"Internet Marketing"

Sponsored by: Walsh College

Agenda:

Publicity, in its various forms, raises the visibility of a company's name and increases recognition (and acceptance) of services and products. It is a substantial lead generator --  probably the most cost -- effective method available.  LEARN HOW TO GAIN PUBLIC AWARENESS ON THE INTERNET

2.   Search Engines: Ensuring high search engine position

There are over 3,000 search engines -some of which are true search engines and others which are free for all (FFA) links which emulate search engines.  They are a way for people to find you and, in many cases, there are specialized search engines dedicated to specific industries or functions.  LEARN THE BASICS TO SEARCH ENGINE SUCCESS

3.   Banner Ads

Banner ads have proven to be the least effective method of generating business, but one of the best ways to conduct an awareness campaign.  LEARN WHEN BANNER AD's ARE WORTH IT . . . AND WHEN THEY ARE NOT.

Closely related to banner ads are the purchase of keywords, which are more directed to your audience's needs.  For example if somebody enters disease in a search engine, and if the Center for Disease Control purchased the keyword disease, their site would appear.  LEARN THE  IN'S AND OUT'S OF SUCCESSFUL PPC ADVERTISING

5.   Text-sensitive keywords   (Contextual Advertising)

Text-sensitive keywords is a  new method of advertising that has just appeared on the Net.  As a visitor scrolls down a site viewing content, the banner ads change depending on the words the visitor reads.  IT'S ON THE RISE - BUT STILL EXPENSIVE AND UNPROVEN.

6.    Sponsorships 

One of the unique features of the Internet are discussion lists where folks who have like interests have online discussions. LEARN HOW SPONSORSHIPS WORK - IN A VARIETY OF AREAS

7. Links/Barter / Link Relevancy / Link Popularity

Bartering is very common online. You may place somebody's ad on your site in exchange for placing your ad on theirs.   GOOGLE MADE THIS IMPORTANT - FIND OUT HOW TO WORK WITH THE SITE RANK ALGORITHM

8. Affiliates 

Affiliate programs are very similar to sales rep organizations offline. A company signs up to become an affiliate and displays your banner on their site. When somebody purchases from you, the affiliate is paid a commission. 

There are three major affiliate control groups (Quinstreet, Commission Junction and Linkshare) who handle all the tracking of sales, site co-branding, banner ads, html coding, commission paying, etc. Linkshare recently introduced a B2B affiliate arrangement. They charge a fee for their service.

LEARN HOW TO RUN A SUCCESSFUL AFFILIATE PROGRAM 

9. Visitor Communication 

Keep in mind the Internet is a 24/7 operation - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Folks may visit you any time of the day or night. So you need to be prepared to respond. You should have autoresponders available whenever possible. They allow you to communicate with the visitor without any human intervention. Autoresponders can be of two types: 

1. Automatically from your site - as soon as a visitor interacts with your site, an e-mail is sent out. 

2. Automatically from your e-mail program. Some programs (like Eudora that I use) will allow you to automatically send a message whenever something is received to a special address. 

Always respond to visitors to your site within 24 hours or less! And, be sure you have contact information easily available on your site, i.e., name, address, telephone number, etc.   LEARN WHY CONSTANT COMMUNICATION IS NECESSARY AND HOW TO DO IT PROPERLY

10. E-Mail Marketing

Targeted email is one of the most effective methods of online marketing, although it's effectiveness is dropping. Don't go out and purchase one of those A1 million e-addresses for $1.98" lists. They are spam! Instead find companies who sell "opt in" lists and preferably double opt-in. An opt-in list means I signed up to receive something from you (i.e. I opted in). Double opt-in means I supposedly opted in, and to be sure I did it, you send me a confirmation, to which I respond. Hence double opt-in.  LEARN WHY MOST COMPANIES FAIL IN THEIR EMAIL MARKETING

SPECIAL SECTIONS

Is your site marketable? 

It is shocking to see how poorly the sites have been developed both technically - invalid URL's, invalid e-mail addresses, broken links - and from a marketing perspective. Why should visitors stop at your site? What makes you different from anybody else? Why should somebody buy a product or service from you? Is your message clear? Does your site load slowly? Are there too many meaningless graphics or "splash pages"? Are the colors browser-safe? 

Usage statistics for marketing 

The traffic logs at your site can help you determine the success of the campaigns and to determine where more emphasis is required. Traffic logs can give a wealth of information, like... 

1. Where visitors came from (which URL) 
2. Where they go in your site 
3. Where they go when they leave your site 
4. How long they spend at your site and at each page 
5. Who refers you the most visitors 
6. What time of the day, and day of the week do you get the most traffic 
7. The most active pages visited (this can surprise you) 
8. From which countries, states and cities visitors come from 
9. The least requested pages 
10. Analysis of browsers used to visit your site 
11. Organization breakdown, i.e., commercial, education, government, etc. 
12. Visiting spiders 
13. Most used platforms 

Developing a cost-effective plan for your company