There are many ways to promote one’s business and products. In today’s modern world, one needs to be found online. But did you know there are many ways of advertising online?
Most people know about SEO – Search Engine Optimization. This is the attempt to get your web pages ranked high on search engines when people search for the terms, known as keywords, that you want to target. The higher your listing, the better chance it has of being seen and to be clicked on. More people click on listings at the top of the results and few look past the first page so it is advantageous to be as high as possible, if not the first listing.
Another way is pay-per-click advertising or PPC. It is not to be confused with SEO, although there are similarities when referring to search engines; you are targeting keywords.
But there is more to PPC than simply the search engines. There are literally millions of websites that show pay-per-click ads. They allow to show ads in return for a share of the revenue generated. The biggest of these networks is Google Ads but there are a few hundred other ad servers with names like Taboola and Outbrain. Note that many charge on a pay-per-view basis instead of by the click but the idea is the same.
Some websites have created their own PPC platform. When you see ads on Facebook? That’s their PPC platform. Same for LinkedIn, Instagram and even Amazon has their own.
An added advantage of online marketing is that you can do some things not possible in other media. You may have noticed that after visiting a website, you are shown ads from that site more often. They are likely using what is called remarketing, or sometimes retargeting. Effectively, you are tagged as having visiting them and they are simply reminding you of that fact and to buy from them.
Another is called interest-based marketing. If you have searched for or visited websites related to a topic, say you are in the market for a new car, you are now shown more ads than usual from car companies as you surf the internet.
Online marketing is not just for visual ads, it can be audio. Ever listen to a podcast? You need to be online to listen to them and some use ads to cover their costs.
A fairly new type of online marketing I was made aware of last year is SBO. Search Box Optimization is taking advantage of the auto-complete function of Google and making one of those suggestions your brand.
Social media marketing cannot be discounted, it is online after all. I’m doing it right now with this post!
So you see, there is more to online marketing than SEO and who knows what the future will bring. Trying to make heads and tails of it all? Contact Lucid Web Marketing.