When it comes to online marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) is seen as a key tool since most individuals use search engines to look for anything on the internet. But it must be understood that SEO’s purposes bear a difference to the purposes of a business site.

Business sites are used for a variety of purposes but mainly it is considered as a conversion tool by companies. The conversion can occur on the site instantly. If it is an e-commerce site, the visitors can buy items immediately on the website. Or it could get more people to sign up for email newsletters. If the conversion does not occur immediately in the site, the website could be used to get people to engage in another kind of action such as contacting the business or locating the business’ location to visit the place. Basically, a business site works as a sales or promotion tool for a business meant to bolster conversions. But to have this happen, marketers essentially need to get people to visit the site first.

This is where a business will need SEO, which is mainly used to drive specific and targeted traffic to a website. It is assumed that a successful SEO campaign will immediately translate to an increase in conversions. However, this doesn’t work all the time and the conversions projected aren’t what the site owners expected. This results in a battle between the site owner and the in-house team or person or even an outsourced firm in charge of SEO. It is understandable that business and site owners want to see a rate increase when it comes to conversions because this equates to an increase in the bottom line and it will justify the budget being given to improving SEO of a company. However, a professional that works on SEO can do everything in his or her ability to get the job done but they do not have control of the site nor of the interest people have over the product or service provided.

SEO can be accurately measured if an improvement in visitor numbers who find the site through organic search and keywords are utilized to locate the website. An SEO campaign needs the incorporation of new keywords into the equation. It becomes successful when people use these relevant keywords and find your site.

But when the time comes that SEO isn’t resulting in conversions, it is important to realize that SEO isn’t the problem. Businesses need to examine their sites and inspect the business model. If the site isn’t user-friendly, the best SEO efforts won’t save it. The products and services also need to be examined. It might not be priced right. SEO will help you gain traffic but it is important to improve the site and product and services as well.