SEO, Search Engine Optimization is the process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a website, and ensuring that the website places at the top of the rankings when those keyword phrases are included in a user’s search using search engines or directories such as Google, Yahoo!, AltaVisa and others.

Eighty-five percent of Internet users go to leading search engines to find what they are looking for, but they typically do not go beyond the first page of an engine’s search results. This is why keyword positioning and website promotion is critical for placement within the top ten listing of a results page.

So how does a company get its website placed in the top ten or higher? Well, unlike some years ago when search results were based on how often words appeared on a site, today companies have to pay for high rankings. In the past two years, SEO has become the premier marketing vehicle for acquiring new customers. This is because pay-for-placement in search engines and web directories is now the most cost effective marketing method (search: $0.29 per lead vs. $0.50 per lead for email and $9.94 per lead for direct mail).

In addition, businesses only spend what they can afford, and always know exactly how much they will pay for a visitor who comes to their site. Compare this to other types of advertising where companies pay up front and may never know how many new leads came from a specific initiative.

However, managing top placement on search engines is not easy. Each search engine has a unique index of pages, and differing relevance algorithms. This is why one gets very different results using the same query words on different engines.

Even at the most basic level, for example inputting a keyword list for only one engine and maintaining top results, SEO can take considerable time. First due to the initial research and strategy work in choosing the most effective words required, and secondly tracking the competing companies bidding against you.

Given the difficulties of manually tracking and adjusting bids, unless you are an SEO expert or have one on staff, it may be more advantageous to hire an outside agency to manage your company’s SEO needs.

When the Milan Chamber of Italy wanted to increase the exposure for its web portal initiative promoting Italian artisans in the U.S., they hired Webb Communications to help them with promotion. As part of the online initiative, Webb executed an SEO campaign that listed the portal across multiple search engines, resulting in a 20% increase in site traffic.

Webb saved the Milan Chamber the research time and the resources needed to implement and manage a North American campaign themselves.

The amount of effort to allocate for each search engine depends on the nature of the business, the product, the target audience and of course the budget. The five engines below serve as an example of some the various options.

Google AdWords
	• •	More than 150 million searches a day Rank is determined by combination of cost per click and click through rate
FindWhat
	•	Distribution partners include: CNET's Search.com, Excite, Webcrawler, NBCi, MetaCrawler, Dogpile, and Go2Net
LookSmart LookListings
	• •	LookSmart Network of partners reaches 77% of Internet users each month Allow you to select a monthly budget and click target
Overture
	• •	Reaches more than 80% of active Internet users Distribution partners include: MSN, Yahoo!, Lycos, AltaVista, InfoSpace, Netscape, CNET and Netzero
Sprinks
	• •	Listings appear on About.com and other content destinations Also offer ContentSprinks™ listings, which appear within contextually relevant pages instead of within search results