SEO investment 'set to increase' in 2011  

There are tentative signs that companies are starting to feel better about paying for services from search engine optimisation providers.
 
Six in ten marketers are set to invest more in search engine optimisation (SEO) in 2011, according to new research by Marketing Sherpa.
 
A survey of over 900 industry experts by the analysis firm indicated that spending on online marketing is set to be increased by the majority of companies in one capacity or another.
 
However, marketers have shown a clear preference for increasing spending on 'soft' marketing - such as changes to website design, use of social media and SEO - over direct advertising techniques.
 
More than two-thirds of those surveyed will spend more money on website design and social media management. By comparison, over half of those surveyed will either cut back on pay per click services, or leave budgets as they are.
 
As well as this, four in ten do not intend to increase their email marketing budgets either.
 
These online direct advertising methods are still expected to receive more new investment than comparative offline channels, such as telemarketing, directmail and tradeshows.
 
The findings have been published in the same week as a new survey by Econsultancy, which indicated that a lack of budget is preventing marketers from properly testing the effectiveness of their online campaigns.
 
A report by the digital marketing firm suggested that many organisations do not believe they have the cash to assess measures such as conversion, while a number are concerned they do not have a proper strategy to assess conversion in the first place.
 
Marketing Sherpa senior research analyst Jen Doyle indicated that SEO and website design are increasingly being recognised by businesses as cost-effective ways of improving an overall marketing strategy.
 
She notes that sales people are "able to effectively generate a high volume of qualified leads" by properly utilising these channels.
 
With organisations complaining about a lack of budget to properly assess their online marketing campaigns, it does beg the question as to how long it will take decision-makers to put two and two together and realise that fully embracing the online channels could save them money in the long run too.
 
Living Streams "Improving clients' profitability through better use of the internet".

Source: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31730