• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, July 26, 2011

Real-time marketing focused on search engine optimization can become a daunting task for proprietors or marketers at small companies trying to wear more than one hat. They not only need to understand SEO, but also how social media influences search engine query results. A variety of tools have surfaced in the past few years, but on Tuesday Optify launched one more.

Three-year-old Optify focuses on delivering software to help marketers drive Web traffic through SEO and social media to sites. From the landing page the technology aims to qualify visitors, convert to customers, and automate communication to track return on investments (ROIs). Sound simple? Maybe, if the company had built another service tier between "Free" and "Professional" at a cost of $499 per month.

Somehow, the basic user was overlooked. So on Tuesday, Optify rolled out a Basic edition of its marketing software alongside Free, Professional, and Enterprise offerings. The Basic edition, which targets businesses with up to about 30 employees, costs $99 per month for one user to track 250 keywords on a variety of search engines. It provides tools for page optimization, link tracking, Twitter campaigns, multiple domains, lead tracking, lead scoring and email.

The company also debuts two new features to help small companies see results quickly. Onboarding Wizard guides users through the setup process based on best practices, and provides a one-click tracking plug-in for the WordPress CMS, without having to add code to Web site pages. Keyword Auto Suggest provides a head start by pulling in up to 15 keywords that a business may rank on, and automatically tracks and monitors those keyword visits, leads, monthly searches, and minimum cost per clicks (CPCs).

Brian Goffman, Optify CEO and cofounder, said the company has made a major investment in smaller companies so they can use the product with little help. "Marketers who get the keyword list wrong won't be successful in the remainder of the SEO strategy," he said.

Upgrading from the Basic to the Professional edition provides integration with CRM platforms from companies like SalesForce or Microsoft Dynamics that provide custom reporting. The Professional edition aimed at growing companies has also gained enhancements. It tracks keyword positions for global marketing in search engines such as China's Baidu and Russia's Yandex. The Professional version also offers quick-start services and 12 hours of consulting bundled into the product to get companies up and running quickly.

Goffman said the software has attracted a variety of publishers such as allrecipes.com and Reader's Digest, and tech-related business-to-business B2B companies such as Atmel, Isilon, and Corensic.