Top Retailers Flock to Conductor for Superior SEO

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Apr 24, 2012) - Conductor, the leader in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) technology, today announced that the world's top retailers are deploying the Conductor Searchlight™ platform -- the first, and most widely adopted cloud-based technology used by major brands to measure, improve and manage their natural search efforts in order to increase site traffic and boost revenue. This elite group of major retailers and web marketing pioneers include such household names as Staples, Best Buy and Sears.

Marketers within large retail brands have always been at the forefront of adopting cutting-edge strategies and technologies to propel their online marketing efforts, better satisfy consumer demand and surpass their business objectives -- setting the pace and precedent for other industries to follow. To date, more than half of the Internet Retailer 500's top 20 retailers are using Conductor Searchlight to effectively stay ahead of the thousands of data points that affect their company's search ranking. With Conductor Searchlight, marketers and brand owners have complete control and transparency over every piece of the natural search process, enabling them to quickly react to change and stay ahead of the competition at all times.

92 percent of all search-engine clicks on websites come from organic search traffic and 83 percent of U.S. consumers go online to research electronics, computers, books, music and movies before buying those items in brick-and-mortar stores(1). For savvy, forward-thinking marketers, a solid multichannel marketing strategy is critical to success. Major retail brands like Staples, Best Buy and Sears recognize that optimizing natural search rankings is a key component to their online marketing efforts and tapping the $160 billion online sales market(2). These major retailers have selected Conductor Searchlight over other technology solutions due to the platform's superior functionality and proven track-record providing brand marketers with the visibility, optimization and automation needed to conquer the complexity of SEO, while harnessing its revenue-generating power.

Conductor maintains a stampede of interest by major brands as they look to replace manual and disparate tools with a strategic, enterprise-level SEO solution. Conductor enters 2012 with more than 1,000 brands supporting half a million keywords and more than 3.5 billion in SEO revenue. The first quarter of 2012 has seen a spate of deals close in the retail sector, adding companies like Gilt Group, the Home Shopping Network and QVC to the customer roster. Forrester Research forecasts the SEO technology market to exceed $600 million by 2016 in the United States alone(3) and as the leader in this rapidly growing category, Conductor is well poised to continue its enviable growth trajectory and market leadership position in 2012 and beyond.

"Retail marketers are always ahead of the curve when it comes to aligning their business operating models with consumer sophistication and expectations," said Seth Besmertnik, CEO of Conductor. "As some of the earliest adopters of Conductor Searchlight, web marketers at major retailers were the first to recognize the tremendous gains to be had with natural search vs. the paid alternative. SEO is the first line of defense for retailers looking to grab consumer attention, as they seek product information online or embrace the convenience of online shopping to make a purchase."

On average, Conductor Searchlight users triple the amount of keywords moving onto page-one by actively implementing the intelligence and recommendations delivered in the platform. Many customers report an increase in natural search traffic of more than 60 percent after deploying Searchlight.

About Conductor
Conductor is the undisputed leader in SEO technology, empowering enterprise marketers to manage and improve their SEO efforts and deliver provable ROI. The company created the first and most widely adopted, cloud-based SEO platform, Conductor Searchlight™, which helps marketers scale natural search, monitor competitive market share and boost revenue. Through its innovation, the SEO Cloud™, Conductor makes it possible for organizations to blend SEO data and workflow across any other form of web marketing. Companies such as FedEx, Siemens, Autodesk and GE rely on the company's technology platform and team of experts to continually measure and improve their natural search traffic and revenue.

Based in New York City, Conductor has been named one of Crain's Best Places to Work in New York for the second consecutive year and was ranked the 13th fastest-growing software company by Inc. Magazine. Visit Conductor at www.conductor.com or on Twitter @conductor.

(1) PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, "Understanding How U.S. Online Shoppers are Reshaping the Retail Experience," March 2012

(2) comScore Inc., "Q4 2011 U.S. Retail E-commerce Sales Estimates," Feb. 6, 2012

(3) Forrester Research, "US Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2011 to 2016," Aug. 24, 2011 by Shar VanBoskirk