Jerri: In what circumstances would a company stop their SEO initiatives?Forrester:When they feel or perceive that they are not getting any real results from their ranking vs.
the cost of the maintenance fee. I think that this is often a perception that maintenance fees bleed site
owners dry, especially where it takes a long time to achieve high ranking for a top keyword. I think
showing the long-tail increase may help stem this kind of maintenance remorse. It also may be a lack
of clear communications with the client, or it could be specialists that get lazy and then the client
does not feel there is any real effort occurring.Jerri: If they are not focusing on SEO, what are they focusing on to improve site visits and
conversions?Forrester:Site usability, implementation of Web 2.0, paid-click programs. And I think these are or
could be even more important for clients initially, as they can achieve an immediate kick in visits
and establishment of retention/loyalty. If the site is built using SEO standards, then over time the
long tail effect and time can naturally lift the site. I have not done any meaningful changes to my
own site (http://www.stephen-harris.com) in many months, yet it is top-ranked! And in
some very competitive keywords!324
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