Bonus materials

Chapter 7 of When Search Meets Web Usability illustrates how improving the search engine optimization (SEO) and search usability can help the bottom line of companies with different business models including those that sell products and services online, websites that make money by hosting ads, and websites that provide customer support. We also show how improving a company’s intranet can improve the bottom line.

Below are models formatted in Excel spreadsheets and descriptions of the business models for which they are most appropriate. We recognize that many websites fit into multiple categories so we have bundled all of the models into one spreadsheet for you to download (Microsoft Excel, 81 KB).

Selling products and services with search usability (Tables 7.1 – 7.3)

Use the models in tables 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 to estimate and correlate increase in sales with increase in page views resulting from SEO and search usability improvements. These models assume you can determine your current page view to conversion ratio and can measure the results of changes made to your website. Use these models if you sell a product, a service or if you are a member supported non-profit.

• Table 7.1 – Products and services model with SEO improvement
  Use this model to estimate and correlate increase in sales with increase in page views resulting from SEO efforts.

• Table 7.2 – Products and services model with increased usability
  Use this model to estimate and correlate increase in sales with increase in page views resulting from increased search usability efforts.

• Table 7.3 – Products and services model with holistic approach of both usability and SEO
  Use this model to estimate and correlate increase in sales with increase in page views resulting from both SEO and search usability efforts.

Selling ads with search usability (Tables 7.4 – 7.6)

Use the models in tables 7.4, 7.5 and 7.6 to estimate and correlate increase in ad sales with increase in page views resulting from SEO and search usability improvements. These models assume that you are an online advertiser with a cost per thousand (CPM) advertising model. You should also have access to the number of page views and average page views of your website.

• Table 7.4 – CPM model with increased annual revenue via SEO efforts
  Use this model to estimate and correlate increase in sales with increase in monthly unique page views resulting from SEO efforts.

• Table 7.5 – CPM model with increased average page view via search usability
  Use this model to estimate and correlate increase in sales with increase in monthly average page views resulting from search usability efforts.

• Table 7.6 – CPM model with holistic approach of SEO efforts and search usability efforts
  Use this model to estimate and correlate increase in sales with increase in monthly average page views resulting from both SEO and search usability efforts.

Supporting existing products and services with search usability (Tables 7.7 – 7.9)

Use the models in tables 7.7, 7.8 and 7.9 to estimate and correlate increase in website traffic to operational and customer service costs. You should know how much customer service efforts are costing your company now to use these models. These models assume that you provide customer support via phone, click to chat or other support channels.

• Table 7.7 – Improving SEO traffic increases the customer support costs
  Use this model to estimate and correlate how SEO efforts might increase your customer service operational costs.

• Table 7.8 – Improving search usability by .25% lowers operational costs
  Use this model to estimate and correlate how improved search usability efforts could decrease your customer service operational costs

• Table 7.9 – Improving SEO and reduced customer service calls
  Use this model to show the push and pull relationship between search usability efforts and improved SEO efforts and how these efforts could either decrease or increase your customer service operational costs.

Search usability for employee intranets (Tables 7.10)

Use the model in table 7.10 to estimate how much time and money your organization can save by lowing employee time on the Internet via search usability efforts.

• Table 7.10 – Decreasing cost by increasing employee efficiency
  This model shows the correlation between lost productivity and getting lost on your company’s intranet.

Links and resources
Get links to many of the resources shown in the book as well as links to other articles in the fields of searcher behavior and search usability.

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