The ABCs of Internet Marketing

Internet based marketing or online marketing or web marketing are all the same terms. And they refer to the practice of using the Internet as a platform for communicating your marketing message to your target market. Sounds easy and self-explanatory? Not so, if you also know that internet marketing has many different components. And although these components all fall under the umbrella of internet based marketing, each of these components is a different ball game altogether.

Let us start sifting through the different components of internet based marketing.

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind when you say “internet marketing” is building a website. The website is where people go to for information about a particular company, its products and services, and developments and news related to it. Websites may have text, images, audio and video components, and are designed to grab the attention of internet users and keep the company, product or service top of mind among its potential customers. Depending on the complexity of the structure of the website, it may either serve only as an online brochure or it may also have the functionality of capturing leads, linking to other websites, or interacting with users in any other way.

Another chunk of all the internet marketing that is being done is related to search engines. Search engine marketing or SEM refers to the practice of marketing a website by increasing its visibility in search engines such as Google. Search engine marketing, in itself, is a broad term. It covers the practice of improving the organic ranking of a website in search engines through search engine optimization (SEO), or purchasing pay-per-click advertisement and pay-for-inclusion listings in online directories. Online directories work just like the yellow pages of yore, except that the former is accessible via the internet.

There is also what is called email marketing, which refers to the practice of disseminating relevant information about a company, product or service, or for gathering comments and feedback about them using email as the platform. Here, the information or invitation to give feedback is sent through email to a database that was either built or purchased by the marketer. This element of internet based marketing can be implemented in several methods, such as sending out electronic newsletters or simply mailing information about promotions and programs.

Other elements of internet based marketing include display advertising, which simply refers to placing display ads in websites; submitting online press releases to a web-based wire service for circulation to online news portals; article marketing, which refers to the practice of writing relevant articles and submitting them to online article databases; and blog marketing, which refers to accessing discussion forums or blogs—or setting one up—in order to post one’s comments and opinions.

When it comes to internet marketing, the possibilities for communicating your brand and your message are endless. You just need to find out what your objective is and who you want to reach. Then you can learn the easy steps to internet marketing yourself or find a professional to do it.