3 © Copyright 2000–2011 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company. It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions, contact [email protected]
K
EY FINDING
:
C
ONTENT CREATION WORKS THE BEST
,
BUT TAKES THE MOST WORK
Keyword and keyphrase research is an old standby.
When done well, this research delivers results and
creates a competitive advantage, explaining its popular levels of usage. Creating title tags is another
keyword-related and commonly used tactic
–
one which marketers considered to be equally effective.
Content creation stands apart in the cluster of tactics, both for its difficulty and its effectiveness. Good
content creates buzz and attracts links. For this reason, marketers who commit to the effort required in
creating quality content can improve their SEO positions.
Chart: Three dimensional view of SEO tactics
But, what is good and effective content? From the perspective of marketers surveyed, Web pages ranked
Digital
asset
optimization
Competitor
Benchmarking
SEO landing
pages
Blogging
Social
media
integration
External link
building
Content
creation
Internal
linking
URL
structure
Meta description
tags
Title tags
Keyword and
keyphrase
research
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Level of Effectiveness
Degree of Difficulty
Sphere size indicates level of usage
Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey
Methodology: Fielded April 2011, N=1,530

MarketingSherpa 2012 Search Marketing Benchmark Report
–
SEO Edition
4
© Copyright 2000
–
2011 MarketingSherpa LLC, a MECLABS Group Company.
It is forbidden to copy this report in any manner. For permissions, contact [email protected]
K
EY FINDING
:
I
NCREMENTAL
SEO
IMPROVEMENTS ADD UP TO LARGE GAINS
Organizations that routinely follow a formal process and thorough guidelines for their SEO practices and
programs reap the biggest bottom-line benefits. One example is lead quality. Organizations in the Trial or
Transition phases for SEO performance management each had a percentage of natural search leads
deemed "low-quality." In contrast, only organizations in the Strategic phase could declare that all leads
from natural search traffic were either of the highest quality or of mixed quality.


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