Last week Strategy exhibited at AdTech 2008.  We had the stand immediately to the left of the entrance so we were often the very first stand that visitors encountered - it was a great spot!

Our headline was PAY PER RESULTS SEO…. “where’s the catch?” Someone asked….. another said “where do I sign?”  There isn’t a catch, we replied and “sign here”.  Actually we didn’t say that last bit but we are certainly speaking with a good number of very interested prospects.  The show is an opportunity for us to get our message out and to make contact with prospects and partners but the real value is in the discussions that follow afterwards.

It is essential to us that all clients understand the value we look to add to their business so we never sign anyone up without a technical discussion about your own specific website.  During this process we talk about how we look at your business objectives, audit your site and plan a strategy to get you more of the end results you are looking for - be it sales or leads.

Our pricing really is based on results so yes, we will charge you nothing at all until our work starts to bring you the targeted traffic we are aiming for.  This means we have to do do a significant amount of work for no payment but if we offer you this pricing it is because we are confident that we will deliver a good result for you.  We consider a good result to be traffic that will make your business grow because when we help you grow your business we know that you will want to stay with us.

We are also quite easy to work with which means the whole process is painless, transparent and quite enjoyable.

If we met you at the show Steph, Liesel or John will be following up shortly if they haven’t spoken to you already.  If you weren’t at the show but want to know more call us on 0845 838 0936.

In June some of the Strategy Team attended the Online Marketing and Media 08 Show at the Design Centre in London:

Strategy Internet Marketing Team at Online Marketing & Media 08

It was a very busy couple of days as we had a great spot - Stand Number 1, right at the top of the stairs as you entered the exhibition floor.  We’ll be in the same place next year if you want to swing by and say hello.

We had such a popular stand that John was selected to be interviewed by the event organisers:

John Courtney, Chairman of Strategy, being interviewed

Some of our clients came to say hello and we talked to literally hundreds of new prospects & possible partners and found that its a great experience for getting to know how you are truly perceived in relation to your competition.  There are sadly very few people we spoke to who said that they are very happy with their previous experience of SEO so our Pay-Per-Results Pricing for Organic Search Engine Optimisation was a real attraction!  Conversations we had also indicated that people really appreciate when you take time to understand their business objectives and provide a transparent service.

Strategy Chatting to Prospects & Partners and handing out information

Altogether it was a exhausting but satisfying couple of day - the show as a whole seemed to deliver a good mix of seminars and exhibitors and many visitors came back for the second day which reinforces what the show had to offer.

We have already booked the same spot for next year so please do come along and say hello.

Design Centre - Online Marketing & Media Show 2008

Our client Cartridge Shop launched their new website this week offering fantastic prices for Printer Ink Cartridges to consumers and businesses. Their new site incorporates best practise not only for web design and SEO but also for usability.

Cartridge Shop want to make the process of finding and buying printer cartridges as easy as possible so they have introduced a unique ‘cartridge finder’ facility on every landing page which quickly allows customers to find exactly what they are looking for at the best prices available. In addition, their home page has been improved to present ink cartridge brand images for immediate recognition. They offer he best online prices on top brands such as Brother, Canon, Dell, Epson, HP, Jettec, Kodak, Kyocera, Lexmark, Konica Minolta, Oki, Panasonic, Philips, QMS, Ricoh, Samsung, Tektronix, Xerox and many more.

Cartridge Shop also offer excellent prices on compatibles and we would highly recommend them as a supplier, not just because they are our client, honest!

Check them out and see if you can get your printer cartridges cheaper than your previous supplier.

PAY-PER-RESULTS SEO (PPR) has changed the lives of my staff at Strategy Internet Marketing in just a year since we launched it. There are many more of them, they are better paid, and there is a
buzz about the place.

In an industry that has suffered from snake oil merchants but still demands that clients take all the risk by paying fees, it struck me that there must be a way of sharing the risk. We first dreamed up a pricing model which was a hybrid mix of fees and results in order to share the risks with the client. This was successful and, after trials, we went the whole hog and priced just on results. The clients love PAY-PER-RESULTS SEO (PPR), they know your skills, reputation and fees are on the - line if you don’t perform you don’t get paid.

That rather focuses the mind on the job in hand. And that has brought us talking to some of the biggest names in UK business from groceries to electrical goods and from cosmetic surgery to finance.

Interestingly, it has also brought to the table many clients who, while they may be spending a lot on PPC, have been shy of trying organic optimisation. There are many prospective clients who have been burned in the past by the snake oil merchants promising the earth and not performing. You know the sort - “you will get a guaranteed top 10 position or your money back”. Getting a top ten position (particularly for a poor key phrase) is just bunk. What clients want is traffic, and good quality traffic that will buy the goods or services that they are selling. And they are happy to pay if you can bring them that traffic. Look at the success of PPC; this is a results based model and some clients are paying literally millions of pounds a year on this service.

We started with charging on increased visitors, and we probably have half our clients on this basis. But we don’t just go for volume of visitors; we also increase the quality of the traffic.

“…fees are on the line - if you don’t perform you don’t get paid”

Recently we have added a second pricing model, which we have dubbed PAY-PER-ENQUIRY SEO (PPE). This is based on the increased number of completed enquiry forms on the client’s own web site. Here we are taking a further risk as the visitors we attract have to be interested enough to complete the enquiry form. Many have shown an interest in this pricing model and we have started to take on clients with this.

Of course, we still do a fee based service too, and some clients prefer this because it allows them to budget accurately.

The important point though is that these are just pricing models. What we do in terms of organic optimisation on a client’s web site is the same regardless of which pricing model he has chosen. We still do a Strategic Action Plan and agree Objectives and Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s); we still research the competition; we still do deep, multilevel keyword research using many databases; we still obtain quality relevant inbound links, and still produce detail reports. The quality of how we do organic optimisation doesn’t change - there are just different ways of pricing it.

This pricing innovation has got Strategy Internet Marketing noticed, and brought us clients. And we plan to continue innovating, not just in pricing but also in ways of optimising, the types of service we provide and in levels of customer service too. Innovation brings results.

Don’t worry about my staff coping with more change though - they love the extra rewards and the buzz and embrace innovation.

See us at Stand No.1 at the Online Marketing and Media Show 08 on 24/25 June.

After intensive and very successful beta-testing, a “third way” of Internet Marketing is being launched at E-Commerce Expo 2007 by Strategy Internet Marketing: Pay-Per-Results (PPR).

John Courtney of Strategy Internet Marketing commented: “Until now there have been two main methods of Internet Marketing: Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and generic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Pay-Per-Click has become very popular because the client only pays every time a prospect clicks on his advert. Search Engine Optimisation, while very effective, is traditionally priced with up front fees which puts some clients off as it demands a financial commitment and the SEO company is paid regardless of how well they perform.

This Pay-Per-Results (PPR) method is really combining the best of Pay-Per-Click and the best of Search Engine Optimisation. We are only obtaining generic listings but we have priced it like PPC.

One electrical e-commerce client that Strategy Internet Marketing has been working with over the past few months on Pay-Per-Results (PPR) has seen dramatic increases in both traffic and sales and a substantial return on investment.

Strategy Internet Marketing is a division of Strategy Consulting Limited which has just celebrated its 10th Anniversary.

FURTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE FROM JOHN COURTNEY ON 07976 436757 OR 0117 377 8237 OR ON STAND 103 AT E-Commerce Expo 2007