The Bigger Better Bang is like an Online Annuity

We all know how important search engines are in the travel industry. But do we all know how to invest our search marketing dollars wisely?

Numerous consumer surveys (by comScore, Yahoo, and others) report that three out of four travel buyers consulted search engines before making a purchase, and that travel buyers averaged six relevant searches in the 12 weeks before their transaction.

While "paid search" marketing (such as pay-per-click ads with Google, Yahoo! and others) has dominated the news and is now, according to Forrester Research, a $5 billion industry representing 40 percent of all online advertising, what is generally not understood or fully appreciated by many in the travel industry is the superior value and importance of "organic search" marketing.

According to JupiterResearch, more than 80 percent of clicks on search engine results pages actually go to organic listings versus paid search ads.

According to a study by iProspect, a respected authority on search marketing, 35 percent of marketers surveyed said that organic search optimization efforts led to higher ROI than paid search campaigns. Only 11 percent said paid search produced better results. Clearly organic search is the three-to-one leader for ROI.

So why do many travel industry businesses still rely so heavily on pay-per-click (PPC) instead of investing in an ongoing organic optimization program?

Perhaps because of the two, paid search is easier to understand. You read a rate card. You pay a fee for every click. You go to lunch. When your money runs out, so does your marketing.

Organic search, on the other hand, is a complex process of continually evolving methodology and algorhythmic science that can result in getting very high rankings (naturally or organically) for your Web site in the search engines by optimizing the Web pages submitted to the search engines. It's labor intensive. You work through lunch. But you don't pay a cent for any clicks and your efforts continue to pay rewards as your listings linger over time -- like an online annuity.

Many companies claim they provide search engine optimization (SEO) services, and many entrepreneurs and small businesses attempt to do this on their own. Most come up short. It's not easy.

We know. We began organic search engine marketing in 1993, when very few engines and directories existed. Through the years we have developed proven methodologies that serve our clients well. Today, SEO does not cost nearly as much as what the same rankings would cost if you paid for them on a PPC basis.

For example, in some of our clients' destinations, the most often-used search terms can range in cost from $2.50 or more per click up to $12 per click. Yet, if you compare their organic results to what they would pay for similar listings with PPC, the cost would be more than $9 million per year with PPC versus thousands of dollars for SEO.

A good, ongoing, organic search marketing program provides each of our clients hundreds of high ranking search engine listings and links worth millions of dollars a year for only a few thousand dollars a month. Not only is this a huge cost savings, but organic search listings are what consumers click on most when researching and buying travel online, and the dividends are recurring.

If you would like us to analyze your current search marketing program, shoot me an e-mail. We will be happy to take a top-line look and give you some recommendations to improve your bottom line. Contact me at lwoolford@usdm.net.

-- Leah Woolford

Source: WebResults, "Organic Search Yields Healthier ROI," September 2005

Posted at 10:14 AM