Is SEO Still Worth It in 2015?
Its that time of year again time to finalize the operating budget for 2015. In my corporate life, I found that marketing budgets were often the most "fluid" of all expense items. Thats a nice way of saying it was frequently the first place to cut.
I think I know why marketing and advertising are favorites among bean counters looking for places to "cut expenses." It can be summed up in an often quoted statement: "Half our advertising works we just dont know which half." In other words, its hard to quantify. That may have been the case, when ad dollars were primarily spent on newspapers, TV and radio. Fortunately, with internet marketing and Web analytics, that's no longer the case.
The beauty of digital marketing is that you can easily and accurately measure the return on your marketing investment. The key is to measure this metric correctly.I may be a marketer, but Im also a numbers guy and a business owner. When I decide to make an investment, Im reasonably sure of the outcome. I trust that most successful business owners and managers function the same way.
Following is a formula, often used incorrectly, to measure return on Investment (ROI) for organic search:
Organic Search ROI Calculation Assuming "One Shots"
If your average customer only buys from you one time, this is a problem. However, most online retailers rely on repeat business, in order to flourish. Failure to calculate the lifetime value of a newly acquired client distorts the true ROI. The proper way to calculate ROI, when repeat customers are the norm, follows:
Organic Search ROI Calculation Assuming Lifetime Value
As you can see, one variable can make a HUGE difference in properly calculating ROI.
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Is SEO Still Worth It in 2015?