Internet Marketing: 101

Many small businesses understand the importance of going online. Unfortunately, most have no idea what that means. The following is a brief explanation of some of the basic methods you can use to get your company in front of customers that are looking online for you!

Often, companies will invest a large sum of money to have a flashy, appealing website built for them.  Once complete, they are then the proud owners of a beautiful (on-line) storefront that relatively few customers actually visit.  Many spend entirely too much money to make a visually appealing website, only to realize that the bulk of the work lays ahead...actually getting purchase-ready customers to the website and then getting them to follow through to acquire services.  At Sagax Media, our mission is to build an effective web presence for your company and maximize the number of purchase-ready consumers who find your website at precisely the moment they are looking for you. 

How do we do this? 

We build out customized websites that accomplish three important things:

a) attract potential customers by presenting a sharp image and a clear message in precisely your niche,

b) attract the search engine crawlers and promote the site's organic search rankings,

c) increase customer acquisition rates, resulting in more customers per website visitor.

What does this mean?  First and foremost, we create a sharp website that has a professional look and feel, and we work with you to create the correct message that you want to present to potential customers.  We then continuously analyze visitor performance once at the website and optimize the layout/content in order to increase customer acquisition rates.  But it is the next step, in fact the most crucial step, that we specialize in.  Quite simply, we ensure that every time a potential customer is looking for our client's services, they find our client.

Search Engines' Impact on Traditional Media and Advertising


"Dollars spent on local search advertising will grow to almost $1 billion this year. While local businesses placed $420 million into search advertising last year, the report predicts that spending will double this year to nearly $1 billion, reaching up to $4 billion by 2010."

              - Borrell Associates- 2006 Local Search Advertising


The majority of internet customers find local goods and services by searching for them on the various search engines on the web (i.e. Google, Yahoo!, MSN, AOL, Ask, etc.).   These customers are looking for a specific service, i.e. "plumbing in Dallas".  When they enter their search keyword term they are presented with numerous websites that search engines have identified as most relevant to "plumbing in Dallas."  There are two main categories of search engine results, "Organic results" and "Sponsored advertisements."  Organic results are those ranked by the search engines and those most prominently displayed on the page.  Sponsored ads are those results typically located just above, to the right, and sometimes below the organic results.  Studies show that around 70-80% of search engine clicks occur on the organic results, while approximately 20-30% of clicks are on sponsored ads. 

"85% of online traffic to websites is currently generated through search engines."

              -Booz-Allen Hamilton


So what is the difference between Organic SEO and Paid (Cost Per Click) Marketing?


Organic SEO

For any given search term, there will be anywhere from a few search results to several million results.  Each of these web pages has been analyzed by the search engines and ranked according to its relevance to that specific search term.  Obviously, the higher a website is ranked, the more relevant, targeted visitors that website can expect.   So how do I get towards the top of the organic search results?


There is no quick and easy solution.  "Convincing" the search engines that your website is the most relevant (read: useful) for internet searchers typically means actually making your website the most relevant (useful) site for those searchers.  This means building out a site that re-inforces your company's services and offers a quality solution to those searchers' inquiries.  It is a time-consuming process that requires meticulous research and rigorous management, but one that is proven to support company's long-term web presence.  This sounds interesting...can you give me an example of what you're talking about?

We are currently working with a major skin care company to enhance their web presence and increase online sales.  Because they have a website that they're comfortable with, they have asked that we optimize their current website.  Our first goal is to make their website more 'legible' to search engines.  This is the process of re-inforcing the website's purpose, in their case, providing high quality anti-wrinkle skin care products.



The 'Keyword Density Cloud' above is a tool used to determine what a search engine thinks a site is about.  In this case, their site appears to be about 'css', 'stylesheets', and 'shopping carts' instead of 'skin care', 'anti-wrinkle cream', 'skin correction', and their flagship product, 'vitamin c infusion'.  This is a classic example of a site sending the wrong message about its contents to a search engine crawler.  While the human eye can clearly see the website offers high-end skin care products, the search engines see an entirely different website.  At the heart of what we do is blending together these two dynamic forces, human reaction with technological focus and purpose. 

But this seems like it will be expensive...is it worth it?

Yes.  While SEO requires an initial investment, once you have achieved high organic placement, all of the visitors you garner as a result of that placement are free.  You pay nothing for the search engine traffic you receive from your organic placement.  In essence, having high organic placement ensures a steady stream of free advertising for your company.  This is in contrast to the other popular search marketing method:

Sponsored (Paid, Cost Per Click) Search Marketing

In Paid Search Marketing, advertisers create advertisements that will appear to internet searchers each time they search for a term the advertiser has bid on (as previously stated, these ads typically appear on the top, to the right, and on the bottom of the page).  When a potential customer clicks on the ad and follows through to the advertiser's website, only then does the advertiser have to pay.  The cost per click depends upon a few things:

a) the bid competition of the keyword search term - are there numerous competitors aggressively bidding on the term?  If so, the cost-per-click will be higher.

b) the average cost associated with the services or goods rendered from that keyword - are they looking for toothpaste or CRM software?  One is obviously much more valuable than the other, thus more costly.

c) the past performance of your paid search marketing campaign- are your ads performing better than your competitors?  If so, you will be rewarded by the search engines with higher paid rankings and a less expensive cost-per-click.


"220 million active internet users worldwide conduct 320 million daily online searches. This number is expected to increase by 15% annually."

              - Nielsen/NetRatings, 2004

Sagax Media's paid search management offers a quick and cost-effective way to harness the potential of this medium.  With our expertise in managing a tight advertising budget while delivering purchase-ready customers and increased ROI, we can drive down your cost of acquisition for new customers and establish your brand in the mind of the consumer.  And unlike other advertising media, you can precisely track your performance, all the while altering your message to the potential customer in order to optimize campaign performance.  We handle keyword selection, creative development and testing, ad submission, landing page testing, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) settings, and as well as the necessary, but often overlooked, analysis and performance optimization as consumer behavior and the competitive landscape change in this quickly evolving industry.

What other online marketing resources are there?


Search engines are the driving force connecting purchase-ready customers with businesses.  As such, we work vigorously to enhance our clients' presence on these search engines.  However, there are countless sources of targeted internet traffic we exploit.  Our team of online marketing specialists spend all of their time scouring the web for more customers.  With the blossoming of the internet, these sources of traffic are ever-changing.  Whether it be free community listings, referral-only directories, or paid on-line listings, we do whatever it takes to put your company in front of the most qualified traffic on the web.


So which online marketing method is most crucial to a company looking to grow its customer base through the web?

It depends on your situation. What are the immediate needs of the company?  What is the current state of the company's online image?  What is the company's long-term online vision?  What resources are available to invest in its online strategy?  There are several things to consider when determining which route to take, but we encourage our clients to consider one other crucial thing:  The internet is the single most powerful medium connecting customers with local service providers.   There has never been a more poignant method for communicating your message to potential customers.  Despite this, the internet remains the most cost-effective advertising method available today.  To illustrate this point, we invite you to compare the costs you are currently paying for internet leads with your traditional advertising methods (i.e. Yellowpages, TV, Radio, Newspaper, Mail-Outs, etc.). 

"At least $3 billion of Yellow Pages money will move online by 2008"

              - The Kelsey Group