Summary For years, the strategy for the top SEO companies was to improve their sites, but high volume counts for nothing when the actual search traffic to those sites often sits on another site. In recent years, some SEM companies have adopted proactive “influence marketing” strategies that attempt to affect the behavior of what the algorithm determines to be high-value search users. A recent BizJournals survey finds that many SEM firms have really stopped thinking of their searches as searches. Many, if not most, of them no longer even consider clicks to be good leads. Instead, if those clicks are evaluated for their value and chances of a conversion, the answer will be known in online viewability metrics and performance metrics. In many cases, even as the SEO company’s site is still a top search site, the goal is to maximize Clicks by changing links to successful keywords and associated descriptions. The benefit is to expect to get more action through the changing of standard links.

Percent of SEM Companies Using Immediate / Increasing Direct Approach to Driving Contacts and Conversions The importance of click-through rate in creating leads and conversions in today’s bidirectional marketing landscape is now more evident than ever. When a potential lead comes in to call a financial representative, it is virtually inconceivable that that call will lead them on to check out a mortgage or title company. If a lead reaches their site and sees something like “Do Not Call”/”Limit Callers” or something to that effect, they will probably shut it down right then and there, because with those sorts of disclaimers, they have no reason to go deeper into the site. The SEM companies that are truly engaging the searcher with actionable content will find that their increased direct conversation starts far earlier and, over time, can take over as the underlying influence on a searcher’s behavior. BizJournals webinar “Inbound vs Outbound Marketing: The New Way To Get More Leads” is a must-listen for new leads, consultants, and brokers. Learn more on our webinar video.

It’s no secret that online marketers are making a lot of money on SEO, so it makes sense that more SEO agencies are clamoring to satisfy their clients’ thirst for clicks. Unfortunately, this has meant that the increase in clicks has meant that the real business value of leads has been minimized. The most important metric for an SEO company to consider is the average action taken by each lead, as opposed to just the average click-through rate. It is common for a SEM company to receive hundreds of leads from one entity, but if all of those leads do nothing but have email responses or a telephone call, they do nothing. This means that the SEM company could actually be losing a potential lead if they give them no actionable lead, and be working with the wrong company.

There are good reasons why the average action taken by a lead may be less than a click-through rate: They may be coming from the wrong source or they may not be the best leads for the company. But if the lead is an average lead and if they are already interacting with the website, there is an actionable lead. That is why traffic counts mean nothing.

The additional information needed to know and understand the value of leads comes from observing which leads engage and which do not. It is those leads that companies should be attacking with a mixture of content and sales assistance. Those leads that engage the SEO company’s website should be significantly increasing the company’s prospects for conversion. That is the actionable lead, and the person who may have just been the most low-value person to ever come into your website.