Case Study on Search Engine Positioning

We publish a monthly newsletter on search engine optimization. We recently interviewed one of our clients - Mr. Jose Bautista of www.growtaller.net - for the newsletter, to illustrate the kind of Return on Investment (ROI) that a company can obtain after using our search engine optimization services. Here is a transcript of the interview:

Sumantra: Hi Jose, Thanks for agreeing to take part in the interview.

Jose: Thanks for having me here, Sumantra.
 

S: For the benefit of our readers, can you describe the products that you sell from your site?

J: We are selling two very unique products. The first one is called Kimi and it is a height increasing device which will stimulate the nerve points on your feet and in turn stimulate your pituitary gland to produce more growth hormone. Increased production of growth hormone encourages the growth of the cartilaginous portions of the 62 bones in your lower body as well as the discal portion of the 24 moveable vertebrae on your spinal column, making you gain a few extra inches of permanent height even after your adulthood. The second one is called MFIII and it is a supplement that will actually rejuvenate and revitalize all of your body's organs and tissues in a short time and help them return to a much younger state (10 to 20 years younger depending on your age). It is the first high-tech soft gel capsules form of the famous Swiss Live Cell Therapy for anti- aging, skin care, as well as tissues regeneration and rejuvenation.

S: What made you choose search engine positioning as a method for promoting your site?

J: We choose search engine positioning because it can deliver a lot of targeted traffic to our site in a long-term basis.

S: Apart from search engine positioning, are you using any other methods of promotion?

J: Yes. Currently we are also doing link exchanges on line and some ads in magazines and brochures off line.

S: Can you tell us how many unique visitors you were getting to your site per day from the link exchanges and the ads in the magazines and brochures, before you got the top rankings in the search engines?

J: About 40 visitors / day.

S: Have you calculated the cost per click for the visitors that were coming to your site from the ads in the magazines and brochures (i.e. the total cost of the ads divided by the number of visitors you got from the ads)?

J: We estimate it to be about $0.1 / visitor.

S: How many unique visitors per day are you now getting from the search engines?

J: About 600 visitors / day.

S: Since you are getting 600 visitors a day, you would be getting about 18,000 visitors a month from the search engines, right?

J: Yes.

S: Now, given what you paid us initially and what you are continuing to pay us every month, what would you estimate to be the cost for every visitor that you are receiving from the search engines?

J: About $0.013, or 1.3 cents per visitor.

S: What is the average value of each sale from your web site?

J: $60 / sale.

S: What is the gross margin (i.e. the price minus all variable costs) for every sale that you generate from your web site?

J: $20 / sale.

S: What is the conversion rate of your site - i.e. for every 100 visitors you receive, how many end up ordering on average?

J: About 1.5%.

S: Since you have a conversion rate of 1.5% and a gross margin of $20 per sale, you make a gross profit of $30 ($20 x 1.5) for every 100 visitors that your site receives, right?

J: That's right.

S: Since you are paying 1.3 cents per visitor from the search engines, the cost of receiving 100 visitors for you is about $1.30. Hence, I would estimate your net profit from the search engine visitors to be about $28.70 ($30 - $1.3) per 100 visitors, right?

J: That's right.

S: Hence, in terms of Return on Investment (ROI), I would estimate your ROI to be about 28.70/1.3 * 100, or more than 2200%, right?

J: That's right. If you can build a web site which has a high conversion rate and deliver lots of targeted traffic to it, you will get similar results. The hard parts are how to select targeted keywords and how to integrate your web site into the traffic it gets so you can really turn the traffic into profits. If anyone is interested in knowing the details on how to do these, feel free to contact us at info@growtaller.net.

S: Well, I think I am done with all the complicated math :-) Tell us something about the future plans that you have for growtaller.net.

J: Well, we are planning to do more improvements on www.growtaller.net so we can further increase the conversion rate. In all it is a very successful web site and we have gone through the entire process of making it. Our company's main goal is to repeat the same process for many other unique products on line. It is not an easy job but we enjoy doing it, and we will keep doing it as long as the Internet and Search Engines exist.

S: Thanks Jose for taking part in the interview - I really appreciate your help.

J: You are very welcome.