Promoting your business via the Internet may become a more difficult task in the near future. Recent studies have shown that most of promotional activities are happening in social media. People are looking for unique business ideas, partners for joint business, staff, business sponsors and, of course, for possible ways to market their projects online.
Online business, despite the lower operational costs, also faces the challenges, especially in creating a competitive advantage against many other online businesses. Let’s see what we can do, because if you have a strong desire then you are able to learn at least the basic of online business marketing.
Contextual advertising and website promotion
Let’s start with the contextual trend. This is an ideal option in terms of price/result. The principle consists of placing advertisement on the pages of leading search engines, as well as on third-party websites.
When typing in any product or service in the search bar, the user will be offered to click on your link. As a result, you get the most interested audience in your service. However, it may be difficult or will take some time to understand how the contextual advertising works.
SEO-promotion or search engine optimization
This is another no less important tool to market an online business. It helps your business to get higher in the rank of results given by the search engine. It includes working with content, links, photos, audio and video elements, as well as other options.
Only moderation and quality of SEO Promotion will create a truly authoritative online resource that can be of great help in the development of your business. If you have enough time then you can study this method on your own.
Social networking
Don’t forget about the need to promote your “child” in social networks and blogs. Therefore, in order to quickly make your brand, product or company recognizable, it is necessary to start with social media.
SMM essentially combines the majority of the above-mentioned instruments. Be careful with the settings – there is a risk to make a mistake with the choice of the audience and actually nullify all the work.
What Options do you have?
There are plenty of options for your business, depending on the resources you are willing to spend. Some options are time-intensive and some others are costly – check this infographic published by MOZ Local:
If you look closely at the infographic, you will learn that Local SEO is the most effective options, in term of resource requirements. Please note that, if you want to make use of this option, you need some guidance and software.
If you are into DIY and free options, you might want to look at Pinterest and Q&A sites like Quora to get your local business found on the cheap – even free. They are easy to use and don’t require you to have an advanced level of online/IT skills.
The choices are yours.
Takeaway
Every business has its own unique situation: availability of resources, level of competition, and quality of product or service. Developing a strategy to market your business requires a systematic approach, serious analysis, experience and knowledge of modern marketing tools including methods of promotion on the Internet.
Understanding the principles of network economy, opportunities of online advertising and analytics gives you a significant advantage in achieving your business goals.