by Kaci Bower, Research Analyst

Chart: Increasing Web traffic and lead generation top the list for SEO objectives

Q. Which are the MOST IMPORTANT OBJECTIVES with respect to your organization's search engine optimization (SEO) programs in the next 12 months?




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Increasing Web traffic and leads from SEO campaigns are the top objectives for all organizations surveyed. These objectives mirror the top two challenges faced by organizations over the past year.

The lack of an effective strategy was the third-most frustrating challenge faced by organizations. Despite the clear need for a strategy, organizations relegated the development of one down to the seventh spot, choosing instead to focus on more "measurable" objectives – even if having a strategy would help organizations deliver measurably better results.

When examining the data by organizational size, nearly half of large organizations will put attention to social media integration in the next 12 months. Larger organizations typically lag in this initiative, given the difficulty of devising corporate guidelines and standards of procedure for social media activities.

Achieving and increasing measurable ROI is a critical objective for 70 percent of mid-sized organizations. Many marketers shared that they want to improve the ROI on search, but struggle with quantifying the opportunities.

For additional research data and insights about search engine optimization, download the free Executive Summary from the MarketingSherpa 2011 Search Marketing Benchmark Report.

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