Explaining Google SEO to my BOD - suggestions please!

[Phil_AM]

Does anyone have any advice on how to explain what we do to a bunch of folks that don't know the difference between G paid and G organic search?

I have to do a 30min presentation on our effectiveness in regards to SEO (specifically Google), and I can't get all that technical. Any suggestions on what to focus on for a bunch of beginners? I've been doing this a long time, but never had to "teach" anyone...

Thx!

[whitenight]

Make it participatory.

Ask them how many of them would click on a paid advertising listing vs. a natural "democratically" voted listing?

Ask to them to explain why

Throw up a shot of a SERP page.

Give them the facts about how more people click on organics vs. paid for the same reasons they gave you.

Give them the facts about how paids aren't "EVIL" but organic can have a better ROI. (People like money?)

Throw up a screen shot of the heat map of eye-tracking on a SERP page.

That should take 30 minutes. :)

[briggidere]

to add to what whitenight said, you could also go into short term (paid) and long term (seo) strategies and how with paid listings you are always going to have to pay.

With SEO, you still have to pay, but once ranking for certain terms, you can go for new terms with the same budget and still be ranking for the original terms. It's a good long term business strategy.

People can still get a positive ROI from both, I know. We do both, but SEO once done, and done the right way, is much less expensive.

[c41lum]

I have just noticed a big drop after a couple of sites who sell TLA links linked to my site.

Is G now dishing out penalties to the sites linked to, as well as the actual sites that sell links?

[Phil_AM]

Cool, great ideas guys. Thx!