Over the last six years I have seen Internet use increase as well as Internet advertising increase
. It makes since to advertise online when you realize that the time spent online was up, too, with consumers spending an average of 11 hours per week on the Web.
There are many ways now to advertise online most of them mean you need your own web site. Then once your web site is built you need to get it found in search results. There is the "sticking" point. This is not easy unless you have someone who knows Internet marketing.
A few years ago I realized that search engines were going to get more granular with search results; meaning they were headed in the direction of wanting more searches to focus on a specific areas of the world, a city/town/community. Here are three points to consider when you want better search rankings:
1. The title tag of your web site. Your title tag can be read by you in the blue space at the very top of your screen. It can be found in the header code of the source code used to develop your web site. Your title tag should not have the name of your company or the name of your web site. It should have a couple of short sentences using your keywords.
2. Make sure each page of your web site has a different title tag. Your web site designer can do this for you. Each page should have good content and the title tag should be relevant to content on the page.
3. Your content and code is the only thing search engines can read. Don't put your most important content and links behind Flash.
All advertising online is increasing and there are projections that US online advertising could be more than double as a percentage of total media, rising from only a 6% share of total media in 2006, to slightly more than a 12% share by 2010. National advertisers are now placing more emphasis in online advertising then in radio. "Pay Per Click" as online advertising is growing as well. This type of advertising can be very expensive for small businesses since you will have to bid against bigger businesses for the same keywords. Small businesses need to determine what the ROI will be per prospect from the Internet to decide if this type of advertising is worth the money.
As I stated earlier consumers are now spending more time online, what this means to small businesses is that more consumers want to learn about products and services online. Research has also shown that a small business with a web presence is considered more professional then other businesses without a web presence.