Online Marketing: Seven Top Marketing Methods

The explosive growth of the Internet over the past ten years has made it possible for thousands of people to work from home who previously might not have had that opportunity. The low costs associated with working online make it much easier to be self-employed than ever before. In fact, with an investment of only $20 or so, anyone can purchase a domain name and have a Website online in as little as a few hours.

There is more to Internet marketing than simply registering a domain name and uploading a Website, however. One needs a product to sell and more importantly, a way to sell that product. Unlike a traditional brick and mortar store, which might attract customers who randomly drive by, a Website is completely invisible to anyone who isn't specifically looking for it.

How can one market products online? The following is a list of seven of the most popular methods of online marketing methods:

Business Website - If you are going to do business online, it helps to have a Website of your own. A site with information about the product you are selling is a vital tool, as the more the public knows about your product, the better off you will be.

Blogging - It seems that everyone has a blog these days, and why not? A blog, short for Weblog, is a small Website, often in the form of an online diary, that can be easily modified and updated using special software. Google has a free blogging program called Blogger, and there are literally hundreds of others available. Search engines like blogs a lot, and updated pages can often appear in the search engine databases in just a few hours, making a blog an effective marketing tool.

Search engine optimization (SEO) - There is no better way to get people to come to your Website than to have them do a simple search in Google, Yahoo! or MSN for your topic. Having a Website that is designed with the search engines in mind can bring lots of traffic to your site for free. SEO can be complicated, but tools and professional help are available.

E-mail marketing - Not to be confused with spam, e-mail marketing is the process of sending offers for products directly to customers who have chosen to sign up for your mailing list. Such lists are often obtained from specialized Web pages called "squeeze pages" that usually provide a free report or ebook in exchange for the customer's name and e-mail address.

Pay per click advertising, or PPC as it is often known, is a form of advertising on a search engine's results pages where the advertiser's ad is shown when a customer searches for something relating to the advertiser's product. The advertiser pays the search engine a small fee, ranging from several cents to several dollars, for each time a customer clicks on their ad.

Social networks such as Facebook and MySpace have become very popular in the past two years, and a number of marketers have found ways to promote products to the millions of people who have memberships on those sites. Numerous books have been written on the topic; a simple Web search will find them.

Viral marketing - This is a process where information is passed from one Internet user to another, usually in the form of video, a report, or an ebook who are then encouraged to share it, give it away, or pass it on to someone who might be interested. Some advertising videos on YouTube's site have generated hundreds of thousands of views.

Some businesses use one of these methods; others use them all. The greater the variety in your marketing methods, the greater the likelihood that you will succeed in making sales.

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