Hitting the mark: online advertising tactics that work.

• Author: Spears, Robert
• Position: Internet Advertising - Analysis - Brief Article

Think Internet advertising just doesn't work? Think again. Sixty-two percent of respondents to a recent Research.net survey report that online advertising helps them make buying decisions. Today's savvy Internet advertisers have embraced the idea of focused information in targeted markets with the goal of building long-term relationships--and it's working. Here are some tactics that range from fairly simple and inexpensive to the more pricey and time intensive.

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

The Research.net survey found that 73 percent of respondents use the Web to find out about new products, and the search engine is their research tool of choice. So, your first line of action should be to focus on your own Web site. Search engine optimization is one of the easiest and least expensive online marketing tools--it's all about getting your name to the top of the search engine rankings.

Following are techniques for increasing search engine optimization. Once you select some tactics, be sure to stay on top of best practices so they don't become obsolete. Search Engine Watch, www.searchenginewatch.com, provides tips and information about searching the Web and analysis of the search engine industry.

Directory Listings: Most search engines have Yellow Page-like directory listings by subject. Many are free and just require basic editorial approval. Check out Google's Business directory as an example http://directory.google.com/Top/Business.

Page Optimization: Text treatment on your own Web site can make a big difference. For example, the HTML title field (the name of a page displayed at the top of a browser window) is important and influential with most search engines, so is the actual text or HTML body of a page. A strong page will have a title with keywords (such as, "Orange County's Best Restaurant Tax Accountants") and the body of text should reinforce these keywords. Improve search prospects by adding descriptive keyword meta tags to the coding of the home page. Descriptive file names and URLs also are helpful (e.g. /tax-laws/2002/oc-restaurant-tax-services.htm"). Web pages that do not have ".htm" or ".html" file extensions are problematic for search engines.

Search Engine Submissions:

Once your site is optimized for search engines, you should notify the search engines. The more frequently your site is updated the more frequently your site will be crawled by search engines. Crawling identifies and indexes new information on your site. Make sure...