British firms will spend a quarter more on search advertising this year than last, a new report released by E-consultancy predicts.
The online marketing maestros have published their Search Engine Marketing Buyer's Guide, which forecasts search marketing spending will increase by 24% this year.
It asserts that, despite the possibility of a recession hitting ad spend, firms will keep upping their search marketing budgets.
This year, E-consultancy anticipates companies will dedicate £2.7 billion to search engine promotions.
Of that, it estimates £2.42 billion will go on paid tactics, while £330 million will be spent on search engine optimisation.
I do not find this surprising. Both tactics have pros and cons but search marketing is easily measurable and that is why it is so commonly used.
Obviously, firms like to be able to measure their return on investment – that is how marketers justify their spending and, to be frank, existence to their bosses.
Yet a company is missing out on a vast potential revenue stream if it does not use SEO as well as pay per click.
I think it is very important for a firm to explore every avenue when raising its online profile. An effective online marketing campaign uses every possible method of putting its name in front of potential customers.
Once the growth in online marketing spend starts to slow, I believe money spent on organic SEO will rise, long after paid search spending stalls.
There will be a period where companies recognise that organic tactics are less measurable and harder to achieve but essential if they are to truly beat the competition.
Kevin Gibbons is Director of Search for SEOptimise .
Posted 15 September 2008 11:06am by Kevin Gibbons with 3 comments
Tags: Search, Google Adwords
Topics: Business to Business, Online Surveys & Research, Search Marketing - Organic/Natural (SEO), Search Marketing - Paid (PPC)
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Graham Charlton
Online Advertising
15 September 2008 17:17PM
In the U.S. we are seeing a surge in the demand for "intelligent" SEO. I believe business-to-business companies (where we specialize) are realizing the importance of a high organic ranking and are also realizing that achieving & maintaining high rankings is an on-going process.
Susan
9 October 2008 23:01PM
I think one of the reasons SEO is not invested in properly, is because people take it for granted. It is not invested in properly in several of my clients websites and often internal people do not appreciate SEO because of the much smaller fee in comparison to PPC. This in turn leads people into believing that it should have less spent on it. This is a ridiculous attitude and reflects the skill you see in many top companies these days. People are not switched on, otherwise they would spot the massive potential SEO has for many websites. Good investment in SEO leads to cheaper sales, the cost of PPC is always expensive, yet this seems to be why people invest more into it. On the basis of my experiences in various businesses, this reflects very badly on the majority of online marketing managers, most have no idea of what they are doing. If you want to know how to go about SEO properly, contact me.
15 October 2008 19:18PM
Hmmm.. That is truly sad. The great thing is that there is still a huge market out there and someone always looking for quality help. I also agree with Susan, there is a major need for intelligent SEO instead of the millions that claim to be talented seo service providers.