The previous chapter summarized marketing tasks and introduced some new concepts in the field of online marketing. It was indicated that high visibility for certain search terms is a major challenge for marketing. Therefore, this chapter elaborates further on the the discipline of search engine optimization in order to discuss the challenges of voice-controlled search in the later course of the work. The following pages first explain the importance of high search engine placements for online marketing. Then, the methods of search engine optimization are presented while emphasizing on the on-page and off-page optimization options. Furthermore, new developments are discussed which may change search behavior again in the future. In the next chapter, the findings from the field of search engine optimization should help to work out marketing measures for voice-controlled search.
As previously illustrated in the target pyramid, the ultimate goal of commercially operating companies is usually an increase in sales and profits. In order to generate strong sales, a company needs to attract a large number of visitors, convert the greatest possible number of those visitors into customers, and then retain as many customers as possible for a long period of time.[72]
One of the most important factors to win a customer for a business is the company's location. In traditional retail, questions of location are primerily expressed in terms of the geographical distance between the customer and the store.[73] Bernardo Trujillo, one of the world's leading management consultants, emphasized the importance of the location since the 1950s and explained in his MMM seminars in Dayton, Ohio: “It is where traffic is that you can do commerce“.[74] At the time, he was referring to road traffic to indicate that the location of a store is key to its sales success.[75] His words inspired some of the most famous entrepreneurs of his time and founders of today's global retailers such as Carrefour.[76] Today you can apply his statement to the Internet and online data traffic. One might even guess that it indirectly inspired some of the biggest online retailers like Amazon.
In the digital network, location problems are expressed primarily in relation to visibility in a now highly competitive environment. Website operators want their digital location to be where a large number of Internet users are (e.g., search engines). The website should therefore be located in the vicinity of natural traffic flows, especially on websites or portals with high data traffic vo
