Search engine optimization and its impact
Search engine optimization is potentially one of the marketing tools that impact the visibility of a business to the global market. Start-up businesses have significantly negated to leverage on the benefits of SEO, primarily due to low financial outlay. The large corporations rank highly on search engines, thus subduing the new entrants, who have little knowledge about the customers. In this study, the particular elements of concern are to investigate the impact of SEO on return on investment and how the technique create links to new and existing customers. To test the hypothesis, literature review method was utilized accompanied by phenomenological research design. The choice allowed an in-depth understanding of the topic under consideration. Previous literatures were collected from reliable online platforms such as Google Scholar and organized based on themes. The data extraction process involved comparing and contrasting the information from various authors, as well as checking the reliability of their primary methodologies. The results indicate that there is a direct relationship between SEO marketing and ROI as well as attracting more customers.
Keywords: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Return on Investment (ROI), Start-up.
Introduction
It is undeniable that the usage of internet is increasing at a very high rate which makes it a compulsory channel for marketing. For instance, the growth of internet users increased from around one billion in 2015 to over 3.5 billion in 2016 across the globe (Burgess 2016). Search engines such as Google and others are currently being used by more than 70% of internet users to look up for information on various issues such as events, people, products and places (Aswaniet al. 2018). Many successful businesses have taken advantage of search engines to have worldwide visibility. According to Crane (2011, p.120), hourly SEO averages at $75 and monthly retainer ranges between $1500-$3000. In the same vein, pay for performance SEO is the cheapest, because the payment is only done after the ranking is executed. SEM goes beyond online ranking and focuses on the entirety of digital marketing (Royo-Vela and Hunermund 2016). Search Engine Marketing involves other methods such as PPC, which can significantly improve the visibility of the startups at a lower cost (Shih et al. 2011). However, SEO is more focused, and would ideally position the new businesses to a better place in comparison to the competitors.
Search Engine Optimization is specialized software that searches content over the World Wide Web (Gaur 2014). It enables the users to get the exact information, which they need to find out (Dinesh et al. 2011). Currently, different platforms are allowing the people to look up for information. Some of them are Yahoo, Bing among others. With increasing use of internet, search engines are becoming paramount for businesses and individuals (Crane 2011). They are used to extract the data and subsequently utilized to serve the purposes of the users. For example, the business can use the information to position its products to the prospective customers (Berman and Katona 2013). On the other hand, the buyers search for the companies that could be offering what they need. In particular, Google has become the most effective engine in linking the customers to the buyers (Sergey and Page 2012). Due to these effects, Cui and Hu (2011, p.100) noted that designers of the business’s website should take keen consideration in learning effective techniques to improve ranking in online searches. The study conducted by Shih et al. (2011, p.528) pointed out that about 60% of the people get attracted to the front page of the search engine when locating products or services. The research further illustrates that about 40% of the online visitors go beyond the second page, and those who navigate beyond the third page are 5%. Therefore, getting the high ranking in the search platform is important, thus the need of SEO.
To achieve a high ranking when a potential customer searches in the engine, the publisher needs to create web documents and other information in a manner that the search engine can easily find them (Zlincan 2015). This mechanism of making it easy and quick for the search engine to crawl, index and understand the contents of a website is called Search Engine Optimisation shortened as ‘SEO.’ It is one of the commonly used online marketing strategies by various businesses, both large and middle level, while some start-ups are also trying to follow the path (Aswani et al. 2018). Other online marketing strategies include content and social media marketing.
Start-up businesses are characterized by lack of enough capital to venture into expensive marketing techniques (Sergey and Page 2012). The inability to understand the market better limit their operations thus faces a lot of competition from the already established enterprises. Again, they lack specialized and skilled labor that can offer important guidance on daily operation. As observed by Sinicki (2018, p.97), some outsource certain services, which increases their operational cost. It’s difficult for a new entrant to dive into account based marketing, without a clear knowledge of the kind of customers they serve. They need to be so effective in using SEO, to mitigate the chances of employing more funds in campaigns as opposed to what they get in return. There is no consensus about which mechanisms are better to increase visibility.
This paper mainly examines how the various start-up businesses can effectively employ the various SEO mechanisms to improve their rank in search results hence leading to increased visibility to potential customers. The chapter gives the background of the study and enable establish the gaps that still exist in the sector and therefore be able to come up with effective solutions that will improve their overall performance.
The traditional marketing strategies have mainly revolved around print advertising, spam, cold marketing, junk mails and television among other methods. Although the strategies generated meaningful impacts, the explosion of the internet has changed the way businesses relate to customers (Lee et al. 2014). Also , the advance in the internet has largely altered the manner in which people access relevant information about various products, services, location, and pricing. This brings in a need for businesses and other enterprises to market themselves online through the effective use of search engines. The website of a business can easily be found through use of a search engine even without having a direct link to the site by the appropriate use of keywords when searching (Abrar et al. 2016).
The various proponents of SEO support it as an important mechanism in-bound marketing strategy that effectively targets a potential customer without even a need for adding store locations. It is a long-term strategy in marketing, where higher ranking in search results will probably lead to higher traffic to a site hence trapping more customers, thus improving the online visibility of a business (Royo-Vela and Hunermund 2016). Several strategies for implementing search engine optimization have been fronted. Among them include an on-page strategy which involves the modification of a website to make it easily searchable by the publisher through the content package, titles, structure and so forth. Another one is, use off- page modification strategy where other persons and visitors boost the traffic of the website through actions such as link sharing and referrals to a website mainly through the use of social networks, blogs and other forums (Shih et al. 2013)
Analytical research by Nayyar and Pandey (2016, p.6) observed that more than 60% of searches are organic where the visitors are referred by search engine instead of using direct links. Therefore, by incorporating SEO techniques, there are high opportunities for getting more visibility and clients. A survey carried out by Zhang and Dimitroff (2013, p.698) indicates that more than 80% of consumers in the U.S searched for local businesses using the search engines. The same survey indicated that among the various small upcoming businesses in, many customers would hardly look for results beyond the first one or two pages of the Google or Bing Search. This point to a dire need to implement SEO to make the business website more visible during searches. Research carried out in 2015 to test the impact of SEO on the website traffic indicated quantitively, that there was an increase in the organic traffic search after implementation of SEO techniques (Zilincan 2015).
The results of a study carried out by Shih et al. ( 2013, p.532) indicates that with a well-designed SEO strategy coupled with proper social networking, there is a high probability of an increase in traffic to a website which could consequently lead to increased visibility of a product to potential customers. It also plays a very critical role in linking the firms with potential customers and at the same time improving their brand image.
These empirical findings have demonstrated that proper implementation of SEO is beneficial to any website especially for the independent professionals and small businesses that are struggling to get visibility compared to the giant businesses which are already established. However, this cannot be achieved without understanding the right mix of both the on-page and off-page optimization techniques. The clear finding is that mere optimization of engine search is not adequate. This essentially means that a publisher has to modify the website in a unique way that captures the keywords, relevant title, descriptive heading and appropriately structuring the URL to be very user-friendly. This should be augmented by building up stronger external connections and quality links with the relevant partners and combining it with content marketing (Barreda et al. 2016)
According to Panda ( 2013, p.57), while recognizing increased rankings on the search engine as the main goals for adopting SEO strategies, the real pointer of success should be on the real revenue a business derives from the increased exposure. This is the driving force that makes more and more businesses strive to utilize these strategies.
Problem Statement
All the reviewed literature has indicated the importance that comes up with embracing SEO as a marketing strategy. The proper implementation of SEO is beneficial to any website especially for the small businesses that compete with big companies (Barreda et al. 2016). SEO is constantly on growth and expanding to new areas. It has played a significant role for the large and mid-size businesses (Kritzinger and Weideman 2013). The existing literature is mainly praising SEO as a vital strategy in marketing. However, there exists little or no adequate understanding of the most optimal approach that the start-up business should undertake when implementing the digital marketing strategy (Kritzinger and Weideman 2013). This, therefore, brings in a need to identify and establish the best strategic plan a start-up business can utilize the SEO techniques to compete favorably with the already big and established corporations. The research problem can be hypothesized as:
The lack of an appropriate SEO implementation plan, with key emphasis on cost-benefit analysis, may be a contributing factor to why many start-up businesses shy away from implementing SEO strategies as their marketing tool.
Objectives
- To determine the effectiveness of SEO techniques in establishing links between new and existing customers.
- To evaluate how SEO affect the Return on Investment (ROI).
- The aim of the study
The purpose of this study is to evaluate how start-up businesses can leverage on the use of SEO techniques to create links with customers and improve Return on Investment (ROI). The study will use secondary sources, to shed insight on the topic under discussion. This research is inductive as it involves the use of qualitative data to describe the phenomena, which allows the use of qualitative research methodology. The main deliverable is, therefore, an establishment of a framework that the start-up businesses can use to improve their search engine result rankings which are expected to lead to increased visibility for the potential customers.
Research questions
The main question: With the rapid increase in the usage of search engines by customers when looking for various products online, what are the most feasible search engine optimization strategies that start-up business can implement to reap maximum benefit from this rapid development? To answer this question, the specific research questions to be answered are:
- How effectively do the various SEO techniques create links with the new and existing customers?
- How do SEO affect the ROI (Return on Investment)?
Advancing Scientific Knowledge and Significance of the study
The use of Search engine optimization has been indicated by several studies as an important online marketing strategy. However, it has also been shown that there is little information showing or demonstrating the most feasible and effective strategy that the start-ups should use in marketing themselves. It is this gap in the knowledge this study is set to fill. The finding of this study will be a big step for the start-up businesses which are looking at search engine as their marketing outlet. The various business managers both for the start-ups and even in some established organizations will find a useful and actionable framework in optimizing their online visibility in the search ranking.
Definition of terms
Optimization: The process of designing, coding, writing and submitting web pages to search engine to increase the probability of the page appearing on top of search results for given keywords (Abrar et al. 2016).
Listings the result usually displayed by the search engine on the screen of the user after typing in keywords(Nayyar and Pandey 2016).
Keyword refers to the single word or phrase that a user types in the search engine when searching for a particular result (Burgess 2016).
The ranking is the method that the search engine uses to list and display results with the most relevant answers coming through first on the listings (Abrar et al. 2016).
Traffic refers to the number of visitors subscribing or making a query to a particular webpage
URL- Universal Resource Locator, which is the specific name that takes you to a particular website (Nayyar and Pandey 2016).
Web page refers to a single page of a given website which includes graphics, texts, etc. (Shih et al. 2013).
The website refers to a whole assortment of web pages and any other information such as video files, pictures, audio, links to other websites and so forth (Shih et al. 2013).
Summary and organization
Search engine optimization has revolutionized the way marketing is done in the realm of business. Although this area has been dominated by large organizations, the new entrants in the markets can still leverage on this wide area. For quite long the start-up businesses have relied on traditional marketing while losing the benefits of content marketing. To get more insight on the topic under study, the remaining structure of this work is organized in the following format: literature review (Chapter 2), Methodology (Chapter 3), data analysis and the result (Chapter 4) and summary, conclusion, and recommendations (Chapter 5).
Literature Review
Startup business is the one that moves in different cycles before it becomes stable enough to support various operations (Berman and Katona 2013). It begins with the concept, then financial sourcing, laying structures and finally actualizing the primary idea. It differs from the SME in the sense that the latter targets profitability on a long-term basis (Shih et al. 2011). For a starting business, the major objective is top- end revenue to support its growth. According to Crane (2011, p.120), the new entrants in the markets face the challenge of lack of enough capital, which impedes their penetration into the diverse market. Such, they miss out on the modern and most compelling SEO marketing. The efficiency of startups to maneuver in the global economies has continually been subdued by large corporations, which can target the market. However, Sinicki (2018, p.97) noted that the starting businesses could utilize non-paid SEOs to reach out to the customers.
Crane (2011, p.120) opines that search engine optimization is the central forum where sellers and buyers engage. Furthermore, he noted that there are three SEO options for the young businesses, which he classifies as; hiring the SEO agency, in-house SEO or paid campaigns (Shih et al. 2013, p.528). The literature affirms that startups are struggling to incorporate the modern technologies into their marketing plans, which impedes their possibility of growth (Sinicki 2018, p.97). While Crane (2011, p.119) notes that managers should be responsible for the integration of modern technology in startups, Berman and Katona (2013, p.644) feel that it’s expensive. The authors have not given clear thoughts on how new entrants should embrace Search Engine Optimization as a way of marketing.
Return on Investments (ROI)
Return on investment is a method that is commonly used as a metric to measure the performance of the business (Rowley 2000). It’s used by both small and large corporation, to determine the worthiness of investing in a particular idea. SEO is one of the methods used to improve the returns after a business invests in a given concept(Cui and Hu 2011).ROI as a tool of measurement helps in making recommendations on where to improve the operations (Chen et al. 2011).
Rowley (2000, p.203) noted that analytics tools are essential in evaluating which content is most popular with the people. Based on his argument, he opined that it is possible to determine the preferences and trends of customers. Consequently, the business tailors products that meet the exact needs of the clients, hence staying on top of the competitors. However, this research concludes that it’s difficult to ascertain the feedbacks generated through the search engines. Ghose and Yang (2009, p.1605) comment that due to unethical marketing such as keyword spamming, it has become so difficult for the start-ups to tenure the sophisticated market. Instead, he suggests that designers should come up with an SEO system that can generate correct and reliable information. He argues that the proper use of SEO reduces the cost of marketing and consequently increasing the returns, compared to the costs.
The cases study conducted by Rowley (2000, p.212) compared the SEO marketing and pay-per-click advertising. In the research, they aimed to ascertain the cost of implementing the two methods and the one which could generate more return for a startup business. The outcome of this study was interesting because it was noted that SEO marketing cost the pilot companies an average of $3600, to cater for the salaries of the employees and to operate the marketing campaign for one year. Furthermore, the number of visitors who were directed to the companies’ websites totaled to 93,207, and the cost of attracting every single new client was $0.4. On the other hand, pay-per-click (PPP) was regarded as a method that generated quick responses. Regarding cost, the companies spent an average of $1250 to bring in 2057 visitors. The cost of every visit averaged at $61. The study illustrates that SEO marketing is more effective in minimizing the operation cost. The amount of funds used to reach out to the prospective customers is much less than the traffic that is finally generated. Drawing visitors to the website is equated to return that a business receives (Rowley 2000).
Sinicki (2018, p.97) conducted a study to evaluate the impact of SEO marketing on ROI. In their research, they affirmed that SEO tune-up could be utilized to leverage on the visibility to the online users. The study aimed to optimize search keywords, create new pages with the right content, fix technical errors and set up the Google analytics. The results of this study indicated that the strategy improved the traffic from 90 visitors to 279, which was an estimate percentage increase of 179%. It was also noted that there was a conversion rate of 5%, which was related to the returns of $25,000. The average marketing package for the singled start-ups averaged at $500/month, which brought the ROI calculation to 317%. However, the study notes that inaccuracy of content still affects the ROI for start-ups and other established corporations. A more accurate system should be designed to eliminate fake marketers, who aim to subdue the ethical companies. That way, more benefits would be reaped from the investments in digital marketing.
Search Engine Optimization Techniques
SEO techniques are gaining track in the modern world (Dinesh et al. 2011). There is more inclination of the businesses, towards using particular channels, to communicate with a particular set of the group. According to Gaur (2014, p.33), a business resort to the usage of a strategy that would enable them to generate more traffic and save on cost. In the digital era, use of content creation and social platforms has made it easy to reach the target customers (Hutter and Hoffmann 2011). However, adoption of a particular technique is regulated by the nature of the business, regarding size and the products offered.
According to Frydenberg and Miko (2011, p.24), there is a need for learning the emerging trends in web searching. He noted that the continued use of the internet and improvement of technology is impacting the way things are done. Designers of search systems should stand alert to study what other engines are using, helping the clients rank high. Again, Dinesh et al. (2011, p.3847) are of the idea that there is a continuous evolution in SEO concept. Based on their argument, the more people become users of online platforms, the more the companies improve their SEO marketing strategies. Search engines eased the searching of online information (Jamehshooran et al. 2011). The possibility of getting relevant information is, therefore, minimal. Shih et al. (2011, p.528) notes that the marketers should understand the ranking algorithms, to position the business on top of the competitors. Similarly, they noted that there is an importance of understanding the changing practices as well as search engine guidelines. According to Gaur (2014, p.35), the SEO techniques are classified into two broad groups: White Hat and Black Hat. White Hat is the strategy that is used to target the audience and characteristically linked to long-term benefits (Sergey and Page 2012). The content is tailored to focus on the customer’s needs. Some of the techniques under this category are user experience (UX), content development and keywords. On the other hand, the Black Hat is not customer directed. It focuses on getting higher rankings and fails to attend to the clients. Most of them get de-indexed due to use of unethical methods. Some of them are keyword stuffing and use of hidden text (Gaur 2014, p.33). Therefore, the White Hat is more preferred as it guarantees longer outcomes and it is more ethical.
A study conducted by Shafiee et al. (2016, p.7) illustrated that SEO techniques are effective in generating the traffic in the ecotourism websites. It was noted that on-page SEO had a greater impact, as opposed to off-page strategies. The results later confirmed that the marketers were unable to measure the rank changes, which is core information in enabling the managers to make decisions regarding the best alternatives. The feedback from the customers, as noted by Chen et al. (2011, p.464) is essential for startups, which are aiming to grow and expand. The current algorithm in search engine optimization fails to give the responses, which make it hard to determine where to rectify for efficiency improvement.
Sinicki (2018, p.97) notes that amidst stiff competition, start-up businesses need to remain aware of the techniques that they can employ to curtail market denial.SEO is vital in hastening information search since it allows both off - page and on-page marketing, hence leading the customers to their websites. The authors further note that the SEO techniques interact with the customer effectively, without the need for physical demonstrations. Anything can be presented either in the form of images, video clips, or content. This way, the start-ups can venture even in different places irrespective of geographic limitations (Shih et al.2018).
Research conducted by Sharma and Bansal (2016, p.5347) indicated that websites that are well optimized are more visible to the end users. They argue that the designers should always use the right content that aims to capture the first search of the visitors. The authors identified there are no accurate SEO ranking systems, which impedes the visibility of the most websites after organic searches. The accuracy of the content is limited by aspects such as keyword spamming initiated by unethical marketers.
As the businesses seek to go global, so is the competition becoming stiffer, making it hard for the small businesses to thrive (Van de Sand 2017). The study conducted by Berman and Katona (2013, p.650) identified that startups could leverage the power of ranking on Google, to increase their visibility to the potential customers. Furthermore, the campaign can be structured to introduce new consumers who have little knowledge of the products that a particular company offers. According to Perez-Montoro and Codina (2017, p.78), they opine that current customers have turned most of their transactions to the online platforms. The choice allows them to evaluate the provider who meets the specifications they desire in the products. Due to this reason, large organizations have continually dominated the markets (Tsiakali 2018). Supporting this argument, Zhao and Tse (2011, p.123) propound that large corporations have high financial outlay, which makes them stand out among others. Essentially, the starting businesses are subdued and denied visibility. Some of the techniques of SEO marketing are discussed below.
User Experience (UX)
User experience is defined as the effects felt by the final user of a product, device or system (Zuze and Weideman 2013). The purpose of UX is to improve the customer satisfaction and increase the brand loyalty (Tsiakali 2018). Furthermore, he noted that a business should be able to design a website that is user-friendly and easily navigable by any new user. He concluded in his study that the major intention of this method is to generate more traffic and subsequently to improve the sales.
Lack of incorporation of thoughts and their suggestions could impede the growth of the business in the planned manner (Shih et al. 2013). In line with the argument, Tsiakali (2018,p.25) alludes in his study that most of the small businesses have little knowledge on how to go about SEO marketing, which is ideally done to improve the experience of the users. In his study, he employed design science to establish the major reasons the small companies fail to appeal to the customers. He singled out the research papers and consulted commerce databases, to come up with guiding information regarding this matter. In his result, he found out that 83% of the newly established businesses rarely use the SEO marketing, which limits their performance in the complicated market. However, the large corporations continue to dominate this arena, thus making more profits.
User experience is still practiced in the modern digital era (Chen et al. 2011). They also note that the reason people choose to resort to online platforms is that they have other things to do. Reaching out to the customers is a psychological design that aims to lure them towards appreciating what is offered(Zhao and Tse 2011). Therefore, there are some elemental requirements that are needed to meet the competitive edge (Hipwell and Reeves 2013). They are the goal of the business, desire, fear, ambition, and behaviors of the customers. These are core aspects needed for a service or product provider to satisfy the experience of the users. A study conducted by Sinicki (2018, p.97) noted that about 72% of the businesses engaging the SEO marketing improved their bottom line. Another research done by Crane (2011, p.120) affirms that the conversion rate for this kind of marketing stands at 14.6% compared to 1.7% for outbound marketing. It was observed that startups lack enough capital to engage in online marketing, and miss out on the benefits of improving online visibility.
Optimizing Content Search
The major purpose of SEO is to increase the chances of the user, to find the products that business is offering (Cui and Hu 2011). Achieving this role is accompanied by coming up with a well-designed content, that can appeal to the needs of the final user (Shih et al. 2013). Ranking high in the Google search is guided by the use of right keywords, based on the industry. This allows the search engine to crawl through the website, and come up with the correct information (Berman and Katona 2013). Tsiakali (2018, p.24) states that the quality of the content determines the organic traffic generated on the company’s website per a given period.
As it is stated in the research conducted by Cui and Hu (2011, p.102), the business that can create well-curated content can improve its stand based on competition. The higher the ranking on Google, the greater the chance of securing more customers. However, Frydenberg and Miko (2011, p.24) is of the idea that coming up with well-written content is not enough to guarantee more clients. They conducted a study of the fifty best-performing companies in the United States, and fifty startups. Questionnaires were administered to seek more information regarding the impact of SEO on their performance. Based on the results, they noted that the established companies went ahead of just creating the marketing content. Instead, they integrated the aspects of understanding the need and demand of the customers. Also, the startups that had embraced SEO marketing coupled it with outbound familiarization to stimulate growth. They also noted there was laxity in use of SEO among the entrants in the market due to misconception, lack of enough funds, and unwillingness to learn.
As the world continues to experience rapid digital changes, the businesses face internal disruptions (Shih et al. 2013, p.537). The startups feel the shake up more than already established organizations. However, both have to come up with ways of remaining relevant to the outside world (Gaur 2014). The study conducted by Zhao and Tse (2011, p.143) involving one hundred top executives officers identified that machine learning is one of the areas that is gaining momentum.
