Blogs and SEO – search engine optimization – bring ROI for small businesses

A new survey from ISP Interland reports small business are receiving valuable leads and sales from a combination of websites, blogs and SEO – search engine optimization. Sally Falkow, Internet marketing strategy specialist posts a nice summary of the survey.

• 57 percent of business leaders surveyed said they generate monthly revenue through online purchases or offline purchases that were influenced by their website.
• 78 percent report their business is healthier – has a competitive advantage or stronger economic footing – because they have a website, and 76 percent say their website generates leads for their business.
• 19 percent of SMB’s have already incorporated a blog into their Internet marketing strategy.
• 49 percent of the small-business leaders said Internet marketing was used to generate sales.
• 38 percent said Internet marketing was used to build credibility or brand awareness.

Falkow also raises some excellent points.

• Search engine visibility is strongly linked to brand awareness and credibility.
• Optimizing your press releases and making them into news articles gives you excellent visibility.
• Blogs get visibility and build credibility, especially now that Yahoo News, which has the largest online news audience, is indexing blogs with their news content.

For lawyers and marketing professionals looking for evidence on ROI to convince others in their firms of the value of blogs, print out Falkow’s post.