SEO - The cheapest, highly effective online marketing

Compared with advertising with Google Adwords and banner ads, SEO is more cost effective and more reliable.

SEO, which stands for the phrase search engine optimization , is a way to get your site up high in the search results list with targeted keywords. For example, with a real estate news site, if you do good SEO, when users search for land related information, the content of that page will first go up in search results.

Turn the website into a ' star ' on Google

Around the world there are about 263 search engines, the most popular are Google, Yahoo and Bing. However in Vietnam, according to Mr. Nguyen Minh Quy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nova Communications and Technology Company (unit specializing in SEO services), Google is most commonly used in Vietnam, accounting for 90 % of searches. About 74% of Internet users in Vietnam access daily to Google while Yahoo only has 14% (according to VinaLink survey). Therefore, most websites only focus on SEO on Google.

The Google search results site has two parts: the natural search results section on the left and the right-sponsored links section. The right part is for customers who sign up for the Google Adwords keyword advertising service. For example, housing service companies that place advertisements on Google, when there are housing-related query information, the search engine will display the website address of the property service company next to it. Search Results. Google will charge according to the number of searchers who click on the website of the housing service company.

The left part shows natural search results as the market for SEO. International surveys show that about 70% of searchers do not see the first result page at all, 97% do not view the 3rd page of search results. Therefore, if doing good SEO will increase the number of visitors. Access from search sites.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Duc, General Director of Online Solution Development Joint Stock Company Moore said that this company has used the SEO service of Nova for two websites, Anhso.net and Nghenh.info, for nearly two years now. . After the time, the traffic to these websites has increased by about 30-40%.

Not only increase traffic, but SEO also increases the credibility of the website. Typically, websites with quality content, regularly updated and more visitors will be prioritized in search results. Therefore, ' appearing first in natural search results on Google not only helps increase website traffic, it also shows the credibility of users' thoughts about that website ', Mr. Quy said. .

How is SEO?

According to Quy, Google currently has about 200 criteria to determine where a keyword will stand in their search results. In particular, Google only announced some criteria and hide about 30-50% of important criteria. It is the gap that creates opportunities for professional SEO service companies.

In the process of making SEO, Mr. Quy said that the first important step is to research and select keywords that are suitable for customers' promotional needs. This is a very important step, especially in areas where many businesses are interested in SEO.

" For example, a company that sells laptops," laptops "or" notebooks "are two very popular keywords, to make these two keywords topping up requires a lot of time and a lot of money. Therefore, we often advise customers to choose related keywords such as cheap laptops or brand-name laptops such as IBM laptops, Acer laptops, HP laptops , 'Mr. Quy said.

Companies often choose one to three keywords, but there are also companies that make whole-page SEOs, that is, do some main SEO keywords and choose more related sub-keywords.

After choosing keywords, SEO service businesses will optimize the website structure to be more friendly with Google such as software editing (code), layout and structure of the website. Next is the marketing of that site with search engines and other websites.

Unlike other forms of direct advertising such as placing banners or using Google Adwords, the SEO process cannot have immediate results, which can last a few weeks or months depending on the keywords. Popular keywords that push time up in search results will take longer.

To optimize the effectiveness of SEO, Mr. Do The Hung, head of Nova's SEO business group, said that websites should have domain names identical to product or service names, with rich content, clear presentation, information updates regularly and should have website staff.

Cheaper than banner ads and Google Adwords

In terms of cost, SEO is the cheapest form of online marketing. SEO service prices in Vietnam are relatively diverse, usually from 2 million to 6 million or higher with popular keywords.

According to Nova's calculation, the cost of a banner ad is about VND 600-800 / visit and about USD 0.1 / visit of Google Adwords, while it costs one visit. SEO's only about 200 VND.

According to Mr. Quy, the SEO market in Vietnam has not been paid attention, only accounting for about 2% of online advertising revenue but is growing very fast. In particular, Google Adwords service achieved revenue of 32 million USD in Vietnam in fiscal year 2008 (as of October). This year, Google Adwords revenue more than doubled, reaching 78 million USD.

According to experience in some countries ahead of Vietnam in the field of SEO, revenue from advertising by Google Adwords and SEO is often nearly equal. ' But because of the awareness of the benefits of SEO in Vietnam is limited, of course SEO will develop more slowly, ' Mr. Quy said.

However, recently the SEO market is showing positive signs. Currently, on average, each month Nova has 20-30 new customers, including big companies such as Viettel mobile network or Nagakawa air conditioner manufacturer.