What Is Internet Marketing?
Written by Martin Wong on September 29, 2009
The # 1 activity on the search engines today is consumers gathering product information. A record 81% of US consumers use search engines to make purchase decisions in 2009. (Sources: US Dept of Commerce and Forrester Research)
What Is Internet Marketing?
Internet marketing is the process of increasing your website’s traffic by ranking higher on search engines and then converting your traffic into sales for your business. Many businesses invest in an expensive web design and then become frustrated when their websites doesn’t rank well on major search engines for anything other than their brand name. A professional-looking website simply isn’t enough anymore to compete in the crowded online marketplace.
To rank well on search engines today, you need to apply an on-going internet marketing strategy that effectively targets your potential clients so that will find you before your competition. Then, once they visit your website you need a well-constructed strategy to convert visitors into tangible leads or sales for your business.
With traditional forms of media like newspaper and television in decline, an effective online strategy is more important than ever to take full advantage of the massive marketing potential of the Internet. The key advantage that marketing online offers above and beyond other forms of media is that you can track, measure and analyze every aspect of your marketing campaign. This allows you to easily fine-tune your strategy and measure the return on investment for every marketing dollar you spend.
With billions of people searching online you need to know exactly how your target market searches. Once you understand how your customers use search engines, you can then focus your strategy to bring them to your website and then offer them something they are looking for. With 8 out of 10 people searching on Google not surfing past the first or second page of search results, you need to be at the top of the search engine rankings.
Key reasons your business needs an internet marketing strategy:
- To effectively promote your website so you can steadily increase visitor traffic
- Increase your conversions, sales and generate new clients directly online
- To achieve a higher Return on Investment (ROI) for your website investment
- To measure tangible returns, set goals and improve your website’s performance
- To better understand and improve the way you communicate with your target market
- To improve your search rankings so potential clients will find you first
- To optimize your website’s code, structure and message to rank near the top
Related Topics:
- How Search Engines Work
- Search Engine Marketing Explained
- Content Management Systems (CMS) Explained
- What Is S.E.O.?
- What Is Web Analytics?
- Internet Marketing Tools
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