Working with a lot of SME’s we understand the challenges facing both online and offline businesses, and it is fair to say that everyone is feeling the strain of this terrible recession. Being a digital agency we get streams of questions and enquiries about the various opportunities the internet has to offer, often the understanding of the various strategies can be minimal but in every instant the questioner wants to know – how will it benefit my business?
With this in mind we thought we would give a rundown of all the various digital solutions available to businesses and give you a no holds barred opinion of their benefits and disadvantages.
Search Engine Optimisation
Increasing your websites position in the search engine rankings through various techniques such as link building and article submission.
Advantages
- Measurable
- Will increase traffic to your website
- Traffic coming onto website will be more targeted
- There are long term results
Disadvantages
- Does not have guaranteed results
- There are a lot of unethical SEO companies out there
- Can be unpredictable as the SEO ‘industry’ is always changing
- Competitive nature of business industry can affect the success rate of the campaign
Social Media Optimisation
The process of generating publicity and traffic through social media websites such as Bebo, Facebook & LinkedIn.
Advantages
- Brand awareness
- You can connect to your target demographic
- Listen to customer feedback or discussion on your product
- Increases your company image
- Generate a buzz about your brand
- Increase linkability
Disadvantages
- You cannot actually optimise social media, it has a life of its own and cannot be influenced easily
- It will not necessarily work for every industry
- It can be time consuming, profiles need to be maintained and updated regularly
- Businesses open themselves up to scrutiny
Pay Per Click
Paying for sponsored links in the search engines.
Advantages
- Instant results, sponsored links have prominent placement in the first page of results.
- Beneficial to new websites
Disadvantages
- Costly
- Results are short term, once the PPC campaign ends so will the high rankings
Banner Advertisements
A form of advertisement featuring on another website
Advantages
- Helps increase brand awareness
- Good way to promote brand services or products
- Links back to website
- Reach target demographic
Disadvantages
- People often find banner advertisements to be annoying
- Depending on where you are placing them it can be quite pricey
- Low click through rate
Affiliate Marketing
Placing advertisements on affiliate websites, when a sale or enquiry is made through the place advertisement payment is given to the affiliate website owner.
Advantages
- More cost effective than banner advertisements
- Good way to promote brand services or products
Disadvantages
- Not all affiliate websites are willing to place banners
- Unless you get an affiliate website with high traffic it
While Internet Marketing is an extremely useful tool to help drive business there are a multitude of channels which can be utilised and it can sometimes be a confusing choice. It is clear that not all channels are likely to work for all industries which is why here at 360innovate we take the time to learn about your business situation and use our wealth of experience to recommend a bespoke online marketing strategy which works for you
Tags: affiliate marketing, banner advertising, benefits pay per click, benefits seo, benefits social media optimisation, disadvantages of seo, disadvantages pay per click, ppc, seo
