• Search Engine Land
  • Sections
    • SEO
    • SEM
    • Local
    • Retail
    • Google
    • Bing
    • Social
    • Resources
    • More
    • Home
  • Follow Us
    • Follow
  • Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • Live
  • More
  • Events
    • Follow
  • SUBSCRIBE

Search Engine Land

Search Engine Land
  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social
  • Resources
  • More
  • Newsletters
  • Home
SEO

Survey: SEO rated the ‘least popular digital marketing channel’

Only 44% of businesses said SEO was a part of their digital strategy.

Greg Sterling on August 1, 2018 at 12:03 pm
  • More

A recent survey from Clutch found that SEO was the “least popular digital marketing channel” among the choices offered in the survey. Clutch polled 501 marketers from companies of various sizes with at least 100 employees, with revenues from under $50 million to more than $500 million.

Clutch asked, “What digital marketing channels does your company participate in? (i.e., spends time and/or money on).” The following are the top six, according to the survey.

Reportedly, only 44 percent of businesses spend time or money on SEO. That result is pretty surprising, if not inexplicable. Paid search marketing ranked just below content marketing with 47 percent responding that they used it.

Clutch seems surprised by the SEO finding as well and tries to explain why SEO ranked as poorly as it did. The company says that many businesses (and presumably, marketers within those organizations) don’t understand SEO, combined with the fact that SEO results “aren’t immediately obvious.”

It’s certainly true that SEO takes time to show results and that many marketers don’t understand the mechanics and best practices of SEO. However, it’s still very surprising that the majority (56 percent) say they aren’t doing anything to optimize their rankings.

The top marketing objective of the survey population was to increase sales and revenue. This is a direct response objective, which search has historically accomplished better than any other digital channel, with the possible exception of email. It’s also interesting to note that “increase website traffic” was a goal of only 11 percent of these marketers — website visits are a precursor for conversions, presumably. One inference is that people are no longer looking to their websites to drive conversions.

Does this mean that marketers have lost faith or given up on SEO? Many other surveys over the past several years have found that SEO typically ranks in the top three marketing strategies among small businesses and enterprises alike. However, in the recent past, many marketers have become pessimistic or frustrated about traditional SEO in an environment now dominated by mobile search and an increasing volume of ads “above the fold.”

It’s important to note, however, that SEO has continued to evolve as platforms and technologies have evolved. SEO should today be defined to include optimization for voice assistants. Regardless of what we call it, data and content optimization remain critical to visibility in search, which is a primary tool for pre-purchase research and content discovery.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.



About The Author

Greg Sterling
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

Related Topics

Bing SEOChannel: SEOGoogle: SEOSEO - Search Engine OptimizationStats

We're listening.

Have something to say about this article? Share it with us on Facebook, Twitter or our LinkedIn Group.

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.

ATTEND OUR EVENTS

Lorem ipsum doler this is promo text about SMX events.

February 23, 2021: SMX Report

April 13, 2021: SMX Create

May 18-19, 2021: SMX London

June 8-9, 2021: SMX Paris

June 15-16, 2021: SMX Advanced

August 17, 2021: SMX Convert

November 9-10, 2021: SMX Next

October 2021: SMX Advanced Europe

December 14, 2021: SMX Code

Available On-Demand: SMX

×


Learn More About Our SMX Events

Discover actionable tactics that can help you overcome crucial marketing challenges. Our next conference will be held:

MarTech 2021: March 16-17

MarTech 2021: Sept. 14-15

MarTech 2020: Watch On-Demand

×

Attend MarTech - Click Here


Learn More About Our MarTech Events

White Papers

  • Become an Experience-Led Business with an Agile CX Tech Stack
  • Transformational CX: Video-Powered Experiences Meet Consumers’ Demands
  • What Customer Experience Means in 2021
  • 4 Ways to Commodity-Proof Your Company
  • Threat report: How are different industries battling cybercrime?
See More Whitepapers

Webinars

  • The AI Revolution Is Coming to Every Stage of Your Buyer’s Journey
  • The Fundamentals of Link Building for E-Commerce & Affiliate Sites in 2021
  • Your Customer is Calling: Make the Most of Your Marketing Spend with Call Tracking
See More Webinars

Research Reports

  • Local Marketing Solutions for Multi-Location Businesses
  • Enterprise Digital Asset Management Platforms
  • Identity Resolution Platforms
  • Customer Data Platforms
  • B2B Marketing Automation Platforms
  • Call Analytics Platforms
See More Research

h
Receive daily search news and analysis.

Channels

  • SEO
  • SEM
  • Local
  • Retail
  • Google
  • Bing
  • Social

Our Events

  • SMX
  • MarTech

Resources

  • White Papers
  • Research
  • Webinars

About

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Marketing Opportunities
  • Staff

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Newsletters
  • RSS
  • Youtube

© 2021 Third Door Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

Your privacy means the world to us. We share your personal information only when you give us explicit permission to do so, and confirm we have your permission each time. Learn more by viewing our privacy policy.Ok