Search Engine Marketing: The Effectiveness Level of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on Google (A Case Study Among Clothing SMEs)

Abstract

We are now living in a technology era in which the technology develops rapidly, not even the internet technology. Internet nowadays is not only used for the sake of entertainment but for business as well. It can be a powerful tool to business firm to sell their products including the Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. However, researcher found that 9 out 10 SMEs went bankrupt in less than 3 years. The most dominant factor is the marketing strategy. To this regard, this research aims to analyze the difference of marketing strategy between the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on Google users and non-SEO users as the result to the business success indicators. The data is collected by interviewing 2 SEO users and 2 non-SEO users which have clothing business. A cross-case analysis is used to find out both similarities and differences and the effectiveness level of SEO on Google as a marketing tool. In conclusion, the researcher found that SEO on Google is an effective marketing tool for clothing SMEs.