Traditional marketing media such as the Yellow Pages and newspapers are dying as new digital outlets take prominence. Younger customers use the Web almost exclusively to find businesses and services. Internet marketing is now an important part of any marketing program.

Today half of all small businesses don't have a Web site and most existing Web sites aren't very effective. Learning to work with the new Internet technologies will mean the difference between your company thriving or merely surviving, or even failing, in the next few years.

Large corporations with deep pockets are devoting significant resources to attract new customers through the Internet. But the beauty of the Internet is that it doesn't have to cost a fortune to stake your claim. No business technology in recent decades has been able to level the playing field for smaller businesses as much as the World Wide Web.

What exactly is Search Engine Optimization?

The first thing to think about in the design of your company's Web site is how are people going to find it. There are literally billions of Web sites in existence now, and there are probably dozens to millions of site that are competing with you in your line of business. Search engines, such as Google, are the most popular way that people find local products and services and to have your Web site get listed at the top of the search engine results pages is the goal of good Web site design.

The common name for making your Web site stand out above the rest of your competitors is Search Engine Optimization. There are several steps to Search Engine Optimization (or SEO as it is often referred to).

The first step is to find the best keywords, much like picking the right classifications for a Yellow Pages ad. An expert Web designer uses highly specialized software and online services to find which keyword phrases are right for your organization. The best ones aren't so common that you will be competing against millions of other Web sites, and aren't so unusual that no one ever searches on them.

Next you designer needs to modify the text copy on your Web site's pages to ensure that they have just the right density of your keyword phrases to appeal to the search engines. This process alone will often get a Web site to show up on the first couple of pages of a Google search.

Depending on your needs many other SEO steps will probably need to be performed to get your site found that might include:

- Submitting your site to hundreds of related online directories and search engines.

- Negotiating with many other Web sites to add a link to your site. These links makes your site seem more important to the search engines.

- Getting your business listed on popular local review sites, and getting your customer's positive testimonials added.

- Setting up Pay-Per-Click advertising to get your site to the top of the search results from day one.

- Adding your business to social networking sites, such as MySpace, to gain even more friends, reviews and links.

All of these steps will work to bring your Web site to the top of Google's search results, but they may still not bring you any business. For a Web site to really work for you it needs to be designed to be effective.

What makes a Web site effective?

Primary in making a site effective is having a clean design that is easy to navigate and presents a clear marketing message. Like any good marketing there first needs to be a compelling presentation of the benefits you can offer your customers and a call to action to get them motivated to buy.

Many business owners think they need to spend a bundle to get a “cool” looking site in order to sell on the Web. Although that may be appropriate for some organizations, any site will only work if it gets found and offers superior benefits to your potential customers. A simple optimized site that presents a clear message will always out-perform a cool looking site that is hard to understand and hasn't been optimized to be found by search engines.

Copyright 2007, Jerry Anderson