Companies are finding it increasingly expensive to market their products off-line. Therefore we must address this issue. It's commonly understood that all businesses need to be online. But that's not the answer to the problem. Purchasers won't necessarily be able to find you.
Picture a new retail premises opening up shop: It's cost a packet to get to launch time. The staff are all poised - But the street is deserted, and they discover it's way out of town. Nobody will know how to reach them. What kind of sales do you think they'll manage? Almost all the sites on the web have the same problem!
The web has turned marketing on its head. Around the time of the millennium, it was thought that having a website was everything. Complex graphical websites costing thousands (or tens of thousands) were regularly launched. This trend was cheerfully encouraged by on-line design companies, who relished the business! It started to become obvious though that these sites weren't receiving any traffic. There was a belief that if you built it, they would come. In fact, this wasn't the case at all.
Modern internet marketing requires a fundamental shift in thinking from traditional marketing. Traditionalists might see your site in the same way they'd view a sales catalogue. So to drive traffic to that website, you'll need to use the regular methods of marketing. They'll recommend media advertising and promotions in the press. Sticking to the familiar routine. They start with a flashy sales site, and then try lots of 'off-line' avenues to get people to look at it. Yet in the web economy, this approach is way off the mark!
The internet itself is not just a viewing portal. It allows us to search and research - to discuss ideas and interact with others. It's completely interactive, bringing massive choice to billions of people. The Search Engines - such as Google and MSN (now Bing) - have made this easy for us as customers. They've put together massive directories to guide us. Just think how hopeless it would be trying to find something in a Business Directory with no index! How on earth would anybody get anywhere?
The Search Engines solve this dilemma. For companies though, this changes marketing completely. You MUST be indexed by Search Engines to have any visibility. Yet if you only show up a few pages in, you might as well forget it. Anything below the 5th position on page 1 is largely ignored.
So to bring in more profit and give all sites a chance to be top dog, the SE's gave businesses an ingenious paid facility to promote themselves. You Pay Per Click, so you're only charged for your ad when someone clicks on it. This created a lot of excitement... Basically, the only time you now paid was when someone who was already interested asked to look at your site. This is an incredibly targeted way of advertising, and done properly, can yield some exceptional results.
Alas, the market is bombarded with this form of advertising these days. Prices per click have rocketed in some areas. This is due to more and higher bidders entering the market. Today, it can sometimes be impossible to make a profit using PPC. This is particularly true if a lot of clicks are needed for every sale. So Search Engine Optimisation is now becoming a preferred method for many to get to page 1.
Try the following: Enter some service or product keywords (relevant to your business) on Bing or Google. Look through pages one, two and three. Is your site there? Chances are - the answer's no. Which puts you in the exact situation detailed above. Maybe it is there. But is it listed for terms that clients are actually using?
Maybe you've already tried some Pay Per Click advertising so you appear in the paid listings, and maybe you've achieved some success so far. Can you be sure you're working it as efficiently as possible? Is your ROI satisfactory? Are you aware of how to assess the quality and viability of each campaign? With PPC, testing and diagnostics are critical. You'll never get the best results without correct figures.
Both in Britain and around the world, statistics show that commercial advertising and selling is experiencing a seismic shift towards the internet. It's no longer an option. Embrace the web economy, and maximise its potential.
About the Author:
(C) Jay Kendall. Go to EvolveSEM.co.uk for quality information on SEM Experts and SEO Experts.
Get all the information and photos:: http://coringa.info/education/sem-simplified
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