Web Marketing in Today’s Time and How it Comes in Handy for Everyone
This world would be devoid of many good things if marketing had not been done. Yep, the arrival of web marketing to our sometimes shiny, someday grim world has brought a lot of things along with it. At first, it was traditional marketing that helped people find what they needed or wanted, but the world of marketing underwent a tremendous resurgence upon the arrival of the internet. The Internet has fundamentally changed nearly every aspect of our lives. From how we interact with friends, family, co-workers, and businesses, a technology that was in its infancy just 20 years ago is now considered indispensable to many people.
Companies understand the value that the Internet offers to them, providing interactive opportunities to connect with current customers and attract new consumers. As the Internet evolves, businesses will continue to refine their online marketing efforts, reaching a greater number of potential buyers than before. There is so much to explore when it comes to online marketing, no one knows how far it is going to go eventually. As of today, there are so many facets of internet marketing that each one has created a small universe around it. One of the major aspects of internet marketing is web marketing or website marketing.
What is web marketing?
Web marketing refers to a broad category of advertising that takes many forms, but generally involves any marketing activity conducted online. Marketers have shifted their efforts online because it tends to be significantly less expensive. Many online advertising spaces are free to use. Companies can upload videos to YouTube or start a blog for no cost at all. Other outlets like official websites or paid search marketing cost a fraction of what a major television advertising campaign would.
The web also presents exciting new opportunities for companies to profile their customers. The interactive space of the Internet simplifies a company’s ability to track, store, and analyse data about a customer’s demographics, personal preferences, and online behaviour. This data allows the advertiser to provide a more personalized and relevant ad experience for the customer. There is a lot more involved within web marketing, small parts that eventually help the entire web marketing strategy succeed and help the agency as well as the brand that has undertaken all of this to promote themselves.
Types of web marketing:
Display Advertising: The use of banner ads and other graphical advertisements to market products online.
Search Engine Marketing: Using search engines to help connect users with the products and services they are most interested in. Companies can pay to receive preferential ranking in a list of search results.
Search Engine Optimization: A free and organic way for companies to improve their visibility on search engines.
Social Media Marketing: Using sites like Facebook and Twitter to connect with customers.
Email Marketing: Communicating with customers through the use of carefully designed emails.
Referral Marketing: Using internet channels to encourage consumers to recommend products to their friends and families.
Affiliate Marketing: Working with other businesses to make it easier for consumers to shop for products online.
Inbound Marketing: Boosting the value of a company’s web presence by adding unique content like blogs, games, and tutorial videos.
Video Marketing: Using web videos for promotional purposes.
Benefits of web marketing
Web marketing is cost-effective: Other, more traditional forms of marketing cost companies an arm and a leg! Facebook ads, for example, are 3 times cheaper and more targeted than radio, television, or print ads. Using the internet to expand and engage your audience is much less expensive, as long as you have a plan in place in advance that helps pinpoint your desired audience.
Web marketing is easy to adapt and edit: Social media advertising, banner ads, or other online campaigns can be tweaked and revised quickly and with little fanfare. With preferences changing constantly, this is a big benefit to you. New pricing, additional products, and time-sensitive sales can all be handled easily with web marketing initiatives.
Web marketing builds relationships: Many marketing options end up being annoying noise to the very consumers you are trying to reach. When done right, web marketing is actually helpful to your prospects. It can offer solutions and address pain points. This makes it more effective at starting conversations and building trust than other types of marketing.
Web marketing strategy
Whenever we decide to do something, we do not dive head first into that task. There is some thinking that goes into taking that decision, and once that decision is taken, there is appropriate time given to making a strategy on how to achieve that particular goal. Well, website marketing or web marketing for that matter is no different. So, what exactly is needed to make a good website marketing strategy? Here’s what!
Performing a website performance/design review: The first step is to create a website that accurately represents your business. This is not directly related to the visual aspect of it (i.e. how it looks) but on the quality of the information provided. Your website is the same as your shop window. It should look good on the outside and when customers enter your shop, everything should be organized and in place. Before starting any campaigns, take some time and review your website and make sure that:
It has a simple, hierarchical site structure: A good site structure helps both users and search engines navigate a website to easily find the information they require. As a rule of thumb, any page on your site should be accessible from the homepage in 3 clicks or fewer.
It has accurate information about your company and products: Make sure that it provides users with everything they need to know about your company and products. Make use of visual elements to get the attention of your users.
It’s fast and mobile-friendly: The majority of your users will come from mobile devices, so test your website on mobile and optimize the experience of the user in the best way possible.
Making sure your search engine optimization is up to task: The next step is to start thinking about your SEO strategy. A well-defined SEO plan will eventually increase your rankings and traffic from search engines. SEO is the process of increasing your website’s visibility in search engines, and it consists of a number of steps:
Technical SEO: Making sure that your website is free of crawl errors and other issues that might keep search engines from indexing your website properly.
On-Page SEO: Making your web pages SEO friendly and your content easy to read by search engine crawlers.
SEO Content: Writing content that satisfies the user intent.
Off-Page SEO: Promoting your website for the purpose of getting high-quality links from other websites.
Local SEO: Optimizing your website for location-aware searches and for getting more clients to your brick and mortar store.
Make your website social media friendly: This point is probably as easy as they come. Nowadays, nothing rules the world of marketing more than social media. So what can you do to ensure that your website is indeed, social media friendly?
Having visual elements (images, video) on your website that can be shared on social media networks. Adding social media sharing buttons on the pages you want to be shared on social networks. Making sure that when a user clicks the share button (or shares your URL directly), the generated snippet is well-formatted. Adding the necessary open graph meta tags and using image sizes and formats supported by all major networks is recommended.
Many webmasters skip this step and it’s a mistake that can negatively affect your social media promotion efforts. While it looks like it’s more technical and not marketing related, it does play an important role. If your website does not allow users to share your content properly, don’t expect any social media exposure.
Develop a soundproof content marketing plan: Wherever you go, whatever marketing strategy you decide to undertake, it isn’t going to be successful without great content. Any great marketer or advertiser will say this to you, content is king. The main purpose of content marketing is to help you create the right type of content that will attract new users to your website and keep them engaged.
What does your strategy for content marketing include then? Do your keyword research and find out which SEO keywords to target with your content. Perform competitor analysis and find out what is working for your competitors. Analyse Google search results to find out what type of content Google wants for your target keywords (length of content, images/video, etc.). Once you have a list of topics/keywords, you should then create a content marketing calendar to specify when each piece of content will be published, who will write it and how it will be promoted after publication.
Upon undertaking all of these steps, all you have to do is market your website properly through various channels, social media and the rest. You can also use paid ads (if there is a stock of funds for that), in order to reach more customers. There isn’t enough that you can do when it comes to promoting your own brand and website, so keep at its folks!