“Opportunities are Being Missed” as Bulk of Sites Have Little to No Optimization -- Eighty-three percent of Internet Retailer Magazine’s top 100 sites are not fully using search engine optimization and marketing, missing profitable opportunities and risking loss of market share, according to a new study by Oneupweb, the trusted leader in search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM). There’s Still Money on the Table: Internet Retailer Study 2005 can be downloaded at Oneupweb.com.
Lake Leelanau, MI (PRWEB) October 11, 2005 -– Eighty-three percent of Internet Retailer Magazine’s top 100 sites are not fully using search engine optimization and marketing, missing profitable opportunities and risking loss of market share, according to a new study by Oneupweb, the trusted leader in search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM). There’s Still Money on the Table: Internet Retailer Study 2005 can be downloaded at Oneupweb.com.
“While the study shows that more sites are using search engine optimization overall,” says Oneupweb CEO Lisa Wehr, “sites aren’t using sophisticated techniques combined with well-developed content. And that’s the crucial strategy that brings better positions on the search engine results pages, more visibility, higher conversion rates and stronger market share.”
Oneupweb studied each site’s meta tags, site architecture, keywords, content and other tactics that could affect the sites’ ability to be spidered by search engines and position well on the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Of Internet Retailer Magazine’s top 100 sites, Oneupweb found:
- 17% well optimized (in 04, 12%)
- 25% moderately optimized (in 04, 23%)
- 35% nominally optimized (in 04, 29%)
- 23% not optimized at all (in 04, 36%)
It has long been established that there is a strong correlation between website optimization and search engine positioning, traffic and sales conversions. (See Oneupweb’s Target Google’s Top Ten to Sell Online.) Accordingly, Oneupweb found 89 percent of the well-optimized sites positioned on the first three pages of results for searches of their respective keywords—52 percent appeared on the first page of results. In comparison, Oneupweb found that only four percent of sites not optimized appeared in the first through third SERPs.
“Search engine success is not a big mystery,” says Megan Dwyer, Research Manager at Oneupweb. “As you get higher in the results pages, your visitors increase and you make more profits. The most effective method to drive this kind of success is search engine optimization and marketing. It is surprising that ten years into the internet boom, there are still so many companies that aren’t focusing marketing dollars where they’ll see the greatest return on their investment.”
Oneupweb also examined the level at which these same companies were using paid search (or “sponsored links”), finding that moderately-optimized sites had the highest rate of paid search marketing (68 percent) and that about 53 percent of the well-optimized sites are using paid search.
Finally, Oneupweb examined which of the companies had implemented an analytics tool to track and measure their website traffic and online campaigns. While Oneupweb found evidence of marketing analytics at every level (and at especially high rates with well-optimized sites), it was surprising to find that sites with nominal optimization or no optimization were using analytics at 28 percent and 21 percent respectively.
“This study teaches us one important lesson: There’s still tons of opportunity for companies to realize substantial online gains by implementing search engine optimization and marketing,” says Wehr. “The search spark has matured into a steady flame and it’s only a matter of time until it’s a wildfire.”
About Oneupweb
Oneupweb has been the trusted leader in search engine optimization (SEO) and marketing (SEM) since 1996. The only two-time winner of the prestigious ClickZ Best Search Engine Marketing Vendor Award, Oneupweb specializes in tailoring custom strategies that include natural search engine optimization, paid search marketing, search engine user behavior, PR optimization and marketing analytics designed to deliver superior return on investment. Oneupweb publishes the industry-leading search engine marketing newsletter OneUpNews, providing readers with strategic SEO / SEM insight. Oneupweb’s clients include Unisys, Equifax, Motorola, Avery-Dennison, Maritz, Kimberly-Clark, JC Whitney, among many others. Named to BtoB Magazine’s Who’s Who List in 2004 & 2005 and recognized as a Leader & Innovator by Lawrence Technological University, Oneupweb is a privately held company located in Michigan. For more information on Oneupweb, please contact 231.256.9811 or visit Oneupweb.com.
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