smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

There is no point in having a web presence if your customers don’t know you exist. Internet marketing can offer you a cost-effective way of improving the reach and profile of your business, and there is much more accountability than there was several years ago.

Much of the cost is driven by actions: you can see your return on investment and you only pay on the basis of a lead or transaction. Firstly, ensure that your website is search engine friendly – search engines do not endear themselves to complex websites. Consider web advertising to help boost your website – and your business’ – profile.

The most cost-effective web advertising is based on the number of people who click on the advertisement to link through to your site (this is known as click-through rate).

According to Chrys Philalithes of Espotting, no other advertising medium can deliver a return on investment like pay-per-click.

“The targeted nature of the traffic leads to high conversion rates. At Espotting conversion rates have been as high as 79%. The pay-per-click pricing method means you only pay when a user visits your site, that is when the advertising works. At Espotting, the minimum bid is just 10p. You decide the bid price: the higher you bid, the higher you appear in the listings,” she adds.

If you opt for a ‘per impression’ model (such as using banner ads) you can expect to pay more for this type of online advertising.

To list your site on Espotting, and to find out more, click here.

(17/11/04)

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