Many online marketers, web designers and SEO “experts” are keen to make the process of marketing your business online a mystery. Perhaps they think they’ll get more work that way (or maybe they don’t want you to realise when they mess up). I’m a firm believer in throwing some light on the internet marketing world, partly because it’s earning an undeserved seedy reputation but also because knowledge is power, and if you know the processes involved in internet marketing you can find the best provider to market your Plymouth business for you and know that you are getting the best results at the right price.
What is Internet Marketing?
Internet Marketing is the use of the Internet to advertise and sell products or services. These can be online or offline i.e. you can sell something ordered and/or transmitted over the Internet, or you can promote a local Plymouth business that exists on the high street.
Internet marketing should be part of your business strategy whether your business is online or offline, otherwise you’re missing out on many potential customers and clients. Every day, hundreds of searches are being done online for businesses just like yours.
Many marketing strategies on the Internet have been translated from offline marketing, while some have had to be developed to work with the technology.
There are a number of different online marketing strategies you can use – too many to include here – but a few of the obvious ones include:
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
This is one you will hear about a lot in Internet Marketing. Search Engine Optimisation is the process of making your website more appealing to the search engines so you get a good ranking in organic search for the site’s keywords. Organic search means the results that appear in the search engine naturally i.e. not paid advertising. Keywords are the phrases that best describe your market and which your potential customers are most likely to type into the search engines when looking for what you offer. SEO is partly achieved through making changes to the website (On Page SEO), as well as to using techniques away from your website (Off Page SEO).
Social Media Marketing and Networking
Networking is an important aspect of any marketing strategy and I’m sure your business already benefits from networking at Plymouth and Devon business events. Internet sites like Twitter and Facebook enable you to do the same thing online. Online and offline, the overall strategy is similar – you don’t just go in and talk about yourself all the time, you take the time to join in different conversations, introduce yourself and share your knowledge. Social Media also includes other sites like YouTube, Flickr, blogs and forums – anywhere where information, ideas and content can be shared with others.
Blogging
Businesses should be updating their leads and customers regularly with news, offers, and interesting and useful information. Blogs offer the perfect online media for this and have the added bonus of being liked by the search engines.
Email Marketing
One of the best ways to develop a relationship with potential customers and have the opportunity to market to them over and over again is through email marketing. Many online businesses do this by setting up a web form and offering something of value to visitors who input their details – a free report, discount, or consultation. They then keep in touch with their subscribers regularly using email marketing software (often called an autoresponder).
Pay-Per-Click Advertising
This is the one most people call Google Adwords, although the other search engines and other advertising companies also have their own pay-per-click advertising programs. Facebook is quickly becoming the PPC choice for targeted local ad campaigns.
Pay-Per-Click advertising is where you pay for each click (visitor) you get on your advertisement, leading to your web page. On Google these adverts are the ones that appear down the right-hand side (and sometimes at the top) when you enter a search term. They can also appear on relevant websites if you want them to.
On Facebook they appear in the right-hand column on various pages and can be linked to an external website or to a business’s Facebook Page.
Many people get Adwords and Adsense confused initially. Adwords is Google’s pay-per-click advertising program, while Adsense is Google’s marketing program that enables website owners to display those ads on their website and earn a percentage of the advertising revenue whenever an ad is clicked on from their site.
Each of these Internet Marketing strategies is (at least) a lesson in itself and there are many more you can use. This is one of the reasons it can be confusing when you’re starting to market your business online because everybody seems to be offering you something different and yet it all comes under the banner of Internet Marketing.
If you are interested in marketing your Plymouth business online, please fill out our contact form for a FREE Online Business Analysis and we’ll be happy to offer some ideas on how to create a bespoke internet marketing strategy.
