Search Engines, Banners and Beyond

By now you may have noticed a recurring theme on this website; the fact that an Internet presence is worthless unless people-- your customers--can find it. It's the 'Being Found' in our ABC's of Internet Success and it's a critical component of any Internet Solution. Fortunately, the Internet offers many affordable ways to increase your online visibility.

For delivering more traffic to your website, search engine marketing is hard to beat. Search engines are the #1 method consumers use to find everything they're looking for online. Being listed and achieving a top rank on your industry's keywords can deliver a significant stream of prospects that are actively looking for the kinds of products or services you offer. Experienced sellers know that reaching a potential customer during the right phase of their buying cycle is key to converting interest into a sale. Search engines have the unique ability to connect with prospects at the exact moment they're researching a product or service to buy; they want to find your business... so make sure they can!

Five Reasons You Need a Search Engine Marketing Strategy:

• Build an ongoing stream of profitable traffic to your website
• Connect with customers when they're making a buying decision
• Maximize your ad spending by targeting only relevant keywords
• Most cost effective way of expanding your market
• If customers can't find you they'll find your competition

Other methods of traffic generation can help round out your overall strategy and reach those consumers who may not be savvy searchers. These methods include banner ads on other websites, link exchanges, even offline promotions that direct people to a sale page or other area of your website. Success with these, as with any advertising, lies in making sure your ads are being seen by the right group of people at the right time, and that means knowing who you're targeting and where they can be found. The Internet can give you more information about your prospects than any other advertising medium and your Internet Business Consultant can show you how to best take advantage of this in your own website marketing plan.

Pay per Click (PPC) or Pay for Performance

Pay-Per-Click advertising is the leading form of search engine marketing. It is the equivalent of a customer-seeking smart bomb. PPC allows you to reach consumers when they are actively searching for your products or services, sending qualified buyers straight to your business.
This is achieved by bidding on specific search terms, or keywords, people use to find things online ("Toronto flowers", "tubular steel", "women’s shoes", "molded plastics Ontario", just to name a few of the countless possible terms businesses and consumers search on). Your ad will show whenever your search terms are used. When your ad is clicked on, you pay the nominal fee you bid for that search term.
PPC (also known as Pay for Performance advertising), allows for complete control of your costs because you only pay when your ad is clicked on. If your ad is displayed 1000 times and one person clicks on it, you only pay for one click!

WSI will research the keywords for your business that will deliver the most qualified visitor traffic to your website, as well as manage every aspect of your campaign. We’ll also show you how to improve your website’s conversion rate to turn more of your visitors into buyers.

>> Shoppers use the web to compare local prices before leaving home to buy.

>> Consumers now search the web for businesses instead of looking through the phone book.

>> Web searches generate more in-store sales every day.

>> The fastest way to increase sales is being found in local web searches.

>> Local web searches can drive more foot traffic to businesses than the phone book.

>> Prospects are trying to find your business on the web right now.