Why SEO is the most overrated part of internet marketing

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Everyone is going on and on about SEO. Sure, search engine marketing is important but its far too overrated. SEO can drive traffic however it does nothing after the fact. SEO doesn’t move visitors through a site. SEO doesn’t convert customers. SEO is as much a buzzword as social media.

The most underrated piece, and least known by most internet marketing professionals, is analytics. Not just analytics, but A/B targeting and all of the data and segmentation that goes into understanding what happens once people get to your website. Why companies spend so much time optimizing their site for search and then screw everything else up is beyond me.

So, here are some things to not overlook:
1. If you don’t have analytics your missing everything. Google Analytics is totally free.
2. If you have Google Analytics or Omniture SiteCatalyst (or one of many other analytics products) than ask yourself, what are you doing with it?
3. A few quick tips. Check your bounce rates. Dig deep. Figure out what is going wrong and make some tweaks.
4. Figure out what your goals are. Do you want people to buy your products? Do you want someone to signup to your newsletter? Answer this question.
6. How well are you doing with your goals now? What percentage of users are converting for your goal.
5. Those tweaks could come in the form of A/B testing. It helps to try new things but just randomly trying things never helps you understand one or two changes.
6. Remember, you have a goal. Always try to achieve it.

There are a lot of great books about analytics. Here are some of my favorite:
Analytics 2.0

Actionable Web Analytics: Using Data to Make Smart Business Decisions

Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer

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