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Subject: Re: UKNM: Search Engines, etc
From: John Nugent
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1998 13:56:58 +0100

At 12:21 29/09/98 -0400, Eric Ward 'Named one of the world's 100 most
influential people on the Web' wrote:

>>by hand, sometimes several times over. That's because 99% of your traffic is
>>likely to come from these, 1% the rest, and most of the major search engines
>
>As one of the very first members of the submission
>industry, over 5 years ago, before Yahoo.com existed,
>before any submission bots and any submission services, I
>assure you that the above kind of thinking is exactly what
>kills most web sites.

Eric,

According to a report by CommerceNet/Nielsen Media Research last year, the
method used most often to find Web information:
Percent
* Search engines 71%
* Recommendations from friends/relatives 10
* Newspapers and magazines 9
* Links from other Web sites 8
* Television 4
* Printed Internet directories 3

While these stats should be taken with a pinch of salt, they are not
entirely out of line with my experience.

As I'm sure you're aware, the benefit of a good search engine (SE) ranking
is that it is a cheap source of traffic - not free, as it usually costs to
have someone keep you there, but more cost effective than paying CPM on
banners, for example.

IMO SE promotion is a basic essential for all online businesses and if
neglected you can guarantee that a good percentage of potential customers
will find your competitors before they find you.

Or worse! I had a meeting with a potential client recently and checked the
search engines for background info - they weren't listed and the first six
results that came up on their company name were from a site that detailed
their advertising standards infringements!

In that SE promotion is only part of the online marketing mix, I agree with
you entirely - banner advertising, online PR, sponsorships, affiliate
programs and e-commerce deals all play their part, and pay my bills.

However, an interesting point here is that content providers appear to be
finding exclusive e-commerce deals with retailers more lucrative than

advertising and sponsorship revenue - such that they do not accept
advertising from competitors to the partner retailer.

This forces online media buyers to rely far more on demographics than
content, catching the punter where they can - which may partly explain the
general decrease in click-through rates.

Is the availability of online channels to market going to drop like Bill's
pants (Clinton not Gates)? Anyone care to comment...?

John Nugent
Director, The Digital Marketing Agency
Email: johnatmarketing-agency [dot] com
Web: http://www.marketing-agency.com
Phone UK: 0468 893202
Phone Int: 0044 468 893202
Post: Portland Mansions, Addison Bridge Place,
London W14 8XL, UK.

*********************************************************
"We don't want to post a profit! A dollar spent today on
marketing is worth ten times that much next year."
Halsey Minor, founder of CNET
*********************************************************



Replies
  Re: UKNM: Search Engines, Ray Taylor
  Re: UKNM: Search Engines, Eric Ward -URLwire Web La

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