Internet Marketing has changed, but Organic SEO is still King

The world of internet marketing has changed in the past year, as it inevitably does every year. Those advertising mediums that have been so effective for you in the past may not bring in traffic at all now. That’s just how the industry works. Take a look at the retail market if you need an example. For decades, big retail based their internet marketing on PPC Management and banner impressions, not realizing that the average computer user would eventually become anesthetized to them. You can’t make a sale if your potential customers are ignoring your advertising.

Remember flash banners? They would attract the eye of a web surfer and draw their attention for just long enough for them to read what the banner had to say. It was the “blinking light” theory, one that worked for a long time. Today, flashing objects are just annoyances. No one pays attention to them anymore because they’ve been conditioned to view them as promotional, which they most often are. It’s basically the same reasoning that prevents you from opening your door to someone with a clipboard in their hands. You know what they are all about and you don’t want to deal with it.

So what do your potential customers and clients respond to? That’s the fun part about internet marketing in 2011. If you want shoppers to come to your online or physical store, you need to place your company directly in the path of their inquiries about the products you sell. They’re not going to come to you if you insult their intelligence by shoving flashy ads and blinking lights at them. An internet user is going to use his or her search box to find what they need. If you want their business, you need to be at the top of the search page for the keywords they enter.

That’s why Organic SEO is still king. Advertise all that you want in any medium you want to. PPC still works, so some days you’ll get results; others you’ll be looking at an empty inbox and non-existent sales numbers. Get your business to the top of Page One for your industry keywords and that will never happen. Once you’re there, you’ll see steady, consistent traffic that converts. After all, they came willingly looking for you. You didn’t try to reach out and drag them in. Isn’t that much better?