Traditionally, to promote goods and services, businesses would advertise in newspapers and on television or distribute brochures and pamphlets. With the passing of time and the development of technology, businesses use different marketing platforms to achieve the same goals.

As of late, online marketing is becoming an increasingly popular method of promotion as businesses focus on using the internet to promote their brand and to grow their customer base. The internet has a global audience and it gives all businesses the opportunity to market their wares and although businesses can use online marketing to make greater profits, the functionality of the internet as a marketing platform is a bit different from the traditional newspaper or television media.

A successful online marketing campaign would require you to build a credible online reputation so that when a customer comes across your business on the internet, they can easily grow to trust it. Because of the way the internet works, customers can easily find products and services that meet their criteria; the problem for businesses arise when it comes to making sure that potential customers find their website. Developing a brand online takes time and effort and the amount of knowledge you have regarding internet marketing is much more important than the amount of money that you are willing to spend.

What is SEO?

When a customer is looking for a product, he or she enters a search query using a search engine like Google or Yahoo. According to the search term that is entered, the search engine uses a complex algorithm that determines which are the most relevant results and displays them. So, what can a business do to ensure that search engines consider them relevant?

This where SEO comes in. A select group of proven and tested strategies that will both inform your customers about what you have to offer and build an online reputation so that search engines will rank your website high up in their search results. The SEO techniques that a business can use depends on their goals and the demographic that they are trying to target. Some of the most commonly used methods for SEO are:

Quality Content

The internet, regardless of what the internet gurus are saying, resembles other forms of advertising media in a lot of ways. Customers will not purchase a product unless they can be assured of its quality. If you want to convey a message to your customers, then you need quality content.

This content can be a blog post, a sales pitch, an article or a press release but customers as well as search engines love quality information. Moreover, when customers find a commendable service, they can easily share it on their social networks. Search engines also account for your business’s popularity on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter and so utilizing social media is an idyllic means for you to promote your brand. When your website offers quality content, it is also shared on other websites by webmasters who appreciate the information that you have to offer.

Link Building

As mentioned before, if your website consists of quality and unique content, it is going to be shared by other websites throughout the web. Hence as an indicator of the information that you provide on the internet, search engines also account for the number of back links that you have. A back link is a link to your website from another site.

The ranking of the sites that are sharing your content is also taken under consideration. So, for your website to be given a high ranking by search engines, your website should have an extensive network of credible back links. You can have back links to your site in numerous ways. A most common SEO tactic is to comment on other blogs which are related to your website. Whenever, you comment, you are given the option to enter your web address, so it is an effective although time consuming means of building back links. An experienced search engine optimisation company can device more efficient link building strategies that will build the credibility of your business.

Social Networking

Online marketing using social media is a more recent SEO technique, but it has proven to be very effective. Social networking allows internet marketers to utilize a lot of other SEO strategies as well. It is very easy and convenient to share a website’s content via social media.

Promoting your business on a social media allows you to target potential customers easily. Moreover, sites like Facebook and Twitter have a very high Pagerank, so when you have links from those sites to your own, it is very beneficial for link building purposes as well. You can also advertise on social networking sites which enable you to increase the exposure of your business without having to put too much effort.

Advertising

Apart from social networks, you can also advertise on various other networks such as that of Google and Yahoo. You can sponsor your search results or advertise on the search results page. Proper keyword research is required for an advertising campaign to bear any substantial results but there is always the chance that potential customers will not come across the advertisements.

Online advertising is much more effective if it is conducted at a more specialized location. You can advertise on forums, blogs and other websites but once again you need the expertise of a search engine optimization company to know what kind of message is likely to grab a consumer’s attention.

A business has a lot to gain from a successful online marketing campaign, but their efforts will be in vain unless all the proper strategies are applied and consumer behaviour is observed. A Melbourne based enterprise can easily find a cost-effective marketing solution that not only builds a trustworthy brand but also takes their business to the next level