Online Marketing Ideas for Staying Ahead of Your Competition - The Great American Small Business Challenge | The Great American Small Business Challenge

In the digital age, businesses aren’t competing with each other for billboards, newspaper ad space, or television commercial airtime. While those marketing avenues still exist, the most effective method for advertising is finding the right type of customers through the Internet. Here are a few tactics that can aid your online marketing efforts.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is one of the most common online marketing tactics because of its ability to find the most relevant customer demographics for your product or service. With the prevalence of search engines, many potential customers discover the products or services they use by searching for relevant topics on the Internet. By targeting specific search keywords on your website, you can reach the people who are searching for topics related to your product, reaching the right people at the right moment.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

SEM differs from SEO in that it is a form of paid advertising. SEO attempts to target keywords and raise search engine rankings organically, while SEM practitioners pay for their ads to be shown on Google searches. Through Google Ads, you can bid for your ad to be shown for certain keywords and pay based on the amount of users who click your ad.

Content marketing

Since so many Internet users are looking for content to consume, another marketing tactic is creating content that is valuable to your target audience. When viewers find well-written or helpful content from a company, it can create interest in that company’s product or service. Javier Loya, CEO of OTC Global Holdings, said, “Some of the best publicity for OTC Global Holdings has come through the content I have written for outlets such as the Houston Business Journal. Content marketing is a valuable skill for any business to have.”