A search optimisation SWOT analysis
The following is a 'SWOT' analysis of the market for search engine marketing.
Strengths
- More businesses, both large and small, are allocating larger budgets to search engine marketing because they are achieving excellent results both for brand-building and direct response objectives.
- The emergence of pay-per-click has drawn the attention of marketers to the importance of search engine optimisation with the result that many businesses now have complementary PPC and SEO strategies
- SEO is no longer seen as something obscure which falls within the remit of IT
- Improving analytics means that it is becoming increasingly easy to prove the ROI from search
- The traffic from SEO is very low cost
- Marketing directors are increasingly recognising the importance of having a search strategy which is integrated into the online channel and overall marketing mix
- The benefits of ethical SEO - and the dangers of unethical techniques - are more widely recognised by companies
- High natural search listings are increasingly the consequence of helping customers with an informative, authoritative and accessible website
- The major agencies are singing from the same hymn sheet on ethical matters
Weaknesses
- It is becoming harder for many small businesses to compete on generic keywords because of rising CPC charges
- The major search engines will continue to refine and re-invent their rules and criteria for ranking which means there can be no promises of high rankings and instant visibility
- SEO is often a long-term strategy
- Many internet users will continue to avoid paid listings
Opportunities
- As search becomes more complicated and versatile, businesses will have more to gain from hiring an agency to help them recommend and implement search marketing strategies
- Niche online retailers will continue to invest higher budgets as search increasingly becomes a virtual shopping mall for specialist vendors
- There are still big brands out there who have not yet recognised the importance of visibility
- Agencies have the chance to win business as more major companies realise that customers associate top listings with top brands
- Increasing broadband penetration means that the influence of search will keep growing
- The use of personalised search tools will soon become commonplace, allowing u sers to search by location and other preferences
- This will give more marketers the opportunity to extend their brands into different regions and countries at a relatively low cost
- There is scope for increased integration of search marketing with other marketing activities - both within the digital marketing channel and traditional
- Marketers are starting to reap the benefits of synergies between search and other areas of marketing such as online PR
Threats
- There is a threat to agencies if companies choose to do their website marketing in-house because they are unconvinced of the return on investment if they use an outside specialist
- Many websites belonging to major brands use dynamic content management systems which are not search engine friendly
- This may prevent or delay companies from spending money on SEO
- PPC fraud is a problem for search engines and for businesses
- Marketers must use methods that track visitor activity to the point of sale, evaluating the ROI of all traffic sources and ensuring the quality of visitors
- Concerns over rising CPC/bid inflation may deter spending on paid search, especially SME spending on brand-building
- Cowboy one-man bands or agencies pose a threat to businesses if they use unethical techniques
- Shady practices could result in a search engine ban resulting in damages to brand
- Unethical practices include getting traffic from fake search engines, cyber squatting in meta tags and offering to sell keywords in the address bar
- It may be difficult to prove ROI of search in cases where a customer has done his research online but gone to a shop or showroom to make the purchase
- Some agencies may be held back if they have the wrong balance between technical expertise and all-round marketing competence
- Agencies increasingly need to look at businesses holistically
