Marketing an Internet Business Online – Part 2

(iii) Search Engines – ‘pay-per-click’

Other search engines – notably Overture and E-Spotting – use a ‘pay-per-click’ system where clients (web publishers) bid against each other to be listed higher within the search listings for a particular term. Each time a person clicks on your link from the listing, you are charged the amount that you are currently bidding (you may now see how this method can accumulate very high costs).

For example, company ABC wishes to be high in the listings for a particular search engine when somebody searches for the term ‘cheap cars’. Currently, the highest bidder is at 50p per click and the second highest is at 48p per click. In order to get ranked top of the list, company ABC must bid 51p per click. If they want to be second, they would have to bid 49p per click. Get the idea…?

You can update your bids at any time, therefore meaning that competitors can jump ahead of you at any time if they wish (or can afford to) and vice-versa. This c an accumulate a lot of m anagement and may therefore require an employee to devote all of their time to concentrate on this activity.

In order to use ‘pay-per-click’ services, you would first have to register with the search engine company.

Find out more: How Can Your Business Benefit from Search Engine Advertising?

(iv) Online Directories

Some people often confuse search engines with directories – the most popular being Yahoo! Yahoo! Is not a search engine, but in fact a directory.

Similar to a phone book, directories list websites (descriptions and links) in categories for easy searching (i.e. finance, entertainment, shopping, etc). Employees of online directories will search the web constantly looking for creditable websites to be listed within their directory. If you wish to be included, you would have to contact them so that they can analyse your website/business before adding you in the directory.

(iv) Newsletters

E-newsletters are an excellent marketing method to draw customers to your website. If you can produce your own mailing list by asking people to subscribe on your website – the better. Newsletters can give details about news, products, services, etc which will ultimately direct customers back to your site if they wish to follow up on their interest.

Newsletters can be created and sent by yourself, or can be outsourced to a media marketing company to do the job for you (at some – but well justified – cost).

(v) Affiliate schemes

You can create an affiliate scheme allowing other web publishers (the affiliate) to advertise your website on their website in attempt to direct business your way. In return, for any sales/referrals that have resulted from the affiliate, you would pay them a commission. For example, if a customer has been directed from the affiliate’s website and they make a purchase from you for £30, you may offer them 5% commission (agreed at the beginning).

You can manage the process yourself if you have the staff resources, or you could register your business with an affiliate program leaving them to do the administration and management – you simply watch the business come in and pay the commissions. This is perhaps the better approach if you do not have the resources to manage the process.

The most popular affiliate programs that you can register your website with are:

• Affiliate Window
• DGM
• Trade Doubler

(vi) Link exchanges

Set up a ‘link exchange’ feature on your website therefore allowing web publishers to request a link on your website in return for a link on theirs. However, it may be beneficial to have a separate ‘links’ page on your website to avoid having irrelevant links on other pages of your website.

Relevant Articles

• Marketing a Small Business
• Guerilla Marketing
• Outsourcing in Small Business
• Should I Put My Business Online?
• Designing a Small Business Website

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Marketing an Internet Business OfflinePage 2, Marketing Your Internet Business Online