If you erect a billboard with a dynamite message in the woods but no one sees it, is it still marketing? Most people would answer no. Why? - Because marketing is the art of getting a product or service recognized so that people will be inspired to buy that product or service. Key to the marketing strategy is visibility for your target audience. If they don’t see your message, how can they buy? This marketing philosophy is pretty straightforward yet many online businesses, with dynamite websites, fail because they haven’t taken the right steps to market their website using search engine optimization and other online strategies designed to drive traffic right to your company’s virtual door.
So, the goal of any online marketing strategy is to increase the visibility of your website and thereby increasing the visibility of the products and or services you offer by driving traffic to your site. It’s also important to know, through detailed web analytics, how much unique traffic or visits, not hits, is coming to your site and from where.
First, let’s deal with the ways to drive traffic. There are two main marketing strategies you need to incorporate into your online marketing activities to achieve this. They are Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which also includes the use of Pay Per Click (PPC) and Cost Per Click (CPC) campaigns.
Each strategy is effective but in different ways. SEO works by increasing website traffic due to high search engine rankings when people put in search terms using Google or other leading search engine. Obviously, the higher your site is ranked in the search results, the more chance people will click on the link to your website. In fact, studies show that almost 90% of web users never search beyond the first page of results. You want to make sure that your website is captured in the top five search results to get noticed. In the long haul, SEO is the best way to ensure your website can be found in hundreds, if not thousands, of search terms.
Search Engine Marketing works differently in that this strategy relies on paid ads to drive traffic to your website. Take a look at popular search engines like Google or Yahoo and you will see ads appear on the right hand side of the search results page. Search engines charge ad fees to place these ads so that your site is visible next to top ranking websites. This approach is beneficial if your website doesn’t appear in the top ranked search results.
For immediate sales, a PPC campaign is a good way to go. In fact, it is estimated that more than half of online visitors who arrive at a site by clicking on a paid ad are twice as likely to buy from that site. PPC is also good to test keywords.
The bottom line is that for your online marketing campaigns to be successful you need to incorporate SEO and SEM tactics to give you the greatest return on your investment.
So, the goal of any online marketing strategy is to increase the visibility of your website and thereby increasing the visibility of the products and or services you offer by driving traffic to your site. It’s also important to know, through detailed web analytics, how much unique traffic or visits, not hits, is coming to your site and from where.
First, let’s deal with the ways to drive traffic. There are two main marketing strategies you need to incorporate into your online marketing activities to achieve this. They are Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) which also includes the use of Pay Per Click (PPC) and Cost Per Click (CPC) campaigns.
Each strategy is effective but in different ways. SEO works by increasing website traffic due to high search engine rankings when people put in search terms using Google or other leading search engine. Obviously, the higher your site is ranked in the search results, the more chance people will click on the link to your website. In fact, studies show that almost 90% of web users never search beyond the first page of results. You want to make sure that your website is captured in the top five search results to get noticed. In the long haul, SEO is the best way to ensure your website can be found in hundreds, if not thousands, of search terms.
Search Engine Marketing works differently in that this strategy relies on paid ads to drive traffic to your website. Take a look at popular search engines like Google or Yahoo and you will see ads appear on the right hand side of the search results page. Search engines charge ad fees to place these ads so that your site is visible next to top ranking websites. This approach is beneficial if your website doesn’t appear in the top ranked search results.
For immediate sales, a PPC campaign is a good way to go. In fact, it is estimated that more than half of online visitors who arrive at a site by clicking on a paid ad are twice as likely to buy from that site. PPC is also good to test keywords.
The bottom line is that for your online marketing campaigns to be successful you need to incorporate SEO and SEM tactics to give you the greatest return on your investment.