Receptional - 11:20 pm on Aug 14, 2008 (gmt 0)

Search traffic varies day to day for you, but not necessarily for the world at large. Bill Hunt uses the concept of a "missed opportunity matrix" to make this case. Look at SEO traffic you could achieve from SEO. Estimate this by looking at the KINDS of keywords sending you traffic (hey - you have Omniture, I am sure that in a week or two you can get it to chuck out such a report) then put the main ones into Google Trends to see how many people are actually searching on those phrases. Now if you WERE number 1-3 for all those phrases, consistently, then you might get (say) a conservative third of Google's numbers. You can improve that "third" estimate by taking some examples where you are near the top of the serps and compare Google's search volume with your actual, to get a fairer guesstimate.

Your actual traffic on all those phrases will be lots less, of course. So now your spreadsheet has three columns. Keyword (or keyword group), Potential traffic, actual traffic. The difference is the potential uplift. You'll never get all of it, but that's the traffic they are missing by not even attempting SEO.

Missed opportunities can make Mahogany row sit up and take notice. Assuming they got to the chairs through some kind of silver spoon instead of merit may be dangerously presumptive.