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Successful Company, No Online Strategy?
Maybe, not for long……
Before I ventured into the world of e-commerce I knew there was a relationship between domain name structures, search engine rankings and successful websites. I didn’t understand the intricacies, but I knew it was important to learn.
I’m surprised at the number of companies within the repatriation industry that do not employ a very basic online strategy, e.g. selecting a domain name that is relatively short, easy to remember, easy to spell, relates to their business and ends in ‘.com.’ How many times have you seen a company that ends in .TV, .info or .biz show up in your search engine results? Probably never….. These are very uncommon extensions, but some companies in the industry use them.
Online presence is as much a senior manager’s responsibility as it is IT’s. E.g. CEO, MD, Director Etc. Many times, your website is the first impression a prospect has of your services and company. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Hopefully it’s the right one!
If you have a senior position in your company, you should understand how the internet impacts your business. That means understanding how it drives internal efficiencies, increases revenues, builds brand equity and provides competitive differentiation.
You probably understand that computer technology evolves very quickly. Companies like Intel have had to spend hundreds of millions building manufacturing infrastructure without knowing what will be manufactured there. But, in order to be a technology leader in years to come, they’ve had to make investments today.
The same principles apply to online strategies today. The internet and web based solutions will only become stronger. Ten years ago it was ok to tick the box and put up a website. Today, if you do not understand the basic relationships between domain names, search engine optimization and organic search results you are behind the curve.
A few examples of companies, that in my opinion, appear to have an online strategy:
International SOS: They buy Adwords that enable their company to appear along side organic search engine results. They use affiliate marketing techniques by establishing arms length distribution relationships with other sites/companies and pay nominal commissions for driving business to the International SOS website.
On a side note, I understand International SOS made a major investment in their IT infrastructure approximately 8-10 years ago. Part of that investment was in online applications. I believe that investment had multiple effects. It drove efficiencies in case management, communication and documentation and added a new service revenue channel.
Medex Assistance: It appears Medex has spends a lot of money (approximately $117-$657/day) on Google Adword advertising. They are paying for words like ‘Travel Insurance UK,’ ‘Travel Insurance Australia,’ ‘Travel Health Insurance,’ to just name a few. They have also added an e-commerce angle to their site promoting products like international first aid kits.
I haven’t been on the Medex website in some time, but… Nice Job! This is another company that has really embraced an online strategy.
Air Ambulance Specialists: Like the other two assistance companies, this air ambulance company spends a healthy amount on adwords. ($54-$126/Day) They optimize their website so it always shows up at least in the top five organic search results when people search for terms like ‘air ambulances,’ ‘air ambulance companies,’ etc.
If you have responsibility for sales, marketing, operations, IT or investor relations, your online presence can make a big difference in your job.
My suggestions, for whatever they are worth…..:
Try to be objective. Develop an online ranking of your company relative to your competitors.
Look internally and ask these questions:
- Is our domain name easy to remember, easy to spell, does it relate to our industry, does it end in .com first and maybe .net as a second? Note: If your business is primarily domestic related (i.e. does not have an international client/prospect base) using primary country extensions will be effective for your domestic market, e.g. .co.uk for United Kingdom, .ae for United Arab Emirates etc. If you do business globally ‘.com’ is the most effective extension for search engine results.
- Whether your business is B2B (Business-to-Business) or B2C (Business-to-Consumer) both segments use the internet to search. This is your opportunity to control your brand image and communication. Run a search on your company’s name using two or three search engines (e.g. Yahoo, Google etc.) if your company does not show up in the first page of search engine results you need to look hard at optimizing your site. Consider hiring a search engine optimization professional.
- Are there network providers or strategic partners that can help you via affiliate marketing? Note: Next to search engine optimization this is a very effective way to generate business online.
- If you have consumer based products can they be bought from your website, i.e. do you have an online shopping cart? The same thing goes for business services; can they be packaged such that they can be bought over the internet? Note: Clearly, certain services are too complex to be managed front to back on the internet - but don’t close the door completely. Online services have a certain fixed cost and a very low variable cost. It’s relatively easy math. Once you cover your fixed costs the rest is all ‘gravy.’
Completely agree. A solid online strategy is no longer an option. Instead, it’s an intrinsic component of a succesful business model. In fact, competent online strategy optimized only for traditional access, i.e. desktops, laptops, may soon be not enough. The Economist forecasts that “while the number of devices with internet connections will double to 3bn over the next few years, the real shift will be in the way users access the web-by smartphone and other portable devices, rather than by personal computers, according to IDC, a consultancy. In 2009, 600m people will have mobile internet access, twice as many as in 2006 (http://www.magneticblog.co.za/2008/11/24/the-economist-forecasts-e-commerce-for-2009/).” Online content optimized for mobile devices will soon be a must-have, rather than a would-like-to-have, part of competitive strategy.
My previous comment might be especially relevant to emergency services businesses. Mobile devices will most likely be the first go-to points of accessing information in emergencies
It would appear that Medex is spending over a half million dollars on adwords and Air Ambulance Specialists are spending over $330K. It would be interesting to know how much business is really directed to them, how much they really sell and what their ROI is. Does anyone know of sources that may provide ROI for amounts spent on adwords?
Joe:
Thanks for your post. I was surprised when I looked at your numbers so I went back to my Google data source. For the record, the daily spend on Google Adwords moves up and down for many companies. The data I provided on the day of the post was the range of spend budgeted for that day.
All three companies have been spending money on Adwords for a couple years now. One’s budget is flat and the others vary their spend depending on months. Looking at the data for Medex today their spend ranges from $200-$1,500 per day. Their history shows fluctuations but conservatively if you were to use the bottom number as the basis, their spend would be approximately $73,000 per year, i.e. $200 x 365 days. AA specialists shows a spend of $40-$73 per day so again, using a conservative figure, the amount per annum would be $14,600.
The purpose of my post was really to point out that successful companies have employed an online strategy. Paying for Adwords alone will not make you successful but it doesn’t hurt…..
Thanks again Joe!
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