Internet Marketing - 101
PPC – Pay Per Click
PPC is a pay as you go type of marketing. Simply stated, search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo act as advertising networks whereby your “ad”; your PPC URL listed in a premium area of their search engine results page, is in essence highlighted to attract the user’s attention and is perceived as being a more exact match to their inquiry. Pay Per Click advertising can be created quickly and is usually deemed a faster way to generate traffic response. This type of E-Marketing must be monitored continuously to adjust for traffic flows as well as changing bids for keywords.
With PPC the business only pays for when their link ad is clicked on. But the very nature of this game can be very tricky and if not done by experienced web marketers it can turn from profit to disaster. To put it into perspective experts iMajestic describe it this way;
“Though pay per click (PPC) can be fast to set up and provide a quick approach in driving traffic to your website or online store, managing thousands of keywords across multiple online-marketing channels, staying on-top of on-going bidding wars, creating Ad copy to establish higher Click Through Rates (CTR) and converting clicks to paying customers without the adequate research, development, implementation and continued management, can actually deplete your marketing budget faster than accrual your bank account.”
This being said, PPC campaigns, when done properly have proven to be a lucrative endeavor but this method is not right for every company so it’s important not to be “boxed” into some pre-determined formula. Make sure your Internet marketing is tailored to your business’ specific requirements regardless of how similar it may be to others.
Although not as fast a rise as a PPC marketing program, the “Organic” or “Natural” approach is more comprehensive. This method gets to the heart of how the Internet works as we discussed in the beginning. According to SEO authorities iMajestic –
“With over 80% of search engine users favoring natural search results, companies of all sizes understand the magnitude of elevated, high natural search rankings for their prospects and are spending a significant amount of their marketing budgets in-advance of and prior to redeeming results. “
A major complaint about the natural search engine optimization approach is the time and money usually associated with garnering results. Elements of Organic SEO programs involve everything from the beginning analytical research of your particular industry and competitors, Keyword research, web content enhancement with proper keyword SEO compliance, optimization of “back end” codes, link building, press release and article submissions that refer and point to your business, onsite blogs and more.
One crucial thing to remember about SEO, PPC, web development and every other aspect of the Internet marketing game, is the need to be continuously engaged in ongoing analytical reviews and modification of campaigns. The Internet is very much a living electronic organism. Google, MSN, Yahoo, AOL and all other search engines are constantly changing the way they want to find results. As search engines move forward with perfecting ways to get people what they want it is the business that stays in tune and anticipates these changes that will wind up on top of the results page.
Profitability is a matter of understanding the nature of how the Net operates and taking advantage of it to the fullest.
