This is relevant to just about all web marketing. Which means we have to consider our options. There’s no question that every business needs a web presence. Although simply life on the web isn’t sufficient. Customers HAVE to 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 find out it’s way out of town. Nobody will know how to reach them. What kind of sales do you reckon they’ll manage? Nearly all the sites on the web have the same problem!
Marketing has undergone a huge change because of the internet. As we left the 20th century, we all thought we had to have a web site. Getting a presence on-line became the be-all and end-all. Companies often spent a fortune on the latest features for their site. Naturally, web designers were very pleased. Then it became apparent that no-one was visiting these sites. They’d thought that simply having a site on the web predestined customers could see them. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
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 transfer 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!
This process only utilises the web as viewing gallery, which is quite incorrect. It is a completely interactive place where billions of people can research, examine, discuss and choose services and products in the comfort of their own home. And because of Search Engines like Google & Bing/MSN, there are huge indexes of sites that can be easily found (from the customers perspective at least) to perform these tasks. Just imagine looking through a Business Directory with no organised structure: It could take hours of our time!
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 not remember it. Anything not more than the 5th position on page 1 is fundamentally ignored.
So to bring in more profit and give all sites a opportunity to be top dog, the SE’s gave businesses an ingenious paid gift to promote themselves. You Pay Per Click, so you’re only charged for your ad when someone clicks on it. This made a lot of excitement… In the end, the only time you now paid was when someone who was already interested questioned to look at your site. This is an incredibly targeted way of advertising, and done properly, can yield some exceptional results.
But Pay-Per-Click is heavily over-subscribed now in most sectors. Predominantly because of a wealth of new bidders who lack experience, the cost per click has been driven upwards. Now, in 2009, we’re seeing click prices that are so high, it can literally be unfeasible to make a profit. In particular, where a sale requires a generous number of clicks. Consequently we’re seeing a renewed interest in SEO. This means websites are optimised in ways that naturally push them up the search pages.
As an exercise: Go to Google or Bing RIGHT NOW and type in a few product or service keywords. Does your site appear in the first 3 pages of results? It’s very doubtful. In other words, you’re no-where to be found. If it is there, would clients really use those keywords?
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 doable? Is your ROI satisfactory? Are you aware of how to assess the quality and viability of each campaign? With PPC, testing and diagnostics are vital. You’ll never get the best results without right figures.
Global figures clearly demonstrate that money-making marketing is swiftly moving online. There is no other choice but to deal with it – and make sure you’re taking full benefit of all the opportunities.
(C) Jay Kendall. Check out EvolveSEM.co.uk for the best business advice on SEM Consultants and SEO Consultants.
