What is Internet Marketing?

Traditional marketing mediums, such as television, radio and print, have been used by businesses for years. These mediums have become trusted sources because of the amount of time they have been around, not necessarily because they have performed well. Reaching out to consumers is the life blood of any business, and there simply weren’t many alternatives available.

The internet has drastically changed how businesses market their services. Business can now concentrate their efforts on reaching potential customers who are actively searching for specific products and services, and even target a particular set of websites where those consumers might visit.

While a website can play an integral role, it is a common myth that you have to have a website in order to market your services on the internet. You can benefit from internet marketing even without having a website by participating in a lead generation program, such as the one offered by Respond.com and WiserAdvisor.com. From a marketing perspective the creation of a website is a great way to present information about your services to consumers, and the site also serves as a portal through which you can foster interaction.

Building a website is just a starting point. The important part of any marketing effort is to drive potential buyers to the website. After all, you did create it specifically for this purpose. This is not an easy task and there is no silver bullet or flawless technique that you can employ. Making your internet marketing efforts operate effectively requires hard work and dedication

Why Market Your Business on the Internet?

Many businesses rely on referrals from existing clients in order to grow. While this sort of referral is a great resource, in order to really grow your business you will have to market to consumers outside your current client base. Unfortunately, many businesses look at the costs of getting their name out their and balk. Why would you pay for advertising and marketing if existing clients provide referrals? How do you know if outside programs are working?

Compared to traditional forms of advertising, internet marketing represents a cost effective means by which you can reach a large audience. Because the interaction between the consumer and your business is conducted on your website, a wealth of information is available to you. You can see which sections of your website are visited the most, what links people click on and what sections they don’t like. You can see which versions of an advertisement garner the most attention, and can make adjustments in real-time as opposed to waiting for days or weeks. This allows you to adapt your efforts as seasons, tastes and the economy change.

You have most likely used a search engine, such as Google or Yahoo, to find answers to a variety of questions. Millions of other people do exactly the same thing, from searching for information about news events and sports scores, to researching vacation packages and financial advice.

Breaking Down Internet Marketing

Internet marketing is a broad term used to cover a variety of different techniques that you can employ to expand your presence on the internet. The categories most frequently focused on include Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising and paid inclusion advertising. These techniques are commonly referred to as Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising campaigns are commonly run on search engines, such as Google. When a potential customer types in a search query – for instance, “cabinet replacement” – the search engine will show both websites that are about cabinet replacement and advertisements from businesses. If you run a PPC program you will be part of the latter group. Each time someone clicks on your advertisement you will be charged, and the consumer will be taken to a specific section of your website.

Advertising campaigns can also be run on non-search engine websites under a different fee structure. One alternative is paying a fee for every thousand times – called Cost Per Thousand, or CPM - your advertisement is viewed, regardless of the performance of the ad. Another option is to pay each time a consumer performs a certain action, such as fills out a form to request more information. This is called Cost Per Acquisition, or CPA. The fees for these types of programs will vary, but tend to be more expensive for businesses to run.

Paid inclusion advertising involves submitting your website to an aggregator or to a service that provides a directory of professionals that can be searched through by consumers. Respond.com, for example, provides a resource for consumers to research and be contacted by local businesses offering particular services. The goal of this type of site is to organize similar professionals in an easily accessible way.

Search Engine Optimization is the holy grail of Search Engine Marketing. It involves organizing the information on your website - from the content to the coding of the page – to make the website more accessible to search engines. The goal is to improve the ranking of your website when particular keywords are typed into the search engine by the consumer. “Ranking” refers to how high your website appears in organic searches, which are those thousands and thousands of results that appear when you type something into Google or other search engines. Because your business does not pay for traffic that comes from organic searches, this sort of traffic can considered virtually free. The problem is that finding the right way to improve your ranking is difficult, and that most businesses would rather spend their time interacting with customers instead of with their computers.

How can Respond Help Me?

Respond.com can help improve your internet presence by leveraging our more than ten years of experience in the Search Engine Marketing industry.

• We start by looking at your website and making specific on-page optimization recommendations that will show you how to increase the visibility of your site to search engines.
• We take over some of the upfront “heavy lifting” by submitting your web page to the vast array of search engines available on the internet.
• We continually work towards making your website popular by submitting it into industry specific sites, such as directories and online yellow pages.
• We review your site’s progress over the course of the year and discuss the risks, challenges, opportunities that are presented along the way.

Website Analysis and Recommendation Report

Our SEO experts will conduct a thorough analysis of your website and prepare a report of major findings and recommendations. This analysis will help you identify the areas that are working well and the areas that need further improvement. This report will include specific recommendations and action items, such as keyword research & selection, correct usage of meta tags, unique page content and keyword density.

Search Engine Submissions

We will submit your website to important and popular search engines. Our SEO team has a good understanding of the ins and outs of each search engine we submit your website to. While getting listed on these search engines does not necessarily mean that you will rank well for particular keywords, it does mean that the search engine knows that your pages exist. When combined with our recommendations your ranking could improve. Search engines can take anywhere between one and 12 weeks to list your site.

Search Directory Submissions

We will submit your web site to quality directories. We ensure inclusion in the category most relevant for your web site. An inclusion in these directories helps your website secure a quality inbound link from an authority site. Not only does this bring traffic, it helps in improving your ranking in search engines.

Submission to Industry Specific Sites

Industry specific websites attract highly relevant and serious consumers. These industry-specific sites can also provide you with high-quality links to increase your site’s popularity.  

Local Listings Submissions

Local listings provide a great opportunity to draw business from your local community. Respond helps list your site in local listings such as Google Base and Google Maps.  

Online Yellow Page Submissions

There are several sites offering online yellow pages services with paid and free subscriptions, but getting listed could be painfully repetitive to do yourself. Our experts at Respond will do the heavy lifting and submit your homepage for inclusion in these online yellow pages.

SEO Report

Respond will send you a report to help you track your site’s performance in search engines and directories for relevant search terms. At a high level, we will:

1. Track website submissions and status

2. Rankings for specific search terms

3. On-page review and recommendations

4. Suggestions for advanced SEO

30 Minute Consultations Included

Our SEO experts are always available to answer any queries that you may have. We will review with you the status of the SEO initiative and appraise progress made so far.

Are Results Guaranteed?

Registration or inclusion in search engines, search directories, yellow pages, industry specific sites, or any other site is not guaranteed. All submissions are made on a best effort basis.

SEO is not an exact science and there are many factors that may impact your ranking in search engines for any specific keyword. Placements are not guaranteed since there is no secret formula to achieving high placements in search results.

Search engines can take anywhere between one and 12 weeks to list your site, so you may not notice improvements for a few weeks.