A couple of weeks ago I received solicitation to have my website maintained on the first page of search results on both Yahoo and Google for the mere cost of $1030 per month.

I checked out the website and it had testimonials and the whole nine yards.  Upon review of the fine print I found that this company purchased the top Google sponsored link or one of the top 3 Yahoo sponsored links.  My industry, dentistry, in Boise, Idaho, probably doesn't have a ton of competition.  Nor do we have, in my opinion, enough searches to justify the cost of paying someone to spend a few minutes to purchase this link. 

The moral of the story?  Market research into your industry is important to achieving maximum online return on investment.  Like any other industry, there is that sweet spot where a certain investment will hit a maximum percentage of returns.  Any business has the goal of finding that spot and then staying on it as the market changes.  With our recent strategic partnership with Valitics, we feel we can provide the tools to make smart online marketing decisions based on market research in your industry.  Successful online marketing isn't easy, but it can be very rewarding if done right.