SEO and Internet Budgeting - Defining Realistic Budgets

How do you approach any other form of marketing you do in your business? It is quite simply another business decision that follows the same process. You do need to understand what your objectives are, what the returns you seek are, how you measure them in terms of dollars and then decide what you are willing to spend in order to reach those goals. The marketing aspects are no different - know the market segments, align your products and services to those segments, define your value proposition and then define the initiatives that need to be put in place to deliver to the objectives.

The first thing you need to clarify in your mind is what it is you are wanting to achieve as a result of your Internet marketing. Whilst there are a wide range of aspects that can be considered the following 3 questions are a very simple start.

1. What would the average value of sale be worth to you for a well qualified lead?

2. What percentage of qualified leads can you assume will convert to actual sales or new business?

3. Given a target for new business sales, how many visitors to your website would you need to generate in order to convert to actual sales?

Now depending on the business you are in, the types of products and services you offer and who your market is and how they make purchasing decisions, the answers you provide will vary considerably. Do not overlook how critical the design of your website also is. Does it induce visitors to take some form of action, does it arouse their interest to find out more and does it support the business operations?

OK - so now you have to look at some further information. What is the history of your website visitor traffic. Who visits your site, where do they come from, what pages do they visit and what percentage of visitors convert to business sales? You do have this information don’t you? If you don’t then arrange to obtain this data right now and start collecting it. A free tool is provided to do this - Google Analytics which offers comprehensive information that is critical to developing and managing any Internet marketing strategy.

Given all this data is now at hand you can ask yourself the next big question. What would it take to attract X additional visitors that can be converted to $Y new business revenue? You now know what you need to do, you can determine what it will cost and then make your business decision. With the right Internet marketing plan in place you will realise hidden revenue opportunities that could simply astound you. You are now in a position to determine what the ROI is for your Internet marketing campaign and decide whether it is worthwhile to proceed.