Defining ROI for SEO
An ultimate return on investment (ROI) may be an increase in the right type of sales to ideal customers.
Beyond choosing keywords appropriate for your services or products, there are many ROI-related variables to keep in mind. Many factors go well beyond the traffic that natural search engine optimization can deliver.
Know How Much a Visitor is Worth
How much are you paying through other marketing means to connect with prospects? What is the long-term value of each customer? In other words, look at the cost of the online marketing program and divide it by how much you typically pay per visitor (by phone, email, in person). At that point, you'll begin to see how many visitors you would like to get over the life of the program (i.e. one year).
Again, the ongoing value of a customer (and any referrals) may also come into play.
Additionally, once high rankings are achieved, they will continue to bring traffic even if the program ends. Typically, more tweaking may be needed even after a year. If you have a coveted Top 10 ranking, other adjustments can improve rankings over time.
Here are some other considerations:
- Track sales and conversion rates by service or product and/or category
- Establish specific phone numbers for search engine optimization pages
- Note on response forms how someone found the website (i.e. friend, article, search engine, etc.)
- Monitor customer acquisition costs
- Be aware of your profit margins
- Allow for seasonal trends
- Test website page factors, including copy, colors and calls to action
- Don't make response forms too long
ROI also can be influenced by many other conditions, including website usability (including shopping carts), corporate age and attributes, shipping and refund policies, testimonials, prices, and much more.
