INTERNET MARKETING IS EXPLODING IN GROWTH AND IMPORTANCE
Internet Marketing is the fastest growing form of marketing today. Recent headlines scream “Internet ends automatic delivery of white pages”. “Canada-wide delivery of the White Pages – the residential phone listings Canadians have depended on for more than 130 years _ has been halted in larger urban centres, now provided only upon request.” The article goes on to quote that only “one in every two Canadians is continuing to use them (Yellow Pages) to find a business.”
Proof positive that the “old ways” of locating friends, customers and businesses is fast becoming obsolete. Clearly the Internet is taking over as the premier method of not only staying in touch with present friends and customers but of attracting new ones as well.
SO WHAT IS INTERNET MARKETING?
People have wants and needs. In the past, they used phone books, newspapers, etc., to search for solutions to fulfilling their needs. Now the majority of searchers use the Internet instead. Why? The Internet provides not one but multiple answers very quickly. By so doing, it opens the door for marketing on the Internet or Internet Marketing.
Internet marketing starts with online searches. If no one searches there is no desire or need to fill. It is only when someone enters a query, a question about a product or service, that an opportunity is created. Then it becomes the first step in identifying and qualifying a potential new customer.
By offering prompt and courteous service, the marketer will try to influence the searcher to become interested in the company’s products and services. Thus the transformation of seeker to buyer has begun. In this developing event, search engines play a very critical role.
SEARCH ENGINES ARE THE DECIDING FACTOR IN INTERNET MARKETING
Search engines play an important role in determining how the query should be answered. The search results will display a list of potential suppliers to the searcher to use in selecting an answer to their initial question. This makes the list of potential suppliers and their relative ranking on the list of very great importance to the potential suppliers.
Most searchers have a limited amount of time to peruse the list. They will scan only those at or near the top of the list of search results before making their selection. Suppliers further down the list are often ignored and thus lose out. For this reason a supplier should want to be at the top of the search results list to improve their chances of being selected. So how is this list compiled and by whom?
By using a pre-determined set of criteria, the owners’ of the search engine have established the rankings of potential suppliers. Suppliers submit information to search engines by way of websites, articles, blogs, press releases, and a host of other ways. The search engine uses this information to rank the relative merit of all submissions and and the submitters. Thus the search results list is established. The owner of the largest search engine service is Google. Because of it’s size, Google becomes the major referee in the game of Internet Marketing.
In fact, Google also dominates when it comes to Internet searches. They capture approximately two thirds of all Internet searches making it th