How to Choose the Right Internet Marketing Approach?

Search Engine Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Search Engine Marketing, Social Networking, Social Media Marketing, E-mail Marketing, Social Networking...

You have so many choices when it comes to marketing your products and services online and choosing the right ones for your goals and budget can be overwhelming. Before you waste money on costly PPC or put time into a blog, start by defining your objectives.

Define your goals |

What do you want your online marketing efforts to do for you?

• Brand Recognition
• Online Sales
• Reputation Management
• Engage Current and Prospective Customers
• Drive Site Traffic
• Convert Existing Site Traffic to Sales or Inquiries about your product or service
• Recruit Employees

Define Your Target Market |
Who is your target market?

• Age
• Sex
• Location
• Interests
  
• How Does Your Target Market Use the Internet

Define Your Budget |
What is your monthly advertising budget?

• Print
• TV
• Internet
• Other

Examine Your Competition |
What are your top competitors doing and is it working?

• List Top 5 Competitors
• What Do They Spend on Internet Marketing Monthly?
• What Methods Are They Using? PPC, Blogging, SEO?

Once you know what you want it is time to bring in the experts! Although you can do surgery on yourself at home to save time and money on hospital expenses, you will most likely end up spending more money on professional help to fix the mess you've made. The same can be said of do-it-yourself internet marketing. Sure you can setup your own blog or PPC campaign but unless you are a highly skilled and experienced you will inevitably waste precious time and money.

If you are able to tell your prospective SEO company what you need and who you are, they should be able to get down to business. Not all SEO companies are equal. I will post a questionnaire for use in sourcing internet marketing providers.