Firms 'should complement SEO with a strong website'

13:44 12th June 2009

Companies that fail to ensure their website is of a high quality and is easy to use could be missing out on a large number of sales, it has been claimed.

According to PitchEngine.com, search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay per click (PPC) should be utilised to draw in as much traffic as possible to a website.

However, it noted that once potential customers have been brought to a site, it is important to be able to convert the traffic to sales.

This can be done by taking care over brand identity, traction incentives and a usable website.

The online portal noted that if two per cent of the traffic make purchases and this pays for the marketing budget, it still means that 98 per cent of the traffic has been wasted.

Consequently, PitchEngine.com advised combining a strong SEO and PPC campaign with a high quality website.

"The company who drives the most traffic, has the strongest brand identity, keeps the user on the site with traction incentives, and presents their website content in the most user-friendly layout are almost guaranteed to close over seven [out of] ten qualified leads."

This, it said, represents a 70 per cent return on investment, as opposed to a two per cent conversion rate.

This comes after Jack Mon, an SEO consultant, said the best way to attract potential customers to a site is to invest in an effective SEO campaign.