Online marketing and advertising strategies

Levasana Douglas, Dept. of Management, Eastern University, Sri Lanka.

Online marketing strategies specializes in affordable website development for small and medium size businesses and organizations. With over seven years' experience OMS can Create an online presence for you that are more than just a website.

Whether you want to generate more sales, increase business to business contacts or promote your services you will find OMS to be a valuable internet partner. Online Marketing is sometimes confused with the act of putting up a website and waiting for people to come by. This thinking will always result in disappointment unless your web site is followed up with a full online and offline marketing effort.

Internet marketing can attract more people to your website

A partial list of marketing tips is provided to help new and prospective online customers gain greater insight to the range of strategies necessary for successful online marketing campaigns.

Design with small monitors in mind

The majority of users will have a 14" screen, make sure your header graphics, navigational controls, and content title appear within this space.

Respect users' time

Keep a tight rein on graphic sizes and overall download time. Users quickly exit a large graphically bloated site.

Reduce distractions

Beware of complex background graphics, blinking text or poorly contrasting text vs. background colours. Let your message come through loud and clear.

Provide value added content

If possible offer educational information about your field and a page dedicated to related web links that complement your website. These strategies give users another reason to come to your site and re-visit.

Reduce homepage content

The first page of your site should be little more than your splash graphic, navigational controls and concise mission statement.

Dual navigational controls

Accompany graphic buttons with text links for users who surf sites without viewing graphics.

Refresh content

Update time sensitive information and consider various short run online promotions.

Less is More

Keep your text content as short and concise as possible on each page, many users do not scroll entire screens before they click to a new topic area.

Study your competition

See what your competition looks like before starting your site and determine how your site can be a better alternative.

Flexible ordering options

Online ordering is desirable for some but not all. Describe other ways of placing an order for your product, e.g. printing online form and mailing, faxing online form, calling a toll free and ordering.

Top ten Internet Marketing Strategies

Internet marketing can attract more people to your website, increase customers for your business, and enhance branding of your company and products. If you are just beginning your online marketing strategy the top ten list below will get you started on a plan that has worked for many.

Start with a web promotion plan and an effective web design and development strategy. Get ranked at the top in major search engines, and practice good Search Optimization Techniques. Learn to use Email Marketing Effectively.

Dominate your marketing niche with affiliate, reseller, and associate programs. Request an analysis from an Internet marketing coach or Internet marketing consultant. Build a responsive opt-in email list.

Publish articles or get listed in news stories.

Write and publish online press releases. Facilitate and run contests and giveaways via your website.

Blog and interact with your visitors.

By following the above tips you'll be on your way to creating a concrete internet marketing strategy that could boost your business substantially.

Five effective online advertising strategies for small business

Did you know that 83 percent of consumers conduct research online before making a purchase locally? Are your potential customers finding you, or are they finding your competitor? Here are five effective online advertising strategies you can use to increase your visibility and your profits.

Search engine optimization

Assuming your business has its own website, search engine optimization (SEO) can help your site rank higher in search results, which is essential if you want to be found online.

If your site doesn't show up on the first page of the results, chances are your customers are not finding you.

SEO is not complicated, but it can be confusing for those who don't have the time to study the methods various search engines use to rank websites.

It is possible to spend a small fortune with very poor results. Before embarking on any SEO journey, enlist the help of a qualified professional. Be sure to check references and ask for proof of results before agreeing to work with any SEO firm.

Pay per click

Pay per click advertising works by driving potential customers to your business's website through ads placed on other sites and in search engine results pages. Each time a potential customer clicks your ad, you pay a fee to the PPC network.

The amount of the fee varies and will depend on the popularity of the keywords you target, and the competition among advertisers for that keyword. It is worth noting that pay per click can be a risky business, since the advertiser pays regardless of whether or not a sale is actually made.

It would be wise to consult an expert before beginning any pay per click advertising program.

Affiliate programs

Whether you sell a physical product (car parts or power tools for example) or provide a service, offering an affiliate program can be a good way to improve your sales.

Affiliate programs essentially provide a business with a stable of sales people who all work on straight commission. When your customer makes a purchase through an affiliate link, the affiliate earns a small percentage of the total sale.

Affiliate programs are typically managed by an affiliate manager who is in charge of providing promotional materials to affiliates, and who is available to answer any questions and handle any commission disputes that might arise.

You can choose to host your own affiliate management software to track clicks and sales, or you can join an affiliate network like Commission Junction or Share a Sale to avoid any technical hassles and to take advantage of their existing network of affiliates.

Banner ads

Banner ads refer to any ad space you buy (or rent) on a website.

Ads can vary in size from very small to nearly full screen. Some ads pop up or under an open web page, some have moving graphics, some are interactive and change depending on the movements of the mouse pointer.

Banner ads can be purchased on individual web sites for a set period of time, but unless you can easily target the sites your potential customers are reading, this can be tricky. Banner advertising can also be sold through advertising networks.

Similar to affiliate networks, advertising networks manage the technical details for you in exchange for a fee. Some popular advertising networks are Value Click Media and Blog Her.

Internet yellow pages

Internet Yellow Page Directories are increasing in popularity as more and more consumers turn to the Internet first in their search for local businesses.

Effective internet marketing is about maximizing your "Payoff" or Return On Investment (ROI) by targeting only those who are your potential customers, and/or those who will honestly hear what you have to say.

This entails identifying who these people are, where they are, and their financial ability to pay what you have to offer, and then creating and executing an actionable and effective internet marketing strategy.

Look... the difference between the results you're getting right now and the results you'll get in the future, hinge to a large extent on what you do differently.

To do so, you'll need to know where you are now, where you want to go, and how to get there.

To achieve this end, what you need is effective marketing knowledge, in particular, marketing skills, and a slight edge... the cumulative effect of which will grow your internet business to proportions you ever dreamed of.

It also takes passion, a willingness to learn, apply and test what you've learnt (from credible sources as a matter of course), commitment, hard work, time, money, and last but not least, persistence and determination to succeed but it can be done.