Posted on the 10-25-2009
Compared to paid advertising on search engine, the budget generally allocated to SEO efforts is really, really small. This holds true even though over half of the eyeballs that gaze upon the Google results page will never venture toward the right side of the screen. Conversely, a full 100% of all eyes will always look at the left side of the screen, at the organic results of that particular search. Did you read that percentage? One hundred percent of eyes will always look at the left side of the search screen.

To make matters even more interesting, only around half of all searchers look below the first sixth listing in those organic results most of the time. What this means, essentially, is that the top left of the first page of an engine's results is the hottest, most looked at portion. This should be the focus of your boss's efforts, not the right side of the screen.

You already knew most of that, didn't you? The trick is convincing your boss of this fact.

It can be hard to convince your employer of the magnitude of this realization, and even harder to convince them to act upon it and spend more on SEO. So what's the best way to go about accomplishing this difficult task?

With most business executives today being part of a generation that grew up before this digital revolution, it would be wise to avoid using too much technical jargon. Focus on what your boss is familiar with: the numbers, and how they correlate into a more cost-effective plan. As pictures are worth a thousand words, using them would be highly effective in getting your point across.

While pie charts and bar graphs will be really useful in getting your point across, think creatively about how you can use images to really drive your point home. A "Google Heat Map" can be exceptionally useful here, as it can very quickly show what would take all those numbers and charts time to reveal. Don't just use logic to try and convince your boss: use your tone of voice and body language to denote excitement, which is very contagious and very useful in persuading people. Emotion is key.

Appeal to his financial interests. Talk up how wasteful it can be to focus exclusively on paid advertising, and mention how much more economic sense it would make to focus more resources on SEO. Money is the lifeblood of any business, and ineffective use of this lifeblood can be detrimental to the business. Use loaded words, if necessary. This is important, and in the end he'll thank you. Possibly with a raise, but we make no promises about that.

Everything you have at your disposal should be used as effectively as possible to convince your boss that increasing the SEO budget is the way to go.