The Value of Web Marketing…
Advertising
The Web is changing the rules of business. As trite as
these words may seem now, they are true. Like radio and
television, the Web has brought about an undeniable shift in
how business is conducted. Unlimited information, instantaneous
communication, and a market more vast than anything before have
become available to both massive conglomerates and small home
businesses in Australia and the world over. However, one underlying factor remains the same:
advertisement. While the traditional business plan of a "Brick and
Mortar" company has always included extensive advertisement, the
same cannot be said about many Web businesses. Many
webmasters go to great lengths to craft wonderful web sites,
putting little or no thought into advertising them. And any
business, Australian or otherwise that doesn't advertise is doomed to failure. Web sites
need to advertise and promote themselves to create traffic on
their site, to stay in business, and to grow.
Small Business Can Look Big
Businesses on the web share a kind of equality that Brick
and Mortar businesses do not. When a visitor arrives at a website,
they really have no idea how large or small that company may be.
In the Brick and Mortar world, it is easy to distinguish between
the two--the larger will have the bigger store, flashier
advertising, and a more expansive inventory. On the web
however, small companies can project an uncharacteristically large
presence by creating and properly promoting their web sites. While
the Brick and Mortar retail world is consolidating and merging
towards giant discount oriented retailers, the web is teeming
with thousands of small, successful organisation who might not
otherwise be able to compete, or even start-up, in the Brick and
Mortar world.
No matter how large or small your company is, you need to
advertise. Unfortunately for most small businesses, Dot-com or
otherwise, traditional advertising methods require immense capital
and human resources. This is exactly why many smaller businesses
fail - they spend too many of their resources in trying to compete
on somebody else's turf.
Television is most obvious medium of advertisement.
However, television's effectiveness in attracting customers is
questionable. Its effectiveness lies in achieving brand
recognition. Yet at this point most businesses are trying to
increase traffic to their websites and gain more customers. Brand
recognition can wait until after the IPO. Television advertising
Australia wide is expensive. More than one previously
unknown Dot-com spent all of their available resources on a prime
time spot. They may or may not have been successful, but
nevertheless, they spent millions of dollars for 30 seconds of
airtime. Most businesses are more shrewd when it comes to spending
their dollars, and they want more than just thirty seconds of
exposure.
 |
Advertising revenue comparison by the
Economist totalling US$85 billion 2004 in the USA.
|
Billions US$ |
Media |
|
7 |
Internet |
| 46 |
Newspapers |
|
12 |
Magazines |
| 43 |
Television |
| 20 |
Radio |
|
If you thought that targeting an Internet-based audience would
be more effective at driving traffic to a website, you would be
right. Banner ads and mass-mailings are much less expensive than
television. However, they have their limitations as well. While
remarkably cheaper than a TV spot, a small banner ad on a major
portal website can still cost over six thousand dollars a month.
(The Perth
Portal with a million page views per month only charges $30)
Furthermore, it is generally agreed that banners are not as cost
effective a way to bring visitors to a website. Some potential
customers see banners as just a nuisance. Mass mailings have a
similar drawback. If you opt out of spending money for your own
list, you can buy space in someone else's
opt-in email marketing list. But you'll be competing
for the customers attention with whoever else bought space.
Another disadvantage that banner ads and mass-mailings have is
that they aren't targeting the people who are most likely to be
interested in the content you have to offer. They may reach a wide
audience, but most of that audience will recoil in horror, yell
"Spam!", and delete your expensive ad before having the
opportunity to realize that you are exactly what they're looking
for. While both traditional advertising methods can and do work, they require
a lot of what most of us don't have: money.
Search Marketing is Cheap and Targeted
The most cost-effective advertisement would have to be both
cheap and targeted at exactly the right customer. Years ago this
was something of a pipe dream; today it is a reality. The web
is the most comprehensive source of information in human history.
But like any library of knowledge, it must be catalogued and
organized to be used effectively. And therein lies the perfect
solution: search engines. Like the card
catalogue of a library,
search engines are a customer's way of sifting through the Web to
filter out what they're looking for. And what better way to make
sure you are found then to have an influence on what they find?
Search engine listings meet both of our criteria in terms of focus
and affordability. No other form of advertising is so focused that
the customer is actually searching for you. A search engine user
is a highly receptive and targeted audience because you are not
trying to sell them on something they don't already want, ie "push
marketing". They
have come looking for YOU and they already want what you
specifically have to offer. Furthermore, the great majority of
search engine listings are free. Return on investment couldn't be
better. With none of your dollars spent, the very first dollar
returned is profit.
According to the Georgia Institute of Technology, 85% of
Internet users find new web sites through search engine listings.
- WebCMO data shows that in a side-by-side comparison of different
forms of promotion, search engine listings are the number one way
to generate traffic on websites.
- Search engine listings send droves of visitors to your site
and they are free. I have personally seen websites where traffic
has increased ten-fold or even 5,000% as a
result of good search engine positioning (search engine marketing,
or search marketing, ie "pull marketing" ) Nothing could be better,
but there is a catch.
The majority of web surfers
(85%+) use
search engines
When other sources of information are included,
search engines
are still more important than other sources
Getting listed on a search engine below 499 other websites
simply won't work. You need to get a listing near the top of your
category to collect all the traffic a search engine can deliver.
But the good news is that you can dramatically improve your
search engine positioning with a proven, winning
web marketing company. All it takes is
some key modifications to your website and a little thought.
It's not that hard. Using search engine marketing strategies and
search engine software
in the hands of experienced Australian
web marketers to
guide you through this process is the ideal way to
search engine
marketing in Australia. They guide you through the process of
Search
Marketing in Australia. You don't have to be a savvy
web marketing consultant to
get excellent results. With good search engine listings, a small
business in Australia can project a large image on the World Wide Web and get the
kind of traffic that some big business sites get.
Singapore Hong Kong Tokyo
Perth time +8 GMT
webmarketing@4webmarketing.biz
