The variations of web marketing can be broken down in many different ways. With this article, let’s focus on four basic methods that everyone has used at one time or another. They are SEO, pay per click, email marketing and article publishing.
SEO is the oldest type of web marketing and the best in the opinion of many. SEO stands for search engine optimization. It is the process of getting a site to rank in the top 10 results for a phrase someone searches for on Google, Yahoo and MSN. If someone searches for “different types of web marketing”, I would be pursuing SEO if this page appeared in the first few results.
Pay per click marketing, also known as PPC, is for those with cash on hand who do not want to deal with SEO. To get around it, they simply open an advertising account with any of the big three search engines. They then create ads, pick phrases and bid for placement. If you do a search on Google, you can see the ads listed down the right hand side of the page. The advantage of PPC is you can bid up high onto a page. The disadvantage is you can go broke quickly if you spend more than you make off of sales and such. You must watch your return on investment very closely.
Email marketing was very popular, but has lost its luster. There are different types, but the basic idea is to send ads to peoples email boxes. Hopefully, you already have some type of relationship with this people. If not, it is considered SPAM mailings or unsolicited email marketing. It is not illegal so long as you follow all the relevant rules in the CAN-SPAM Act. Even if you do, this form of marketing is losing its luster because most people delete commercial messages instead of reading them and taking actions.
Publishing articles to promote a site is probably the most recent form of marketing to be made popular. There are large article depositories where you can submit your articles. Other sites are then allowed to republish your article. How does this help you? The other sites must include a link back to your site. The more articles you publish, the more people who will click those links and visit you.
Aazdak Alisimo writes about internet marketing for ProfessionalInternetMarketingCompanies.com - a directory of professional internet marketing companies for businesses small and large.