Is SEO best for acquiring customers?

Recent research by eMarketers has concluded that Search Engine Optimisation techniques are the best for drawing in new customers to websites.

Senior Analyst with eMarketers, David Hallerman suggests that 'SEO is the best customer acquisition tool in the online space.' Studies have shows that customers prefer organic search optimisation tools to that of pay per click campaigns.

Hallerman continues with an important point that if the marketing budget runs out, then the site doesn't suffer in terms of exposure and would not 'drop down the rankings'. Unlike that of a PPC campaign where in an instant, a company can lose its presence if it decides to stop or spend less on PPC activities.

The organic and substantial nature of SEO tactics can really help the long term performance of a site in relation to competitors. The cost effective nature of SEO tactics have their obvious advantages and can also help to target the exact market that is intended. Hallerman also points to 'link baiting' which is becoming increasingly popular now in the SEO world, effectively creating content that invites the reader to externally link the pages elsewhere. Thus, the more links to the pages in question, the more 'relevant' and 'important' engines such as Google will view the site and, over time, the higher the site will rank.