the Internet. Wu'er also has an older brother who is caring for their parents.

"They're no longer young," Wu'er said of his parents, and Beijing steadfastly refuses to let them travel outside of China to see him. "Inhumane is an understatement... It's barbaric."

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Loretta Lynn married at 15, not 13

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) ? Country music legend Loretta Lynn is three years older than she has led people to believe, an age change that undermines the story she told of being married at 13 in "Coal Miner's Daughter," documents obtained by The Associated Press show.

Lynn's birth certificate on file at the state Office of Vital Statistics in Frankfort, Ky., shows that Loretta Webb was born on April 14, 1932, in Johnson County, Kentucky. That makes her 80 years old, not 77. Also on file is her marriage license and two affidavits from her mother, Clara Marie Ramey, and S.W. Ward Jr., who was not related to the family, listing the same birthdate.

The records weren't filed until 1965, which meant that Lynn needed multiple documents to prove her age at that time. Lynn's signature appears on the document as Loretta Webb Lynn.

Melvin Webb lists his daughter "Loretta" as 7 years old for the 1940 Census, according to a digital copy on file at the Kentucky Historical Society. Lynn's marriage license, obtained by the AP from the Johnson County clerk's office lists her as 15 on Jan. 10, 1948.

In "Coal Miner's Daughter," the autobiography that became an Academy Award-winning film, Lynn told a different story ? that she was married at 13 and was a mother of four by 18. Most books and public references to Lynn list her current age as 77.

When contacted by the AP, Lynn's spokeswoman, Nancy Russell of Nashville, Tenn., declined comment. She said that Lynn has told her before in no uncertain terms, "If anyone asks how old I am, tell them it's none of their business!"

Lynn's younger brother, Herman Webb, declined to disclose Lynn's age, although he said there might have been a "mix-up" with Lynn's paperwork after she moved to Nashville to launch her country career. Her parents and many other relatives are dead, including her husband, O.V. "Mooney" Lynn.

Certainly Lynn isn't the first celebrity of a certain age to be less than forthcoming about a birthday, but the discrepancy is significant because age isn't just a number for the Country Music Hall of Fame member. It is woven into her compelling life story, made famous in her 1976 bestselling autobiography, "Coal Miner's Daughter," and the subsequent film starring Sissy Spacek. The movie made $67 million nationwide and was nominated for seven Oscars; Spacek won for her portrayal of Lynn.

The Grammy-winning singer recently announced that it will become a Broadway musical, starring actress and singer Zooey Deschanel.

The way Lynn chose to tell it in the book, she was married at 13, moved with her husband to Washington State at 16 and was a mother of four by 18. Lynn has six kids in all. The marriage certificate shows that Lynn instead married just shy of her 16th birthday, which was not unusual in Kentucky at that time. Her husband was 21.

It would have been illegal for a girl under the age of 14 to marry in Kentucky in 1948, said R. Eric Henninger of the Kentucky State Law Library. At that time, he said, "lots of folks didn't have any sort of official proof of age."

An AP reporter recently found Lynn's birth certificate online that listed a different birthdate from the one listed in the news agency's database of celebrity birthdays. The reporter changed the date in the database; when the new birthday was used in a recent story, the Country Music Hall of Fame contacted the AP about the discrepancy.

Lynn addresses the perils of disclosing her age in her autobiography.

"When I was born, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the president for several years. That's the closest I'm gonna come to telling my age in this book, so don't go looking for it," she writes. "I'm trying to make a living singing songs. I don't need nobody out there saying, 'She don't look bad considering she's such-and-such years old.'"

Lynn's co-author on "Coal Miner's Daughter," New York Times sports columnist George Vecsey, said in a phone interview that he did not verify the age claims in the book with official documentation.

"It's her book, and I never saw a birth certificate, marriage license. It's what they told me," he said. "I couldn't say that she was the one who told me first. Between her manager (David Skepner) who has passed and her husband who has now passed, it was at least three different people telling me that."

Vecsey said he did not want to speculate on what the age difference means to Lynn's narrative.

Lynn's daughter, Patsy Lynn Russell, did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

Webb, her brother who lives in their hometown of Van Lear, Ky., believes "there might have been a mix--up somewhere along the line" when Lynn first arrived in Nashville and signed with the Wilburn Brothers.

"When she was with Teddy and Doyle (Wilburn), she just don't tell her age after that," he said. "I think they got some of her paperwork messed up."

Webb declined to comment on Lynn's age. When asked his own birthday, like a good brother, he replied: "I was born a year and a half after she was."

Research supervisor Walter Bowman at the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives said in the early '30s it was more common for people to register their prized horses or livestock than the births of their children.

Not until the Social Security system was founded in the mid-1930s did parents have a monetary reason to put their kids on record.

Social Security Administration officials said privacy laws prevent them from releasing information about any living person, including a birth date.

Music journalist and author Robert K. Oermann, who wrote "Finding Her Voice" about women in country music, said nothing can overshadow Lynn's accomplishments.

"In the 1960s, you didn't have the 24-hour news cycle, saturation of personality journalism that you have today. So what appealed to people was the fact that the songs were so extraordinary. Her singing was so great. Everything about her was so refreshing and country," he said.

"It wasn't until much later that people became aware of her backstory, but the music itself is what made her a star. The biography, the life story was just the icing on the cake."

In 1972, Lynn became the first woman to be named entertainer of the year by the Country Music Association. She is known for hits, including "Coal Miner's Daughter," ''You Ain't Woman Enough," ''The Pill," ''Rated X," and "Don't Come Home A' Drinkin' (With Lovin' on Your Mind)." Her last top 10 record as a soloist was "I Lie" in 1982.

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Online: http://www.lorettalynn.com

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King reported from Washington. Contributing to this report were Associated Press reporter Joni Beall in Washington? who discovered the age discrepancy ? Roger Alford in Frankfort, Ky., and Stephen Ohlemacher in Washington.

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For the latest country music news from The Associated Press, follow: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Country

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The Ultimate List of Reasons Why You Need Search ... - Deon Designs

Reasons To Buy SEOYou?ve heard about SEO. You?re convinced SEO works very well for different kinds of online business. What you probably wonder is why?it?s so powerful.

That?s why I wrote this report ? to show you not one, not five, not ten? but twenty-eight different reasons to buy
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A few weeks ago, Search Engine Land carried my article about the difficulty of pricing SEO services and it got a lot of positive response.

People reached out with new questions, and shared challenges they faced along the SEO sales process, as they struggled to convince internal managers and CEOs about the value of optimizing for search engines, and getting them to expand their marketing budgets for SEO.

Those questions and issues are addressed in this article ? beginning with the most compelling reason? why buying SEO is such a good idea.

1. ?SEO Is Not A Cost But An Investment

An investment with a high return. By tying in SEO to Web analytics data, you may observe certain keywords having great conversion rates for which you rank only on page #2 on Google and know that you?re leaving money on the table.

Lifting your rank to the top 3 spots on the first page, where most clicks go, can provide a massive return on your modest investment into SEO. It?s why SEO has been likened to investing in real estate?- the returns can be truly stupendous when you get it right.

2. ?SEO Turns The Spotlight On Your Sales Rockstar

And who would that be? Your website!

Think about it. It?s open 7 days a week, all year long, and never calls in sick or reports late to work. It does whatever it?s told to do, and pulls in sales, leads and opt-ins like clockwork. Your website is your ?perfect employee?, multitasking effectively, tackling thousands of prospects at once, and only limited by what you ask of it.

Search engine optimization lavishes attention on your sales rock-star, generating the highest performance by giving it the right emphasis and focus in your marketing arsenal.

3. ?SEO Is A Crucial Part Of Your Marketing Mix

If you?ve read my other posts here on Search Engine Land, you?ll already know that I?m clear about the importance of SEO for marketing any business. SEO is the master when it comes to pulling in prospects, and can help boost conversions too.

But I also believe that SEO is not the only game in town! SEO alone cannot help you reach your highest marketing potential. Social media, branding and other marketing strategies segue into and complement SEO, the combination strengthening and reinforcing each element to grow your business exponentially? faster.

As a manager or CEO then, your challenge isn?t about picking one over another, but how best to intelligently integrate SEO into your marketing mix to reap rich rewards.

And that?s why this isn?t a ?battle between marketers?, with specialists in each branch trying to out-sell the other to their clients, but rather an opportunity for collaboration and partnership in leading a business manager or CEO towards the right mix of marketing services ? including SEO ? that will bring the highest cumulative benefit.

Instead of always ?giving customers what they want?, it?s time to face the fact that, often, clients do not know how to select from the diverse options at their disposal.

As professionals, marketers and SEO consultants must not be dismissive or misleading about other specialties than their own, but instead help clients build the right foundation, mix and plan, and then guide them to effectively implement and manage the most cost effective, high-return strategies and tactics that are aligned with their overall business goals.

A part of the responsibility professional marketers share is to steer clients away from danger, or stop them from embracing populist tactics that will actually turn out to be a quagmire in which their business gets stuck, or quicksand into which it gradually sinks without a trace. In my opinion, ?not telling the full truth? is just the same as ?lying?. This approach may not work for every company. Some might even frown at your desire to step outside your scope and field of expertise.

But for small and medium businesses and start ups, by adopting such an advisory/consultative role and offering professional advice, reaching out a helping hand to offer ?business development? advice, and showing rock-solid proof to back up your offerings, prices and advice, you can go a long way in building trust. At that point, clients will be willing to follow you, even when you suggest an approach that points in another direction than what they believed would be the right choice.

It bears to always keep in mind that clients are buying a consultant?s expertise only because they don?t have it themselves, and therefore they are (logically) unable to ask for the ?perfect offer?.? Selling them whatever they ask for is often not in their best interests. And this is just as true for big brands with internal staff as it is for smaller businesses.

4. ?SEO Impacts The Research/Buying Cycle

SEO will increase your sales without proportionately increasing your marketing costs, thereby growing profits exponentially and over time. SEO can further all your business goals at a better ROI than most other comparable forms of online marketing because of this fundamental effect of better conversions and more sales at little incremental cost.

Assuming that everybody has heard about your brand or thinks that you?re the best place to buy can be a very costly mistake. People are constantly researching good deals, and are using the social-driven Web for comparison shopping. And price conscious shopping behavior is more common in tough financial times, when consumers spend their money more cautiously.

SEO plays an important role in this research and buying cycle. It?s like a prospect magnet, attracting potential buyers to your website through critical and relevant keywords and phrases ranked high in search engines where searchers are already looking for information about them. It?s about being where your customers are, and directing them towards solutions you offer them.

5. ?SEO Pricing Is Variable

Pricing SEO services is difficult (even though some argue that it?s really simple, as you can see from the discussion around my earlier post titled,?How Much Does SEO Cost?).

There are no universal standards by which you can fix a ?rate card? for SEO services. Keyword analysis, link building and other SEO activities are unique, customized and tailored differently for specific situations. And even among SEO providers, there is a wide range in quality. There are seasoned professionals and there are scammers, amateurs and ignorant practitioners.

But as the person in charge of your company?s SEO, you are the most ?dangerous? person involved? because the responsibility for your choices rests on your shoulders! Before you pick the cheapest or most expensive proposal, the limited or more comprehensive one, the one from experienced pros versus an SEO-savvy cousin or friend, be sure to read How Much Does SEO Cost? to understand the nuances and nitty gritty details.

As a specialized service, SEO involves teams of people working behind the scenes. Giving them a small budget practically ties their hands, and you cannot expect stellar results from their restrained effort.

If you are not yet convinced about the synergies involved and how these facets interact together, then don?t be afraid to ask for an SEO pre-analysis, even if it means paying a modest fee for it.? That?s a safe investment and worth more if it convinces you about the real value in adopting an SEO strategy.

Misconceptions about SEO abound, and this excellent book called ?The Art of SEO? has really great examples. Some popular myths include:

  • SEO goals (?we?ll build you 100 links per month?) matter more than business goals (?we?ll grow your profits by 5%?).
  • SEO exists in a vacuum and doesn?t integrate with other parts of the enterprise.
  • SEO techniques are better implemented on marketing concepts and product titles, regardless of search volumes and popularity.
  • SEO activities can be carried out without need for co-ordination and oversight by a supervisor.
  • Leave SEO to the developers (?Trust them, everything will be ok!?).

There are many more in the article,?24 Ways To Make Life Hard For Your SEO Team.

6. ?SEO Is Never Too Costly!

Nowhere else in marketing is it likely to pay off by being a contrarian as with choosing the right SEO company. In comparing several companies, you?re often tempted to pick the least expensive pitch, while it may actually be a smart choice to pick the most expensive one!

How? SEO is not a cost. It?s an investment. And even if the highest priced SEO company charges you twice as much as the rest, as a marketing manager or decision maker, you should look deeper into why they are so expensive. What makes them so confident as to pitch you with an offer others would toss into the dust-bin without a second thought?

If the more expensive SEO company helps you reach your financial goals and growth targets in half the time at twice the price, is it really ?expensive?? Let?s say I offer to pay you $4 for every dollar you give me, how much money would you give me today, assuming you?re convinced I won?t take your cash and run away?

That?s where SEO pre-analysis can help. If the study proves that your market is big enough to drive enough volume, the competition is weak enough for you to fight and win, and your experience with SEO consultants and SEO firms over time shows that you are getting a larger amount of targeted traffic from their efforts. If this traffic converts at a high rate into sales and profit, then the impact on your business from this SEO campaign will be responsible for well more than ?4 dollars for one? over time.

Is it time, then, to step back and take a harder look at the allocation of your marketing budget? Should you be looking to reap the potential of SEO, and grab the low hanging fruit within your easy reach?

This isn?t an emotional decision. It?s based on logic and hard data. ?Costly? SEO is like buying an automobile. Why does a Ferrari cost more than a VW Beetle? There are many good reasons and similar ones apply to SEO.

7. ?SEO Isn?t Icing On The Cake ? It?s An Important Ingredient

Ok, now that you?ve spent a fortune on your new website (and it looks great!), the last thing you want is to listen to a consultant who asks you to invest even more money to be visible on search engines.

But Google needs help in understanding your business. SEO that?s effectively woven into your site?s DNA can help showcase your business on search engines in the best possible light.

As an SEO consultant, I get called in by companies that have built a ?state of art? website and want SEO slapped on it. But that isn?t how it works. You don?t bake your cake first, and then pour beaten eggs over it, or sprinkle sugar on top. No. You mix those ingredients in with the batter itself.

Taking SEO into consideration even while planning your website structure, content management system (CMS), URL syntax, and Web design gives the best results for your business. It can help you map old URLs to new ones, tailor your landing pages to user intent, lead prospects along a ?buying slope? and preserve old rankings that took years of work to achieve.

While an SEO consultant can help you (a lot) even if you started in the wrong order, it will take more time, more effort, more money, and some major restructuring work to get it done later on.

8. ?SEO Is More Than Just SEO-Friendly CMS

So your CMS vendor told you it was SEO friendly and optimized? Don?t be fooled. That isn?t all the SEO you need. Not by a long country mile! They should know (by now) that SEO is not only about code. Google doesn?t look for ?code?, it looks for ?content?.

There are over 200 ranking factors, and algorithms change many times every year. CMS code is just a fraction of the whole. By providing the right framework for your site, an SEO friendly CMS can help. But it takes a lot more to dominate search engines.

Chief among those ?other things? is content. Content is king. The devil is in the detail ? keywords, neighborhood, and your overall marketing mix. Your CMS has little to do with these. You wouldn?t buy a great frying pan and food processor, then hope they?ll magically turn you into a Michelin star chef!

SEO isn?t new. Yet many CEOs and managers haven?t formally been taught the importance of good SEO for online business. Yes, CMS vendors may misguide and mislead. After all, this is a highly technical and sophisticated marketing technology, and if you can?t wrap your head around it, you are not alone.

But if you ask the right questions, you?ll win through in the end.

8. ?SEO Can Multiply Your Impact

How much did it cost to print your visiting cards? Or your marketing brochures? I?ll bet it wasn?t much compared to how much you invested in your website.

Did you carefully proof-read those cards, brochures or flyers before sending them off to the printing agency (or get someone else to review it for you)? I?ll bet you did.

But you didn?t have a search specialist ?proof read? your expensive, infinitely more powerful marketing tool ? your website ? before you launched it!

Would you design and order all those visiting cards and brochures at considerable expense, and then just lock them up in a shelf? Of course not.

By ignoring SEO, that?s exactly what you?re doing with your fancy new website. A website that could have been viewed by thousands of your best prospects and ideal clients. A website that you?re now leaving to the whim and fancy of Google to rank at its will.

Just because you own top of the line printing equipment, would you print your business cards yourself? No, I?m sure you don?t. You probably order them from a professional company with long experience with printing.

SEO is your digital calling card. It can multiply your impact massively by getting your website in front of targeted eyeballs. There?s good reason to have it handled by professionals who know their job.

They will ensure that your website appeals to the right audience, and gets viewed by a wide segment of it, so that your digital visiting card best performs the critical task your business assigned to it ? getting qualified leads and converting them into cash-spending customers.

9. ?SEO Keeps You From Missing Out On Free Advertising

Would you trust another agency to write your door sign, or decide what goes on your visiting card? Will you allow your competitor to design your display ads, or decide who sees your storefront?

If you don?t strategically craft your website?s title tags and meta descriptions, that?s what you?re permitting. And that?s not good for business at all. It?s like leaving ?lorem ipsum? text on your printed marketing materials!

SEO lets you dictate how your business should be featured on search results. If thousands of your prospects are viewing ?random text?, you?re leaving money on the table. You?re letting a wonderful chance to get free advertising slip through your fingers.

The good news is that once you?re aware of this, it?s easy to fix. SEO hands you back the controls, so you can steer your business along the right path.

10. ?SEO Leverages Social Sharing

Are you engaged in social media like Facebook? SEO plays an important role here. Content shared by users on social networks are directly related to SEO specific parameters like title tags and meta descriptions. This is what you see when people share posts and stories on their Wall, Google+ profile, or in a tweet or share.

An SEO strategist will help you manage this process, in collaboration with your marketing and communications department. Through SEO you get to control what people read, think and do on social sites and spread through their networks at the speed of light.

11. ?SEO Will Help People Find Your Website

Your website is the first point of contact with your audience online. It can generate leads, qualify prospects and attract potential new customers, partners or investors.

But unless people can find it, your website is good for nothing. SEO plays an invaluable role here.

No longer is SEO just about ranking a site in search results, getting more clicks and views, or keeping ?bounce rates? optimal. That?s a dangerous misconception. Modern, effective SEO should be rooted in the company?s goals and strategies, and swivels on the psychology of individuals in the target market and segment.

SEO gets your business found, noticed, and loved.

12. ?SEO Goes To The Heart Of Your Business

Great SEO demands more than just coding skills and a search-friendly CMS. It?s no longer something a tech-savvy cousin or well-meaning friend can fix up for you over a weekend, for a couple of beers. Professional SEO is serious business.

SEO is like a heart surgery. If organic search is responsible for more than half of your website?s traffic, SEO lies at the heart of your business. Without a good heart surgeon you could die.

Without a specialist handling your SEO, your business could die. Just as you?d hunt for the best heart surgeon to operate on you, you should seek out the best SEO consultant or strategist, rather than trying to do it yourself!

Whoever is responsible for buying SEO at your company must know that it involves marketing and communication, an understanding of business and economics, strategic thought, and the ability to think outside the box, all the while keeping their focus on the business? overall goals and targets. The individual overseeing your SEO campaigns will become your ?extended marketing manager?, financial advisor and more.

Not everyone can do this. And finding a competent person is hard. To casually hand over this challenging task to an in-house Web developer or designer can be unwise. Even though many Web developers and designers are learning more about SEO, it can be a critical mistake to make SEO a ?second priority? and install it by ticking boxes on a checklist someone handed you at a seminar!

Sure, you may look on it as a way to cut costs. But this not only ?saves you money?, ?it also dramatically lowers your profit potential! This is very common, and I see it often in my practice.

Clients view SEO as ?shelf-ware? and a ?push-button install? that anyone who knows a bit of Web design and HTML coding can fix for them. That?s like using string and duct-tape to fix your car, or your house, when it needs repairs. You?ll risk your safety by doing that. And taking a similar approach to SEO, you?re risking your business (revenue and growth).

13. ?SEO Builds Trust Credibility

SEO can make your brand stronger, better and well recognized. The eventual goal should be that, when people search for business critical and relevant keywords and phrases, they should find you at the top of search results. Then, psychology takes over and prospects will believe that you?re the best.

Your website?s title and meta description tags can telegraph a powerful statement that strengthens your brand, while helping communicate a marketing message that?s in line with your strategic business goals.

Then prospects will believe that you?re the best.

These days, everybody ?Googles it?. If you?re there, right on top of the SERPs, it goes a long way in boosting your credibility. If you?re right where your customers are, at the right moment, with the right solution, you?ll win big.

But being there is only part of the puzzle. You need more. You must get inside the heads of your prospects. Speak their language. Feel their pain. Present them with a solution. Once you do, your credibility with your audience skyrockets.

14. ?SEO Makes You Ubiquitous

We intuitively sense that a #1 ranking indicates top class. An athlete who wins the gold medal is a champion. Silver and bronze winners are runners-up. All the rest are ?also rans?? and no one cares about them!

Search engine rankings are similar.?The top spot on Google SERPs gets 36.4% of all clicks, the #2 spot gets 12.5%, #3 takes 9.5%, and from there it declines quickly. Being at the top of the heap wins you ?front of mind? recall and brand awareness and wins you more sales.

If your website doesn?t pop up on the first page of Google for your business critical keywords and phrases, then it?s? ?Houston, we have a problem!?

On the off-chance that you?re running a healthy business even without good search engine visibility for your high search volume keywords, then imagine how much more money you could make when you rank for them and reach those extra customers and make more sales. Remember? if you?re not there, your competitors are, ready to take your money!

15. ?SEO Helps Build Your Brand

Branding is often complex, costly and chaotic. You throw many things at consumers, hoping enough will stick in their minds and be recalled when it?s time for a purchase. SEO can help accelerate your branding campaign and make you memorable.

When more people visit your site, get familiar with your business, and order from you, then you have more people likely to come back again and tell their friends about you. SEO is an effective way to get this ball rolling, by ranking your website high and attracting a flood of Web traffic.

It can then turn this initial impression into lasting recall through presenting the most relevant and useful information that a visitor is seeking through search engines, thereby earning ?mind share? and securing a lasting place in their heart.

16. ?SEO Is A Long-Term Strategy

SEO can deliver quick results. It can be effective in the short term and help businesses who need results now. And that?s the primary appeal of SEO to certain types of business owners. But SEO has one serious advantage over other marketing with a ?short term? focus? it delivers an ongoing ROI over the long term also.

While PPC and other advertising methods are quick at driving Web traffic, they are also expensive. Also, in the Tamar 2008 Search Attitude report, 91% of survey respondents said they preferred natural search results while looking to buy a product or service online. SEO can ensure you grab these plum spots.

Done correctly, SEO can be long lasting. With proper SEO analysis up front, you can stay on the front page of search results for years, without spending money in the future. Even after you stop your SEO work, your website can still rank high on your chosen keywords, though you?re better off continuing with the services of an SEO consultant or in-house team, or you?ll risk losing your search ranking.

Again, this isn?t an expense, but an investment. A quick and simple calculation will show you how quickly you?ll earn back your investment into effective SEO by way of increased earnings.

17. ?SEO Drives Offline Sales

Good SEO starts with smart purchasing decisions. Today, more sales offline are driven by research initiated on the Web. A WebVisible/Nielsen study in 2008 found that 86% of consumers use the Internet to find local businesses from which to buy offline. Yes, in the store!

It?s why most offline businesses cannot afford to ignore online marketing, and also why SEO forms the cornerstone of every offline company?s digital marketing strategy. Your website acts as a never-resting salesperson, working day and night to deliver qualified leads to your business.

These are people actively seeking out solutions that you offer to their most pressing problems and needs. SEO can bring many more of them to your virtual doorstep, for your business to enamor, service and delight.

18. ?SEO Attracts Relevant Traffic With High Conversion Potential

SEO is highly targeted, down to minor details. Using keyword analysis, you can find just how big a ?market? is, how many people are searching for that exact keyword, how competitive the arena is (in SERPs), and with some keen deductive reasoning, even identify the intent behind keyword searches.

It?s not all intuitive and obvious, and the devil is in the details. That?s why having an insightful SEO consultant can generate huge returns on your marketing dollars spent on optimization.

Web traffic from a good SEO campaign has high conversion potential. And by correctly tapping into ?searcher intent?, addressing your audience?s concerns and problems, building trust, and convincing prospects that your company is the right one to do business with, you can enjoy a high rate of visitor-to-sales conversion that?s the envy of your industry.

For example, a well-planned SEO campaign for a hotel will reach potential customers looking to take a vacation, lead them to your website, and to the right section that addresses exactly what they?re looking for. In this way, SEO acts like a hybrid of a guide, receptionist, concierge, marketing executive and salesperson.

Without SEO, finding your website in the tourism industry will be hunting for a needle in a haystack. Without fully understanding the intent behind your visitor?s search and their unique and individual needs, the chances of losing the prospect forever is high. Getting them both right means more visitors, and more sales.

19. ?SEO Is Measurable Marketing

Every element of your SEO can be measured, evaluated and corrected. By doing this continuously, you can find out your return on every SEO dollar invested.

20. Your SEO Consultant Is A ?Secret Weapon?

A professional SEO consultant will be a great asset in developing your business. Your SEO consultant can find lucrative keywords and niches with great ROI where you can make money easily, carry out detailed market research and competitive analysis, and help you build content to pull in traffic that will close big deals for you.

A skilled SEO consultant can run in-depth analyses of your business competitors, study their strategy, and more. Your consultant can mock up a ?war? and test your strategies in battle against your competition? and if those computations work in your favor, it?s time to go to war!

It can also show you if the strategy is ineffective or the competition too well entrenched to unseat. This will save you money and time wasted in pursuing ownership of that keyword or niche, leaving you to focus energy on more profitable areas. Such market pre-analysis can be priceless to the right company or business.

Remember what Al Ries and Jack Trout highlight in their timeless book, ?Marketing Warfare? ? Marketing is a war! And just as you won?t think about going to war without conventional weapons, you can?t enter a competitive market armed only with a tommy gun!

At the same time, using old fashioned weaponry will only prolong the suffering and lead to an inevitable defeat. You need powerful, state of art, effective weapons to win. And in the digital battleground, cutting-edge SEO will give you an edge.

21. ?SEO Is Cost Effective

Over years, SEO has been proven to be one of the most cost effective forms of online marketing, delivering a higher return for every dollar invested into it over time.

Your Web hosting, design and content creation expenses are similar, whether your site is visited by one hundred people, one thousand, or one million.

You pay the same for each visitor to your website, whether they join your list, buy your product or interact with your brand.

Your marketing costs are identical whether one visitor in a thousand buys from you, or one in a hundred, or one in every five.

Effective SEO can attract thousands, even millions of targeted prospects to your business website, and increase your conversion rates by delivering the exact solution to problems they are facing.

Better still, the ongoing effect and impact of SEO continues far beyond the time you invest into a campaign, because the momentum will sustain for many weeks, often years, making SEO very cost efficient as a marketing choice.

22. ?SEO Can Be Outsourced To Run Hands-Free

An SEO company will work 24/7 with SEO, all year long. That?s what gives them an edge over hobbyists. They are up to date with the newest algorithm changes, negative and positive ranking factors, and know what?s needed right now while being proficient at predicting what will be needed in the future.

Also, an SEO company will get the work done faster because they have dedicated teams executing your plan, and will get you to your financial and business targets earlier. Buying cheap SEO services will apparently save you money upfront, but it will also hold you back from making a lot of money. In SEO, there is a pretty good correlation between investment and revenue.

Giving your SEO consultant enough time and the right mandate will add value to other parts of your marketing. It?s how you?ll sow and reap synergies across all your business building activities.

In SEO, there is a pretty good correlation between investment and revenue.

23. ?SEO Can Be Made To Work For You

Yes, even if it didn?t work for you before, SEO can be tweaked and twisted into a form that benefits your business. I?ve heard it so often from clients that I simply ignore that objection and offer to prove my point through an inexpensive test.

Most often, the reason why SEO didn?t work is because the company invested too little time or money or resource into it. To blame SEO after neglecting it, not doing it properly, or simply fearing it as ?something new? is unfair.

Assuming you did everything right in your implementation of SEO, it could have failed through improper planning. In SEO, failing to plan is planning to fail. That?s why it is important to assign a budget, study the market and search volumes, analyze the competitiveness and anchor your SEO campaign to business goals and strategy. This will prevent the campaign from going off the track.

An expert SEO consultant will steer you away from markets that are too small, competition that is too tough, or where revenue potential is tiny.

You?ll avoid wasting time and money chasing after the wrong targets, like more traffic that won?t convert, or higher rankings that don?t deliver the right prospects. Guesswork can lead to painful and costly surprises. SEO strategy eliminates these surprises and provides constant, reliable results.

24. ?SEO Can Convince Even Skeptics

If you?re not quite sure if SEO can deliver on the promise, you can have your SEO consultant simulate or forecast both expenses and projected income before you invest big money into it. Your simulation report will cover competition analysis, market size studies, trends and future predictions, and more data that will help you make an informed decision.

This simulation can be done in a short time (maybe just a few hours, depending on the size of your business, the nature of your service or product, and the competition in your marketplace) and will laser focus your SEO campaign where it will give you the most bang for your buck.

Equally important, it will be great insurance against investing in non-lucrative strategies and tactics. In a marketing war, you cannot afford to squander precious (and limited) resources on wasteful initiatives.? Don?t risk it!

25. ?SEO Provides Endless Opportunity

SEO is a continuous process. It?s like the machinery you use to drill for oil, or mine for gold. You?ll need more powerful equipment if you are to go through granite or hard rock, your engines will require frequent maintenance, and the drill-bit may get worn out and need replacing from time to time.

Your SEO is just the same. It will need constant tweaks, reviews and shifts to keep it moving in the right direction, so that it continues to deliver stellar results.

Sometimes the ground may be so hard that you need diamond-tipped drills to break through. And yes, diamond drill-bits are more expensive. But as long as research shows the presence of a vein of gold, or a large reservoir of oil, the drilling must proceed if riches are to be tapped.

In the same way, in tough markets, the SEO you need might be more expensive because of tougher competition. Yet the ?hidden treasure? you?re seeking will be more precious, making it worth mining for. Research and analysis by expert SEO advisors can tell you if there?s a gold mine there or not.

That?s how your investment in expensive SEO consultants pays off. At first, they may look bad on your budget sheet, because they appear as a ?cost?. But if the impact of their research is to correctly guide you to the most profitable niches and avenues to mine for wealth and profit, then it will multiply your modest investment ten times over, or more!

Good SEO is like a fine-tuned engine. Unless you take good care, it won?t be able to keep going and will burn out. When you embark upon an SEO driven strategy, be prepared to hunker down for a long fight. You?ll take some hits along the way, but you?ll throw harder punches and score more wins. Eventually, that?s what matters.

26. ?SEO Beats Paid Traffic

Maybe you already use Google Adwords (or other PPC advertising) very successfully. Even so, it?s paradoxical that SEO, which drives 75% of search traffic, garners less than 15% of an average SEM marketing budget, while PPC that provides barely 25% earns 80% of it.

An exclusive focus on PPC ignores the large hidden component of the iceberg that?s search traffic. Just think about it. If dominating the source of one-quarter of overall traffic gives you such excellent rewards, how much better will they get when you also control the rest?

27. ?SEO Is Rooted In User Intent

Where many forms of online marketing are based interrupting a prospect with a sales pitch, SEO is aligned with the intent of a searcher, meeting your audience halfway with a relevant, targeted message that appeals to their interest and delivers a solution they are already seeking.

Being there with the right information and facts may prevent dissemination of myths and false information, become valuable in reputation management, and build a stronger brand.

Good SEO fits the various types of search intent, including:

  • Navigational
  • Informational
  • Transactional
  • Commercial

In that respect, SEO is able to generate the highest conversion rate of any targeted digital marketing initiative, which is what makes SEO a high return effort.

Quick, cheap SEO is ineffective and has little lasting value, but healthy SEO costs more but has a longer term impact.

28. ?SEO Helps You Capitalize On Weak Competition

SEO can let you reap what your competitors sow! When your competition has a smaller marketing budget, they will make mistakes (or overlook opportunities). Good SEO can help you take advantage of these weaknesses. This makes SEO a smart move for small and medium sized businesses in competitive branches.

Take the case of clueless marketing campaigns that run expensive TV commercials, mass media display advertising, billboards and the like. These ads serve to activate interest in the market niche, in general, or broadly in a product or service category. Usually the company developing these ads are unconnected with search marketing divisions. This leaves a wide open hole for you to fill.

A study by market research firm Ipsos OTX based on a survey of 5,000 US smart phone users found that 71% of users search because of an ad they?ve seen online or offline. When interested people turn to search engines for more information, you can use SEO to position yourself to harvest the traffic.

This is like casting a fish net into waters that are teeming with sea-life and hauling back a rich catch!

The approach does not involve sneaky or stealthy practices such as targeting other business? brand names. No. These are generic keyword searches sparked off by mass advertising and you can target this traffic through an intelligent mix of organic SEO and pay-per-click ad campaigns (because these are often faster and instant in impact).

The Business Case For SEO

Hopefully, these compelling reasons have convinced you about the value and benefits of an integrated SEO strategy in growing your business and taking your company to new heights of profitability, branding and success.

SEO is like music. The foundations haven?t changed much since the inception. But the application of SEO has evolved over time. I?ve traced some of this complex journey in my article called How Much Does SEO Cost?

On a personal note, I don?t believe a discussion about which marketing tactic is ?the best? is of much value. As business owners, CEOs and managers, what we need to focus on is how to reach the best result by talking and working together. We?ll do ourselves a huge favor by not arguing over the most effective technique, but instead exploring how we can successfully integrate the best mix and exploit it to the fullest potential in growing business and revenues.

One last thing to keep in mind. Handing someone a guitar doesn?t mean they?ll start playing great music. If you want great music, hire a rock star. If you want top notch SEO, hire SEO Rock Stars.? Then give them the budget they need to deliver great results.

Image Credit: Crestock.com

Opinions expressed in the article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

Related Topics: All Things SEO

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