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Like shopping malls and strip centers, websites rely on traffic to generate sales and leads. It might surprise you to know that more than half of all US residents and more than 75% of all US adults are online today. Source: Us Census Bureau, May 2011.

Business websites need traffic to add value and deliver ROI - Internet advertising can provide targeted traffic

In fact, 35% of US consumers spend more than three hours online every day (Source: The Media Audit, October 2010). I am sure the numbers today skew higher. It’s like the old proverb says, “if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?” The analogy here is, if a website exists on the Internet but there are no mechanisms for people to discover the website, does it exist?

This post is part of a series that will discuss strategies to reach targeted markets with laser precision. Included in this series will be recommended Internet marketing and Internet advertising tactics. While writing the initial piece, the need to chunk the content into digestible posts quickly became clear. With that, the Terrific Time for Traffic series was born.

One of the biggest challenges that business owners face online or off is to be found. Discovery of a new website can be especially challenging. Business owners ask how can we cost-effectively market our website on the Internet? Another related question is how can we quickly ramp up website visitors? Not just any visitors, but targeted visitors otherwise known as qualified prospects? How can we connect with those businesses and consumers researching purchases online for the very products and services we offer?

The question is will these businesses and consumers in market for the products and services sold by your business find your website? If they don’t find your website, won’t they likely find your competitor’s website? This is a huge challenge for new businesses and for business whose name and brand are not currently well-known in the market.

Business owners have many Internet advertising options available to lead online researchers to their products and services on their business website, including:

Internet advertising and Internet marketing options to drive targeted, qualified visitors to your website

• Purchasing advertisements on search engines where ads are shown for search term bid on for placement in the paid search results.
• Purchasing display advertisements on websites; these can be contextually targeted based on context (what type of site they are on) or behavioral factors such as show ads to those who have already visited your website (remarketing)
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your website, mostly accomplished through obtaining non-paid links from other authoritative websites to your. These links are required to rank well for user searches that are relevant to the products and services offered by your business. More on this topic in an upcoming segment.
• Issuing press releases with links to your website; this can provide huge value if/when the press release get picked up by mainstream news outlets or niche news outlets in the case of a more targeted release.
• Writing and publishing articles and posting those articles to article directories with links to your website; this practice is referred to as Article Marketing. Other places to publish include newspapers, magazines and other publications looking for relevant content.
• Commenting on blogs whose content is contextually relevant to your website, focusing on blogs that allow you to link back to your website in the comments form. Avoid automated commenting software or leaving spam comments.
• Inter-linking multiple websites owned by the same company to create a network of websites, focusing on carefully worded links with preferred placement. This practice can also be viewed as risky as search engines may view as an attempt to manipulate search results, risking possible ranking penalties.
• Purchasing targeted advertising on social media networks such as facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Facebook and LinkedIn offer self-serve options including the ability to target your ads to specific user demographics and geographies (more on this in subsequent posts).
• e-mail marketing with messages that contain links back to your website; email marketing is safest when using a double opt-in list to avoid email marketing pitfalls.
• Listing your website in search engines and local directories under your business category or categories.
• Creating social media profiles and then using those profiles/pages to promote your products and services while networking and engaging potential clients online.
• Referencing the website address (e.g. www.eBizROI.com) in all marketing materials and communications, both online and offline.
• Purchasing text links to your website from other websites whose content is relevant to your products and services; Caution: negative impacts on search engine rankings a risk with purchased links.
• Create a blog and post content of interest to your target market which, according to HubSpot, a leading supplier of marketing software, results in obtaining 97% more inbound links that websites without a blog - Source: Hubspot, State Of Inbound Marketing Lead Generation Report, 2010. Blogging also adds value to your clients while building trust.
• Too many more to list without needing to break this first post in the series into a series itsel, but you get the idea.

The key takeaway is that If you are a business owner, marketing manager or CMO with a marketing budget and better yet, an Internet advertising/marketing budget, there has never been more options for businesses, large and small, to target and reach well-defined niche(s) online efficiently and effectively.

In the next post in the Terrific Time for Traffic series, we will discuss data points that demonstrate the breadth of US Internet users and how they rely on search engines over 50% of the time to begin researching products and services that they are in the market for.

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Web Analytics are essential to marketing on the Internet. Macro economic conditions have led to a surge in new business startups over the last few years with a large percentage of them just beginning to come online. Most new business owners understand the promise of accountability in Internet marketing, and clearly a large percentage of businesses now view web analytics as a key component of their Internet Marketing strategy. Web analytics provide the underlying infrastructure and capability to track Internet Marketing ROI.

Here are 10 reasons why it is essential that every business deploy web analytics, which in lay terms, are simple to use mechanisms used to track and report on key website performance metrics such as number of visitors, traffic sources of visitors, keywords used by searches who were referred to your site by a search engine to name just a few. Web analytics can also be used to define, capture, track and measure business and website goals such as newsletter sign-ups, product and services sales and other user interactions which can be valued at some monetary amount and then used to calculate ROI (Return on Investment).

Why Web Analytics are Essential for all Business Websites

1. You can’t improve what you can’t measure: Without having the ability to capture , track over time and report on the number of visitors to the website, the engagement level of different visitors segmented among various dimensions (by source, content, keywords, etc.), it is difficult to know if your website is adding value to the business and what steps are required to improve the return on a website investment.

 

2. Track key website engagement metrics : Web Analytics provide the ability to track engagement metrics such as bounce rate, return vs. new visits and number of pages/visit, average time spent on site, just to name a few.

 

3. Provide traffic sources overview illustrating visitors segmentation between direct traffic, referral traffic and search engine traffic. The three traffic source segments in Figure 1 below show that 49.87% of the traffic of this website, over some user defied period of time, originated from Search Engines. The Direct Traffic of 14.24% came from visitors who entered the (URL) web address in the address window of the browser and the remainder of the traffic, 35.93% came from Referring Sites that link to this website, with visitors originating from links on those sites.


Figure 1 – Traffic Sources Overview Example with Search Engines, Referring Sites and Direct Traffic Segments



 

4. Provide and understanding of visitor geographic distribution which can drive website language requirements if your business is international and potentially uncover new market potential based traffic originating from Geographies that are currently either under served or not serviced at all. This information can be presented through an interactive map overlay which can be used to drilled down into Country, State/Province, County, City , and other defined marketing areas. You can imagine the power of the marketing intelligence this kind of web analytics information presented in this interactive visual format, can provide.


Figure 2 – Map Overlay Example Showing Visitor Origination Geography



 

5. Understand which content is viewed most/least often : This information can help focus and prioritize scarce development resources supporting many competing needs based on an understanding of which content is most consumed (i.e. most in demand) versus content that is less consumed and may be viewed by visitors, your target market, as less valuable. In the example in Figure 3, we see that this site, like many other sites, has the most page views on / which is typically the default homepage for the domain such as index.html or default.php, etc. We also see that the glossary and blog are the second and third most visited sections of this website. This information could potentially focus development efforts in those content areas to maximize return on development investments.


Figure 3 – Web Analytics Content Overview Example


 

6. Measure online impact of multi-channel marketing: The power and promise of Internet marketing and the measurability and accountability that web analytics can provide can be extended to evaluate the impact of traditional media used in multi-channel marketing campaigns which often drive website visits, registrations and online engagement. Often times, lifts in key website metrics are driven by a website mention in a print, radio, television or billboard ad. Using web analytics to track traffic to the website, dates of offline campaigns can be compared against online metrics. For example, a broadly distributed TV commercial with mention of the website on April 18 could drive a traffic as seen in Multiple Channel Marketing Impacts Example shown in Figure 4.


Figure 4 -Multiple Channel Marketing Impacts Example


 

7. Define and track sales funnels with multiple conversion levels: Online goals often tracked include opt-in email sign ups, contact request form submissions for lead generation and completed sales for ecommerce applications. These events add value to the business and can be tracked within the web analytics tools. Monetary values can be assigned to individual goals based on their value to the business. For example, each valid email address from a user Newsletter Signup is worth $2.00.

 

 

8. Track and measure top referring sites : Including number of visitors from each, pages/visit, average time spent on site, % of visitors that are new visits and bounce rate. Enlarge Web Analytics Top Referring Sites Image (will open in a new window)

 



Figure 5 – Web Analytics Top Referring Sites Example


 

9. Understand Visitor Browser Segmentation : Used to drive technology dependent features and compatibility testing , especially if providing content that is browser platform dependent. Web developers know that each browser has their own proprietary nuances Can also be used to drop support for older browsers if the segment of visitors using a particular outdated technology is small or non-existent. This can be useful when making design and technology decisions. Enlarge Web Analytics Top Browser Segmentation Image (will open in a new window)


Figure 6 – Web Analytics Top Browser Segmentation Example


 

10. Understand which search engines are driving the most visits: This can be a key input into search engine optimization strategy. Enlarge Web Analytics Search Engine Referrals Image (will open in a new window)

Figure 7 – Web Analytics Search Engine Referrals Example

The Best Part – Google Analytics is Free to Use, Easy to Install

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather is the top 10 reasons why web analytics are essential to any online marketing efforts. The best part of all is that there free web analytics packages, such as Google Analytics, that are easy to install and use. Installation is as easy as adding a snipped of code to each web page that you wish to track. The following code is real code for use with Google Analytics:

Enlarge Web Analytics Google Analytics JavaScrip Code Snippet Example (will open in a new window)

Figure 8 – Web Analytics Google Analytics JavaScrip Code Snippet Example

If adding code to html pages is not your thing, many professional Internet marketing service providers will install Google Analytics packages for as little as $200 with no recurring fee. Isn’t it time that you claimed your free web analytics package today?

There are too many web pages available in the internet. Outshining the competition seems to be the goal of every webmaster. Advertising and marketing their site is what they have to do. Online marketing techniques are taught almost everywhere in the net these days. Some of these advertising methods are listed below.  But take note that Delta Squadron teaches the best internet marketing training.

1. SEO. Optimizing your website is one of the first things you need to do when promoting your business.  With SEO, many have already achieved success.  In this technique, pick a keyword that has good traffic.  Then, optimize your website by including the keywords in your title, h1 tags, meta description and keywords.  Sparingly use the keywords in the articles in your website. This will eventually make your website become visible to the search engines.

2. Link Building. Creating good links that point to your website will help you in your SEO efforts. This advertising method includes placing your link on as many highly ranked sites as possible. You can place these links in social networking websites, article directories, blogs and many more.

3. Marketing through Articles. This method has long term results since your articles stay in the articles directories for years. Write articles that are related to your business then add a link to your website in the bio or resource box. Use keywords in the title and throughout the article, submit it to article directories and you create a back link to your business website.

4. Form Marketing. Posting in forums help you build your credibility and persona. When posting in forums, make sure you make sense and do not look as though you are spamming. People tend to buy from people they trust. Try to answer questions and give advice about things that you are knowledgeable. If you need some help do a little research first.   You can also add a link back to your website using your forum signature.

5. Blogging. Making a blog is easy and anyone can do it. Simply look for a free blog service, sign up and write something about your business. Use keywords so your posts will be found in the search engines. Add fresh content to your blog at least once a week, preferably more, especially in the beginning.

These advertising methods are just some of the many ways to advertise your product or service. These guidelines will help you have a bigger online presence.

Based on the recent IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report release by the IAB earlier this week, search revenue in the first half of 2009 accounted for 47% of Internet advertising revenues, up from the 44% reported in the second quarter of 2008. Search has more than double the share of 2nd highest category, Display Advertising, which was 22% up from 21% a year earlier.

Not surprising given the level of qualified traffic that search provides over other forms of interactive advertising and positive impact of running display campaigns concurrent with search initiatives. A key quote by David Silverman, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, the firm sponsored by IAB to conduct the research, “While the overall advertising market has continued to be impacted by current economic conditions, marketers are allocating more of their dollars to digital media for its accountability and because consumers are spending more of their leisure time online.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Another key finding in the report is that performance pricing models (e.g. CPA – Cost per Acquisition) are on the rise growing to 58% up from 54% share a year ago versus CPM (Cost per Thousand Impressions) which are on the decline from 44% down to 38% for the same period. The remaining 4% market share purchased on a hybrid model and remained flat. Given the drop in demand for all advertising due to macro economic conditions, it is not surprising that the online media buyers are able to shift the performance risk to the publishers (i.e. buying on a CPA basis) in what some have come to label as a buyers market.

Thoughts?

What makes the Internet advertising an attractive vehicle relative to other mediums? Is it because it’s “cool” and “everybody’s doing it” or is it viewed as a necessary evil with little expectations of results? Internet advertising and SEM (Search Engine Marketing) in particular, has continued to get a larger share of advertising funding even while the overall advertising industry has contracted. This is continued growth is enabled by the measurement and ROI (Return on Investment) accountability of Internet advertising necessary to justify continued advertising during a recessionary economy.

How does Internet Advertising provide accountability? The Internet provides accountability through measurement and analysis which enables marketers to confidentially estimate Internet advertising ROI. With the proliferation of many traffic measurement and analysis low or no cost software and services, it is very easy for Internet advertisers to establish key performance metrics, capture those metrics by inserting some simple html/JavaScript into the web pages to be tracked, and within 24 hours or less, you are able to measure things like visits, unique visitors, origination, key word use if through a search engine, bounce rates and more. It is also easy to measure and monitor conversion rates of visitors per sale or lead captured.

Once we have begun capturing the key Internet advertising performance metrics, we can analyze to establish metric baselines to test one or more Internet advertising strategies with high ROI such as SEM. SEM includes techniques such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay Per Click). By measuring, monitoring and analyzing traffic relative to SEM initiatives, we can begin to correlate marketing initiatives results. This correlation to results can be used to estimate Internet advertising ROI relative to individual marketing initiatives, providing creditable accountability for those individual investments. For SEO initiatives, the correlation is more difficult as these initiatives provide residual impact but tend to have impacts that lag.

A wise businessman told me early in my career that to be successful, that I would have to fail often and early. This principle is one that is grasped best through years of application. The beauty of Internet advertising, SEM and paid placement in particular, is that with measurement and analytic capabilities today, Internet Marketers can have strong indications if their online campaigns will succeed or fail within 24 hours. This knowledge, obtained through measurement and analysis, enables Internet advertisers to adjust campaigns early and test suggested campaign improvements often, reducing negative impacts of poor performing campaigns, while providing actionable data to tune campaigns and their results sooner.

As Internet advertising performance measurement and analysis tools become more mature and shift from a paradigm of providing raw data with summaries to automated analysis and recommendation solutions, the ability to test and tune Internet advertising campaigns will become even more widespread. This unique, near-real time accountability through measurably will continue to accelerate the growth of Internet advertising at the expense of traditional offline media.