Search Engine Marketing - PPC Management Services

Getting noticed on the Internet - Digital Marketing for Small Business

The Internet has grown from a small network of academics needing a way to trade research into a world-spanning, ubiquitous marketplace and repository for nearly every possible kind of information and knowledge. How does a small business avoid being washed away in the constant tide of buying, selling and marketers hawking every conceivable item (and some difficult to conceive...)?

The Internet provides advantages for both customer and proprietor in that one can search for exactly what is desired, without the bother of endless phone calls, driving to malls, or poring over mail-order catalogs. A quick keyword or 3, and hundreds of results vie for attention on the screen. Making sure your company is one of those results near the top is a combination of factors: specificity in product offerings, Search Engine Optimization of web content and linking to and from related topics and sites.

The only way to get noticed on the Internet is to have a listing or presence, whether a dedicated website, ads on relevant sites, or by word-of-mouth. Oftentimes ads on online journals, informative sites, or e-zines (online magazines) are cheaper than space in a print publication, as well as being available to a wider audience than a dedicated website may be. Rates are often available for daily, weekly, or monthly terms, increasing flexibility and allowing a tight budget more leeway. Word-of-mouth advertising can be very cheap, but the returns may be difficult to quantify. Sponsoring web shows such as podcasts or webcasts can be a great and cheap way to gain word-of-mouth exposure. Many times, a podcaster will be so thrilled to gain sponsorship that rates can be negotiated for very little, but make sure to approach a podcaster that has a show related somehow to your business. Don't overlook resources like Google's Adwords either, as they can be slightly pricier than similar options like banner ads, but they are shown to be far more effective than pop-ups, banners, or pay-per-click ads due to their specific targeting.

When a potential customer decides to look up a product that you sell, is he or she going to find your site or listing? Being specific in the terms used on your site or listing is key, as keywords are what drive the search engines like Google and Yahoo. If your company sells shoes, it's not enough to put the word "shoes" on your site--it has to be anticipatory to the searches that potential customers are doing. Most customers have an idea of what they are looking for when doing a search, so instead of "shoes," a customer will search for "imported Italian leather shoes." Specific focusing of terminology and product listings are involved in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as SEO is driven by specific keywords and their repetition or location on a page. If the term "Italian Leather Shoes" is used 15 times on a website, it will pop up higher on the rating listings than one with the same words, but only as a page heading or title. It would be easy to go overboard on this if it were the only criteria, but it is only one of many different methods search engines use to list websites by relevance. Our article on Search Engine Optimization, located here, is a great reference to optimizing your site for maximum Search Engine Performance.

With a clear idea of where you want to go with Internet marketing, it can be a valuable tool to expand your business into the digital realm, but be careful not to go overboard, as all marketing eventually crosses into the zone of limited return. Customers are looking for what they want--it's up to you to make sure they run into you, and the only way they will is for you to make sure your business is at the places they are going to go.

© 2005, Wholesale Pages UK. All rights reserved.

About the Author

William King is the director of Wholesale-Pages UK: http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk and Wholesale-Canada: http://www.wholesale-canada.com. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers, entrepreneurs and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements.

MORE ARTICLES:

Elder Care Expert Encourages Boomers to Use Father's Day To Express Gratitude to Their Aging Parent
Elder care expert Esther Koch shares ways to make even the toughest father melt with joy on Father's Day or any day.

ESPN Founder Launches CollegeFanz.com: Web 2.0 Site Provides the Ultimate Interactive Experience for College Sports Fan
Twenty-eight years to the day after launching ESPN, the Founder of ESPN, Bill Rasmussen, today launched CollegeFanz.com, a compelling interactive online experience. The site is rich in sports content and information, providing a rewarding experience for collegiate fans, their friends and alumni. Rasmussen has taken the art of distributing sports information to a new level with a layered business model supported by great content, a high degree of creativity and sophisticated technology. CollegeFanz.com offers every college and university an interactive online presence to highlight a virtually unlimited variety of programs designed specifically for their fans.

Keyword Optimization For Building Internet Traffic
Keyword optimization is one of the most surefire ways of building some reliable traffic for your site. Keyword optimization is a way of enriching the content of your pages to meet the requests that people put in for on search engines. If the request they put in match the keyword son your site, your site will be in the list of websites that appear that match the search the customer put in.

Top internet marketing strategy which you cannot avoid
internet marketing is gaining importance as internet has started penetrating larger parts of the world and the time has come when you must pull up your socks if you would like to be early winners in the online business. Here are some of my successful internet marketing strategies which I learnt on the job and would like to share with you all.

Steinberg Law Firm in Charleston, SC Celebrates 80 Years of Service by Providing Eight Months of Service to Local Charities
The Steinberg Law Firm in Charleston, SC is celebrating 80 years of service to working people by applying eight months of charitable service to the communities it serves. This year, the firm's partners and staff have adopted eight Lowcountry charitable organizations to benefit from their muscle, brainpower, influence and creativity.

Affiliate Marketing - 4 Ways Affiliate Marketers Get Big Paychecks
Affiliate marketing has become a very profitable business over the years There are currently hundreds of home business owners making thousands of dollars per month in this field

A New Gardening Retailer Makes Its Entrance into the Internet World
Flowergardennursery.com (www.flowergardennursery.com) declares its brand-new website. The brand-new online retailer is a haven for all gardeners, as well as perspective gardeners. Their selections include seeds, bulbs, shrubs, trees, etc.

7 Ways to Gain a Professional Online Reputation
A professional online reputation is essential to the flourishing of any business big or small. Many business owners spend countless hours on the core operations of their business forgetting the importance their website has.

Invequity Launches Patent Search, Sharing and Document Download Site, PatentMonkey.com
Invequity designs and launches free patent search website, PatentMonkey.com, combining efficient front page and text scanning, and the ability to save and bulk download a number of patents all on one website.

Web Hosting Providers - Find A Newbie Friendly Web Site Host
If you're about to set up your first web site and are completely new to running a web site, a dependable web hosting plan with stellar customer service is an absolute must. You'll want to choose a web hosting provider that can be of assistance from the moment you choose one of their web hosting plans.

GoGetNotary.com Web Page Provider Debuts at 50th NNA Conference
Notary web page and directory provider, GoGetNotary.com, made its debut appearance at the 50th National Notary Association Conference in Los Angeles, California, in June 2007. The unique web page product fills the gap between a basic notary directory listing and a standard web site. Sharon Hassler, president of parent Go Get Experts, said, "We were overwhelmed with the response."

Benefits Of Managed Internet Marketing
Getting started with online marketing is simplicity itself, but if you are looking to really make a splash, you need to consider what managed internet marketing can do for you. Essentially, the web is now such an important resource to many companies that they are not taking any risks when it comes to handling their online appearance; many more businesses, large and small, are discovering that they need to make sure that their web campaigns should be taken over by professionals.

Mobile Auto Appearance Services Trends
From 1990 to 1995 we saw a rise in automotive related services. Service related industries represent the fastest growing sector of the national economy and automobile related business services will continue to reflect that growth.

NAPW, National Association of Professional Women, Announces New Featured Member To its Organization
NAPW, National Association of Professional Women, a membership-based organization geared towards today's professional women that gives its members recognition in their specific profession. NAPW has partnered with several large corporations to offer additional benefits to its members.