How To Make Your Boss Spend More On SEO
When you look at the numbers regarding a business’s online methods of getting its name out there and noticed by people, usually SEO efforts get the short end of the stick. Unfortunately for the companies that don’t spend much on SEO and focus on the advertising that appears on the right hand side of most search results screens, only a little over half of people ever look at that side of the screen. However, everyone, a full 100% of all seekers, look at the organic search results on the left side of the page. Let me make it clear: if 5 million people were to look up something on Google, all 5 million of them would look at the left hand side, while around 2.6 to 2.8 million would look to the right, at the advertised links.
Even more importantly, only half of all those eyes focused on the left side of the screen look below the sixth listing of those organic results. What does this mean, exactly? It’s simple, really: a much bigger focus of your company’s budget should be focused on getting your website listed as highly as possible on that list.
All of you need to explain this to your bosses. Right now would be the best time.
It can be hard to convince your employer of the magnitude of this realization, and even harder to convince them to act upon it and spend more on SEO. So what’s the best way to go about accomplishing this difficult task?
As most business leaders today only have a basic understanding of the Internet, e-commerce, and the digital world, the first thing you do is avoid using technical jargon – at least in the beginning. Focus on the numbers, give him a simple rundown of the percentages mentioned above, and, if possible, reinforce this with visual data.
Show your boss pictures. This doesn’t have to be limited to pie charts and bar graphs, but anything that can be used to quickly and effectively get the point across. Create a “Google Heat Map,” using a color scheme similar to what you’d see on a weather map, clearly showing where all of those desired eyeballs are focusing most of the time. As much as possible, bypass his logical centers and focus on the emotional centers of his mind. Show excitement about the possibilities of a more cost-effective solution that focuses more on SEO, and be persuasive when it’s time for the call to action. Your tone of voice and body language are essential assets to the art of persuasion: use them.
Appeal to his financial interests. Talk up how wasteful it can be to focus exclusively on paid advertising, and mention how much more economic sense it would make to focus more resources on SEO. Money is the lifeblood of any business, and ineffective use of this lifeblood can be detrimental to the business. Use loaded words, if necessary. This is important, and in the end he’ll thank you. Possibly with a raise, but we make no promises about that.
Ultimately, your tone of voice and the materials you present should all be used in a persuasive manner. Use any means necessary (within reason) to show your boss the light.
About the author: Rune Risom, commited SEO innovator from free search engine optimization service SEOsupporter.com. Also behind web directories like BestLinksAround.com and GuideToTheWeb.net where you can submit links for free.


