Internet marketing. SEO. Social media. Web design. The market is so flooded with buzzwords that it can be hard to sort out what they really mean. As every web design and development agency seeks to prove itself in the online marketing arena, words like these get tossed around like water balloons at an elementary school’s field day, and sometimes just as errantly. In this article, we’re going to try make a little sense of them. So, if you’re tired of hearing nonsense phrases like “I social media’d awareness campaigns for my web 2.0 social meetspace. It’s all about crowdsourcing in the internet marketing webworld,” stick around. We’re going to clear some of that stuff up.
What is Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization, more commonly referred to as SEO, is the process of increasing a website’s search engine ranking by improving the site’s quality and content visibility. Though it’s possible to just buy a paid ad on a social media site, many feel that it isn’t worth it. Organic results, the ones that show up because they did the work and deserve it, are clicked on 70 percent of the time.
What About the Other Stuff?/strong>
Search engine optimization factors in much more than just linkbacks. Social media is the other biggest factor and is usually offered by many internet marketing agencies. Social media sites include anything like Facebook or Twitter where users create accounts and interact with one another, sharing content. Seventy percent of all small businesses have profiles on social media sites, though they only respond to about 30 percent of their fans’ or followers’ feedback. The goal of social media for companies is not as much to interact with customers as to get information in front of them and to gain search engine rankings.
And This All Matters?
Yep. By 2016, more than half of the dollars spent in the US retail sector will be influenced by internet marketing, and online sales are expected to have grown from seven percent to almost nine percent. Users go to the internet for information about products and services before purchasing, and many choose to use the internet as a means for purchasing. Companies can no longer get by without internet marketing strategies, and that will become even more true as today’s young adults become the country’s major purchasers.
Though the terminology can seem confusing and frustrating, it is important to understand. The vocabulary might be new, but the message is the same: Quality content and effort never go amiss.
I am always floored by the number of web “professionals” who don’t know how to explain major internet marketing concepts.
I am always floored by the number of web “professionals” who don’t know how to explain major internet marketing concepts.
I am always floored by the number of web “professionals” who don’t know how to explain major internet marketing concepts.
I am always floored by the number of web “professionals” who don’t know how to explain major internet marketing concepts.
I am always floored by the number of web “professionals” who don’t know how to explain major internet marketing concepts.