Outlived Its Usefulness


by: Ron Scott, Fast Track SEOP

When it comes to internet marketing, traditional web site
optimization (SEO) still stands as the holy grail, but an increasing
number of small and medium sized business owners, facing the
prospect of high SEO fees, are just now beginning to turn to an
alternative promotional method that is generating consistent and
quantifiable results at a fraction of the cost.

LOS ANGELES, CA (PRWEB) September 17, 2005 - The cost of SEO, at
least when it comes to highly competitive keyword phrases, is
prohibitive for all but those with deep pockets.

"Matt Hocken, of Interactive Marketing, Inc., estimates that one can
expect to pay upwards of $50,000 - $100,000 a year to secure top ten
Google placement for a highly competitive keyword phrase like 'life
insurance' or 'debt consolidation' and that's obviously out of the
question for the small to medium sized business," Ron Scott, Fast
Track SEOP's senior publicist reports.

Even the cost for placement using less popular keyword phrases can
be high.

"A Houston publicist recently paid $5,000 to get her website
optimized for a small number of obscure keyword phrases that
Overture reports are cumulatively generating fewer than 200
inquiries a month. Not told that 50-75% of those searches are being
routinely conducted by webmasters, SEOs, and website owners checking
the current status of their websites, she's now wondering if she'll
ever recoup the expense," Scott says.

So what’s the alternative? Pop-ups? Pop unders? Banner ads? Email?
Not hardly.

Unlike an organic search engine optimization program that can take
months and even years to start showing results, internet press
releases start generating interest the day they are published.

"A properly optimized and distributed press release will typically
generate 50,000 - 100,000 actual reads the first week it goes on
line," says Scott.

According to Scott, unlike traditional press releases, 98% of all
internet press releases are read by consumers and B2B prospects.

"Originally, press releases were the exclusive domain of the Fortune
500 and were directed to the mass media, but not any more. Small and
medium sized businesses have discovered that they can deliver their
messages directly to a broad (national or international) or highly
targeted (local or regional) audience on the internet and, thereby,
eliminate the tedious process of media placement," he says.

Scott points out that the value of an internet press release
promotional strategy doesn’t stop there.

"Press releases can also be optimized for organic search which
enables those who find their newly published websites residing in
Google purgatory, the opportunity to secure top ten rankings in a
week or less," Scott says.

To illustrate the value of the internet marketing strategy, Scott
points to a release he prepared and distributed on behalf of a
little known manufacturer in New Zealand.

"The first 30 calendar days, it generated 133,686 reads, drove over
25,000 visitors to their website, and generated 100s of inquiries
from B2B prospects all over the world," he says. "Since that
sampling taken at the beginning of June, the release has generated
an additional 42,443 reads and a commensurate level of traffic and
inquiries.
"It's the gift that keeps giving," he says.

Has traditional web site optimization outlived its usefulness?

"For most of our clients it has," Scott says.




About the author:
To introduce business owners to the comparative value of an
internet, press release promotional strategy, Fast Track SEOP offers
free, online introductory webinars four days a week. The company, a
full-service internet public relations firm, has developed an online
training program that enables business owners to manage their press
release promotional campaigns in-house. To learn more visit
www.fasttrackrankingandplacement.com