Four Online Marketing Essentials   According to Name Intelligence, there are over 100 billion websites currently operating on the worldwideweb. Internetworldstats.com ranks Australia among the top Internet users in the world with 71.9 percent of the population having access to the Internet.   Numbers aside, people turn to the Internet to find information and websites play an important role. For a business, it is key to selling products and services, generating leads, and providing information about how you can make a customer’s life easier, richer, brighter, safer, and happier while making a tidy sum for yourself, too.   Have a clear website goal In the case of an ecommerce business (e.g. an online gift shop), ideally you want customers to transact securely with a credit card. In the services industry, an information site where visitors sign up to download whitepapers, case studies, research reports or news articles that help to establish business credibility, may be more appropriate. Some use a website to showcase work portfolio through image galleries, videos, music or other interactive media.   Know your audience Understand your target market – who are they; what information do they want; are they web savvy; are they security conscious; how do they search for you on the Internet? If you have an international audience, consider registering global domain names (.com, .net, .org) or country-specific domains (.hk, co.uk, co.nz, .asia, .br) in addition to a com.au domain. This strategy is useful in creating a local online presence in your trading regions and protecting your business from competitors and unethical operators who may trade on your good name.   The more you know about your customers, the better equipped you will be at creating a site that not only attracts new business but also helps to enhance customer relationships which in turn helps you make more sales.   Keep search engines in mind There are generally two ways to drive web traffic through search engines like Google and Yahoo. Firstly, by appearing on search engine results for relevant keywords (known search engine optimisation or SEO) or through a sponsored listing (known as pay-per-click or PPC).   The former involves a range of techniques that help your website rank as high as possible on organic search results. Every business should aim for a top 20 ranking as studies show that most people don’t go any further than the top 20 listed sites.   The latter lets you pay for an ad on the Sponsored Links area of search engines. You only incur a cost when a prospect enters your website from one of your search engine ads.   Both strategies work well in concert, requiring specialist skill and knowledge of search engines and best left to a professional.   Make the process easy to monitor, measure and manage Opt for a website that has a content management system, allowing you to update web content anytime, without needing to consult a web developer on an hourly rate.   Make sure you monitor and measure website traffic. A good web host should provide you with detailed traffic statistics that shows what people do when they visit your site. Credible web hosting providers should have this hosting function readily available.   Information Supplied by: Robelen Bajar Marketing Manager Melbourne IT             Website: www.melbourneit.com.au