Get the Boss On Board with Your SEO Efforts

You understand that your SEO efforts are important — no, critical — to bringing new prospects and customers to your business. The only problem? Convincing your boss that the cost is worth it.

SEO efforts produce sustained results

Regardless of whether you’re a small, local business or a midsize organization operating over a wider region, cost is a major consideration when undergoing any new marketing initiative. You want to keep a tight reign on the dollars going out and be sure that they are going towards something that will bring in value.

However, dollar for dollar, SEO is going to be one of your best investments. It offers your business numerous benefits such as:

• Relatively low up-front costs
• The ability to reach customers at every level of your sales cycle
• Connections with customers who are specifically looking for what YOU offer

Sounds great, right? But how do you prove all that?

You can measure SEO for tangible results in the following ways

Get access to your analytics — Learn how to use analytics software to track what your website traffic looks like over a period of time. Use tools such as Google Analytics, customized software, or a combination of the two for additional insight.

Know where you’re starting — Establish a baseline of website hits and your search rankings before you begin any of your SEO efforts. That way, you can see the changes happening as your SEO strategy begins to take shape.

Know where you want to go — Understand how to measure what’s important to you — go way beyond search engine ranking and take a look at the actual activity on your website. Measure changes in the actions you want people to take. For example, are you looking for visitors to:

1. Click on your blog?
2. Fill out a form?
3. Sign up for newsletter?
4. Ask for a demo?
5. Make a purchase?

Keep measuring your SEO efforts — constantly

Do not assume your SEO strategy is ever finished. Instead, your SEO provider should give you regular reports on how your website is doing along with your own analytics. Be willing and able to make adjustments frequently to maintain positive results.

That last step is most important. After all, chances are your boss won’t ask about your ROI just once. Justifying your costs is something you’ll have to do regularly. So if you already have the information you need, providing the information — and getting the buy-in — will be (almost) painless.>