In the past 20 years, the advertising industry has seen a lot of change.  The emergence of the internet has decimated the print industry.  Many print publications have had to move their business online in order to avoid going out of business.

If you consider the fact that most adults under the age of 35 will reach for a keyboard before they reach for a phonebook it is no wonder why there has been a surge in advertising options online.

Even seasoned business veterans may find internet advertising a daunting task.  With so many options, it is not easy to sort the ‘crapola’ from the quality.  Be very suspect of guarantees.  Most businesses who conduct several marketing campaigns are able to gauge the effectiveness of each one by keeping a close eye on their conversion rates.  This can be done simply by asking the customer,

“Where did you find us?”

For example;
If you are paying for a full page ad in the yellow pages that is costing you $10,000+/year, than this campaign only makes sense if the advertisement generates at least $10,000/year in revenue.

The key to advertising online is to diversify your efforts in order to maximize visibility.  This can be done with a little more effort and a lot less money than spending big bucks to advertise on traditional mediums such as television, local newspapers, radio, etc.

The following are ways that I would recommend increasing your business visibility online:

• Posting your services to numerous free classified sites.
• Making sure that your website is Search Engine Optimized.
• Using Google Places to list your business.
• Conducting a Pay per click (PPC) advertising campaign.
• Continuously adding new content to your website providing valuable information to your potential clients.
• Prioritizing your listing on a website that is industry relevant.

Prioritized listings are listings that will be placed above non-paid listings on a website.  To maximize your return on investment (ROI), it would be best to find a website that is specific to your industry.  It does not make sense to obtain a priority listing on a website that is not relevant to your business.  Although your ad will be visible, it may not be your target audience.

If your business is a travel agency for example, prioritize your listing where other travel agents are found, specifically a website that lists travel agents.  This is more effective than simply advertising by region.

These forms of internet advertising are generally much cheaper than most other forms of advertising.  It is a perfect solution for a small business due to the fact that costs will range from only $30/month from budget sites to $200-$300/month on premium sites. 

The ROI (return on investment) has the potential to be very high by prioritizing your listings and as you can gather, the risk is fairly low.

Advertising on the internet is still an evolving game.  The sooner you are able to take advantage of advertising effectively on the internet, the sooner you will be able to get the upper hand on your competition.