When you look at the evolution of Internet Marketing, you don't have to look very far back. It was in 2003 that Google released AdSense and AdWord which allowed advertisers to release ads in relevant pages. The beauty of the system is that there is a degree of accountability. If a person clicked on the advertisement , only then did the advertiser have to pay. But Internet Marketing is not all about ads, it is much more than that.
Internet Marketing could involve sending e-mail, setting up affiliates, conducting surveys as a prelude to marketing, or conducting surveys to determine customer satisfaction. These last two would be classified as market research by many.
What does an Internet Marketer do?
There are a number of searches being conducted on the Internet for the product you are selling. Through SEO and social media you have to make sure that these visitors reach your site, and that too on a page relevant to their search. They should not reach an About Us page. Then there would be a squeeze page to extract details from them and another sales page where you would try and sell or make sure they ask to be called.
On the other hand there may be a lot of people who are unaware that they could provide a service e.g. they could rent out their house for a short time. The local realty agent cannot help out in that since people demanding the house may be in Michigan while your live in Florida. So the Marketer drives to the website and then learn about how to do it.
An Internet Marketer has choices. In the example above he may choose to target local realty agents as the movers for vacation rentals. Realty agents would know the houses and organize services while the owners are away and he would be aware of local laws to follow in vacation renting. An Internet Marketer may try and drive people from the brick and mortar world into the virtual world.
An Internet Marketer may decided to advertise in local radio or the local church bulletin. It is not as if Internet Marketing is restricted to the Internet but one thing for sure, he had better know SEO.
SEO and Social Media Marketing
Search engine optimization has been around for a dozen years. One purpose is to bring your page to a more prominent place in the display. It is important to understand the changes that have taken place in SEO for purposes of Internet Marketing.
There are still those old men who believe that 10 keywords per page are essential for a prominent place in a search. Content is important for its own sake, but being recognized in social media is very important.
Take the example of a testimonial, usually proudly displayed on your site. You could display it on a Facebook account or some other social media site. That would be very relevant. Audio tracks, images and videos are very important, many people have started searching for this information. Store the information in Flickr or such like sites and see your traffic jump.
Have you tried reviews being written about your site. Well, it is time you did by going to Insider Pages or other sites. Reviews are relied on by many people and are again a great driver not just of traffic, but of very focused traffic. Very often no preselling has to done to a visitor who has read a review and then comes to a site.
Blogs are not the Future
Another area is blogs, this is an area where the future has arrived. Basically these are run by a single individual who makes posts on a regular basis. The person is able to contact individuals and develop a relationship. So if you have a product and some customers are in this group it's wonderful. You have an outlet for your information and a method of complaint redressal. It is a very personalized way of contacting people.
So while we are not saying that you should stop article submission, directory submission, encourage link exchanges and other on page measures, pushing in social media has a big advantage.
Any way for the present at the start of your enterprise of creating a website or if you are in the process of reinventing it try and develop good content. This would mean a mixture of images and text with color thrown in. After all it is content that makes visitors stick to a website.
Anthony Dayal is the CEO of Vistas Advertising and Marketing, a Dubai-Sharjah based company which specializes in a full spectrum of services including web designing, animation, graphics and search engine optimization. Visit him at http://seoexpertzonline.com for multiple insights into the vast and fascinating world of the web.
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