Forget Kermit – It’s Easier Being Green

At the risk of being chased by Ms. Piggy for such a title, it’s true.  Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s Not Easy Being Green” before organic search results were important.

Kermit the Frog

Ok, cheeky semantics aside, life as a business owner IS a lot easier if leads are banging down your door, especially in today’s economy, right? If you had a choice between less leads or more leads, assuming the cost is the same either way, which one are you going to choose?

What do more leads and green have in common?  Organic Google search results. If you aren’t sure what organic search results are, it’s pretty simple.  It’s the user-generated content vs. the sponsored advertisements.  You know, the ads on the right side and the top of a Google Search Engine Results Page (also known as a SERP) that most people generally ignore.

Heat Map of Google Organic Search Results and Clicks

The picture above shows where the eyeballs mostly go.  The more “intense” the stare, the redder (hotter) the color. The sponsored ads area on the right is pretty cold. The 1st three search results on the left side get most of the attention.

See that red line across the bottom half?  That’s called the “Fold Line”, and it shows where the computer screen ends.  This picture shows that the person has paid relatively little attention to the results below the line. So the best bet is to show up in the top 5 results of a Google Search.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with a Pay Per Click Campaign. I’m just pointing out it might be easier to get leads if you are in a room with more people in it. And companies who have their websites showing up in the organic research results are in a really big party. The Pay Per Click party is still going on, but it’s an exlusive, expensive party with a lot less people in it.

Considering that as much as 80% of all online activity starts with online search, there’s a whole lot of searching going on. Think about it. The last time you were trying to figure out the solution for a problem, how did you find the answer? The encyclopedia? I bet it was the online version.

There’s a variety of organic content to create. To be really effective, work out a market development strategy that includes market research data collection and relevant visual content, such as custom video production. Without the market research data collection, you risk creating content that might eventually turn off your potential leads. Take the time and invest in good research, it will pay off tenfold in the long run.  Short-term thinking can turn into long-term disaster.

In short, if you want more leads, go green and be organic.

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