How To Make Your Boss Spend More On SEO
Saturday, October 31st, 2009When you look at the numbers regarding a business’s online methods of getting its name out there and noticed by people, usually SEO efforts get the short end of the stick. Unfortunately for the companies that don’t spend much on SEO and focus on the advertising that appears on the right hand side of most search results screens, only a little over half of people ever look at that side of the screen. However, everyone, a full 100% of all seekers, look at the organic search results on the left side of the page. Let me make it clear: if 5 million people were to look up something on Google, all 5 million of them would look at the left hand side, while around 2.6 to 2.8 million would look to the right, at the advertised links.
To make matters even more interesting, only around half of all searchers look below the first sixth listing in those organic results most of the time. What this means, essentially, is that the top left of the first page of an engine’s results is the hottest, most looked at portion. This should be the focus of your boss’s efforts, not the right side of the screen.
Then again, most of you reading this already knew that, didn’t you? The trick is convincing your boss of this reality.
The task of convincing your employer can be quite a task. Not only is making him understand the benefits of SEO difficult, but getting him to act on this information and spend more on SEO efforts can be quite an uphill battle. What, then, is the best plan of attack?
As most business leaders today only have a basic understanding of the Internet, e-commerce, and the digital world, the first thing you do is avoid using technical jargon - at least in the beginning. Focus on the numbers, give him a simple rundown of the percentages mentioned above, and, if possible, reinforce this with visual data.
While pie charts and bar graphs will be really useful in getting your point across, think creatively about how you can use images to really drive your point home. A “Google Heat Map” can be exceptionally useful here, as it can very quickly show what would take all those numbers and charts time to reveal. Don’t just use logic to try and convince your boss: use your tone of voice and body language to denote excitement, which is very contagious and very useful in persuading people. Emotion is key.
Talk a lot about the money, as you’re employer as a natural interest in the finances of his company. Focus on the improved cost-effectiveness of a more SEO-centric plan.
Ultimately, your tone of voice and the materials you present should all be used in a persuasive manner. Use any means necessary (within reason) to show your boss the light.
About the author: Rune Risom, passionate SEO entrepeneur from free seo service SEOsupporter.com. Also the founder of web directories like GuideToTheWeb.net and BestLinksAround.com where you can submit links for free.

