Spend on search engine optimization (SEO) will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15% over the next 3 years to $5.1 billion by the end of 2014, according to Forrester Research. Why ? Having mastered paid search initiatives, online marketers are strategically increasing their SEO budgets, sharpening their focus on optimizing traffic from natural search to generate more targeted clicks at a much lower cost.

SEO: TRUSTED, EFFECTIVE, LOW-COST

Optimizing your Website’s content and architecture for the major web search engines, such as Google, Yahoo!, and Bing, is no longer optional for operating a successful web property. Although driving traffic and more qualified customers from natural search is mission critical – impacting up to half or more of a Web site’s total traffic – search engine optimization (SEO) fundamentals need to be implemented .
Why should SEO matter to your online business strategy ?

HIGH ORGANIC / NATURAL RANKINGS = HIGH TRUST

With more than 100 billion searches each month , people have come to rely on web search engines as trusted sources of information. Experience has taught them that the highest ranking links provide the most relevant results for their needs, increasing the number of searchers who never look beyond the first one or two results .

The Edelman Trust Barometer found that among 35-to-64 year-olds, web search engines are the most trusted of all digital channels of information.

SEARCH ENGINE VISIBILITY, MAY 2009