What is Internet Marketing?

Internet marketing (also known as Digital marketing, Web advertising, or Online marketing), refers to advertising and marketing efforts that use the Web to drive direct sales to customers through digital channels such as search engines, email, websites, and social media. You use online marketing strategies to attract new customers. You do this by focusing primarily on PPC (paid ads), SEO (organic/non-paid ads), and web design. It is critical you spend time and resources on your company website design. When these potential customers find your website, they will likely not trust your brand and not want to buy your product if they find your site confusing or unhelpful. For this reason, it’s important you take the time to create a user-friendly (and mobile-friendly) website.

What is PPC?

PPC stands for pay-per-click, a type of internet marketing where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. It is a way of buying visits to your site, rather than attempting to earn those visits organically. When PPC is working correctly, the fee is trivial, because the visit is worth more than what you pay for it. In other words, if you pay $5 for a click, but the click results in a $500 sale, then you have made a nice profit.

Investing in PPC usually starts with Google Ads (formally known as Adwords) which has an 85.8% market share on search (94.5% on mobile). (Netmarketshare.com).
So chances are, your prospective customers are searching in Google.

When potential customers search in Google, they might be in need right at that exact moment. In the past people would use the Yellow Pages when they were looking to buy a product or service. The Yellow Pages were effective because businesses could get their ad in front of potential customers when they were making a buying decision. Nobody uses the Yellow Pages anymore. Instead, people use Google to search as the Yellow Page ads have been replaced by Google ads.

Google Ads gives you the ability to test different keywords quickly to see if they drive sales for your business. There is a cost to test the keywords because you’ll be paying for clicks. On the flip side, you will save money in the long run because you’ll ensure you’re investing your PPC/SEO budget on keywords that will actually generate sales.

Google Ads will also help you improve your website. When you are spending money on ads, you are going to be more critical of your website. It’s easy to ignore your website when the traffic is free, but as soon as you start paying for traffic, you may need to finally upgrade your website and keep it current.

Some interesting stats:

86% of consumers use the Internet to find a local business
72% of consumers prefer to find information on local merchants via search.
29% of consumers search for local businesses at least every week
About 97% of Google’s total revenues come from advertising.
98% of searchers choose a business that is on page 1 of the results they get.
Businesses make an average of $2 in revenue for every $1 they spend on AdWords.
72% of AdWords marketers plan to increase their PPC budgets
70% of mobile searchers call a business directly from Google Search.
70% of mobile searches result in action being taken within an hour.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand, through non-paid (also known as organic) search engine results. SEO is a long-term investment strategy and it works. As of 2019, Google processed 6 billion searches per day. With that kind search volume there’s no doubt that ranking in Google’s search results creates a valuable opportunity to get more traffic to your website. This is important because traffic equals leads and leads turn into sales. By investing in SEO and raising your rankings in Google more traffic will be sent to your website which can generate the leads and sales. The time, effort, and money you put into SEO will pay dividends over time. As you continue to build on it, you will start to see increased rankings and more traffic. By investing in SEO, you can solidify your ranking positions for valuable keywords and stay ahead of your competition. If your competition invests in SEO and you don’t, you lose out on the opportunity to have your company’s name in front of valuable potential customers. Compared to online advertising SEO is a cost-effective option. While PPC campaigns can drive immediate revenue, the up-front costs are higher than with SEO. Keep in mind that the higher your search engine ranking means your business is gaining credibility. When a person is doing research for a product or service, they are much more likely to be ‘sold’ on your business if you rank high in Google’s organic search results. Having a high ranking means that Google and other searchers have found your website to be relevant. This builds trust and authority for your business.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is the practice of optimizing a business, product, or service for a search query that is location-specific. Google (and other search engines) use a person’s location based on IP address (for desktop) and geolocation (for mobile) to determine what results to show them. The practice of Local SEO includes optimizing the company’s website for local search queries, as well as optimizing your Google My Business page. So when someone searches for a dentist near me, or glass shower doors tacoma wa, the search engine will display businesses relevant to their location.

Undertaking Local SEO is critical to building a solid local online presence. Data shows that 75% of local searches result in an in-store visit. For any business owner, this statistic alone gives a good reason for undertaking local search optimization. When people find your business through a local search (especially on mobile) it turns out that they are more likely to visit your business or inquire about your services.

Essentially Local SEO puts you in front of local customers. People are frequently using search terms like “coffee/dentists/restaurants near me” and are given results based on the businesses that fit the criteria within a certain geographical area. The best thing about these types of searches is that the person is typically local, looking for an immediate answer, and is ready to make a decision. Because of mobile, SEO has become even more important for small businesses.

Most of Google’s searches happen on mobile devices and according to research undertaken by Search Engine Land, 78% of mobile local searches resulted in offline purchases. A study with Think with Google stated that 30% of mobile searches are location-related and 76% of people that do a local search on a mobile device visit that store or business within 1 day. Additionally, 28% of those searches result in a purchase.

Your Google My Business Page is very critical to your Local SEO success. When you type in a search for local businesses, Google provides you with both organic search results and a map detailing business names, addresses, and customer ratings. This valuable list is not built from your website but from your Google My Business page.

Here are some additional stats from 2019:

86% of consumers rely on the internet to find a local business
29% of consumers search for local businesses at least once every 7 days
72% of consumers say search is their first choice to find information on local merchants
46% of all Google searches are local
75% of users never scroll beyond the first page of search results
64% of consumers will click on a Google ad when they are looking to buy items online.
46% of users act after viewing a video ad.
7% of search engine users will ever make it to the third page of the search engine results.
80% of consumers will remember a video ad they viewed in the past 30 days.
80% of companies investing in PPC focus on Google Ads.
52% of online shoppers who click on a PPC ad will follow up with a call to the business.
33% of consumers will click on a paid search ad because it directly answers their search query

Article writen by: Dave Roeser

What is Internet Marketing?