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What is Internet Marketing? Your Guide to Today’s Online …

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Internet marketing is the most inexpensive way to reach your target market, regardless of the size of your business.

But whatisinternet marketing, really?

Also called online marketing, internet marketing isthe process of promoting a business or brand and its products or services over the internet using tools that help drive traffic, leads, and sales.

Internet marketing a pretty broad term that encompasses a range of marketing tactics and strategies including content, email, search, paid media, and more.

These days, though, internet marketing is often used interchangeably with content marketing.

Why?

Because content marketing is the internet marketing of the present and future.

Content Marketing Institute defines content marketing as:

A strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Think of it like this: content marketing (or inbound marketing) is in direct opposition to traditional advertising (outbound marketing), and indirect integrationwith the patterns and habits of todays generation.

We dont like to be sold to, we have our ad-blockers on, and we barely watch cable anymore.

Content marketing serves up content that addresses our pain points, and is there when we want it.

Heres a great illustration of that from Voltier Digital:

Heres the evolutional pathway behind the modernized form of marketing that is most successful today.

Sellingno longer works (a.k.a., traditional advertising).

Why?

Traditional advertising focuses on pushing messages at the consumer to get them to buy.

Its interruptive, obstructive, and intrusive.

It shouts, Hey, look at me! while waving its arms.

You may try to avoid eye contact, but traditional ads are persistent.

You know what traditional ads look like because youre bombarded with them every single day.

Think TV commercials, billboards, magazine ads, radio ads, and web banner ads.

Ads have been around for a long time, as evidenced by this traditional ad for honest-to-goodness coffee from the 1950s.

Ads may still work in some strategic places.

But Internet users can just click away from ads if they dont want to see them.

Which is exactly what happens.

According to a PageFair report, 615 million devices in use today employ ad blockers. Additionally, ad blocker use increased by 30 percentin 2016 alone.

You know it, I know it, everybody knows it.

Ads are annoying.

And, they arent the way consumers prefer to learn about new products anymore.

Instead of businesses shoving themselves in consumers faces, they need to take a different, gentler approach.

Content marketing is exactly that.

Brands and marketers who use it publish content that teaches, inspires, guides, or solves a problem for their target audience.

With some handy tricks, the targets can find that content on the web without it being pushed at them.

If the prospects gain something useful from the content, theyll keep coming back for more.

Finally, consumers can interact with the brand organically and share their content on social media.

Trust is forged.

Authority is established.

Connections happen.

These loyal followers can then be converted into leads and sales naturally.

All of the above happens with a focus on giving value to the user.

Help users offer them value and theyll reward you in return.

That is what internet marketing/content marketing is all about at its core.

Now that you know what internet marketing is, you still may be wondering why theres so much hype around it.

Well, the hype is totally founded.

Internet marketing has shown proven success over and over again.

Here are some stats gathered from around the web to help give you an idea of why internet/content marketing stands tall:

And theres more.

From my own content marketing endeavors, I have seen my small business take off.

With 99 percent of our focus on content marketing, we managed to grow our worth to millions of dollars.

Bottom line: This stuff works.

Reading about great content marketing is not enough to truly understand how it works. Instead, you have to see it in action to grasp its fundamental value.

Because when content isreally good, it can do amazing things.

Here are some top examples of content types from brands who knocked content creation out of the park.

One of the most common content types is blog posts and articles.

A blog, in particular, is a great content platform because it gives you a foundation for lots of posts, pages, and content that all point back to your site.

Think of a blog as a tree trunk. Your individual blog posts are the branches that reach out into the corners of the internet and search engines. Users can find your branches and follow them back to your core site. That gives you a greater shot at leads and sales.

For a great example of blogging content, look to Content Marketing Institute. They create troves of valuable, useful content for content marketers in order to teach, instruct, guide, or inspire.

The result?

Devoted fans, followers, and customers for their events, training, and consulting.

Infographics are fun, visual ways to present valuable information.

They use charts, graphs, pictures, and illustration to explain concepts. This type of content is easily digestible and totally shareable.

Heres a fantastic example of an infographic about baking bread from RJ Zaworski:

And heres another highly-shared infographic from Curata about the anatomy of a content marketer:

Another popular and effective form of content is a case study.

In general, a case study is an in-depth look at some action your brand or business completed that had measurable results for success.

Usually, this translates into something you accomplished for a client.

Heres a great example of a case study by Fractl:

In it, the agency showcases how they executed a successful content campaign for a real estate brand. They talk about how it came together, the whys of the project, and the results (presented in measurable stats).

This type of content is an awesome trust-builder for obvious reasons.

For those of you who shudder at the thought of writing a blog post or in-depth article or case study, there are content mediums out there for you.

Podcasts are huge.

Theyre similar to the storytelling and news radio shows of yore, except people can download them and listen to episodes however and whenever they want.

If you are a good speaker or interviewer, this content format can be a great one for sharing valuable information with your audience.

For an example, check out Search Engine Journals Search Engine Nerds, aboutSEO, paid search, social media, and content marketing.

Videos are the hottest content type right now.

The stats are staggering. According to Social Media Today:

Its easy to see why videos dominate.

Videos are simple to consume, theyre entertaining, and they appeal to the current attention-span deficit that we suffer from when we surf the web.

For a great example of a marketer making the most of video content, check out Neil Patels YouTube channel:

So, youre totally on-board for this internet marketing thing.

You love the idea of getting creative, sharing value with your prospects/audience, and building brand loyalty and customer relationships organically.

Hold on a second, though.

You cant just jump into this blindly.

You need to understand the key pieces of successful internet marketing, first.

They include:

Content marketing without a strategy will ultimately fail its just the sad truth.

You must have a direction, a plan, the right tools, and ways to measure your progress if you expect to get anywhere.

Here are the key content marketing strategy fundamentals involved:

When you use SEO with content marketing, it can take you farther, longer.

These two pieces together help power-up your organic (read: free) reach and visibility on the internet.

SEO encompasses a variety of techniques that help get you into prime spots on search engine results pages (SERPs). This means people can find you just by looking up some topic theyre interested in or need help with.

The overarching goal of good SEO is to get your site pages ranked on the first page of Google. (After all, most people rarely, if ever, click to Page 2 on their quest for information.)

Here are some basic SEO techniques that will help your content get indexed and ranked in search results:

Of course, this is just bare-bones SEO. To get a better, in-depth look, check out SEJs ebookSEO 101: Learn the Basics of Search Engine Optimization.

Organic search can give you great click-through rates. It also gives you the benefit of the inherent trust people have in Google results.

However, sometimes investing in paid search can give you a boost.

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What is Internet Marketing? Your Guide to Today's Online ...

Untapped Territory: YouTube is the New Google for Search Engine Optimization – Yahoo Finance

Internet marketing and advertising is becoming increasingly difficult and expensive, especially for small to mid-level businesses. Veteran SEO expert Tony Rockliff urges business owners to utilize the power of YouTube as a promising alternative to the otherwise slow, painful and expensive build of a Google SEO campaign.

CLEARWATER, Fla., Feb. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- In 2020, according to the World Advertising and Research Center, spending on internet advertising will reach more than 50% of total global ad spend, an all-time record.(1) "A subset of internet advertisingsearch engine optimization (SEO) is now the major battleground in marketing today. SEO expert Tony Rockliff, founder and CEO of Tony Rockliff Productions, states as SEO "gets bigger, it gets tougher." For an increasing number of companies, especially SMBs, the smart move is to consider YouTube as an additional SEO powerhouse instead of the conventional reliance on Google. By using YouTube, business owners can combat the stiff competition for consumer attention and variating Google search algorithms.

Text Versus Video Content

According to a research study from Common Sense Media, more than twice as many young people watch videos every day as did four years ago, while the average time spent watching videosprimarily on YouTubehas roughly doubled, to an hour a day.(3) Video's popularity has exploded, while text takes a back seat. It is increasingly obvious in the industry that text-based content is saturated, and that if a company isn't willing to give it at least one year and invest considerable amounts, they shouldn't spend much time on traditional Google based SEO. (2)

The combination of the video-centricity of today's consumers coupled with the increasing expense and difficulty of attracting attention via text-based Google listings, Rockliff suggests, is what identifies YouTube an increasingly robust platform for video-savvy marketers.

How Businesses Can Adapt to YouTube

To capitalize on this opportunity, Rockliff urges marketers to research YouTube to qualify exactly what video content is needed, and which of this content will get the most responses from its viewers, or potential clients. He organizes the four major stages of YouTube optimization:

Rockliff has been in search engine optimization since 1998 and online marketing since 1995. His online community membership site has grown to 1.3 million members and was receiving 1.5 billion hits per year before he sold it in 2002. Over the years, Rockliff has seen profound changes in both opportunity and approach of YouTube as a marketing strategy, and right now, YouTube represents a great prospect to get noticed and build a brand loyal following. This is especially useful for organizations that do not have an extensive marketing budget. "The key is to understand what you're selling and optimize all four major stages," Rockliff states.

Tony Rockliff will be speaking at the Podfest 2020 Multimedia Expo, March 6th-8th, at the Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, Florida. For more information, please see http://podfestexpo.com/speakers/

About Tony Rockliff Productions:

Tony Rockliff Productions was founded in 1995 by digital pioneer and trailblazer, Tony Rockliff. His video marketing company is based out of Clearwater, Florida, and brings over fifty years of audio/video marketing experience to the business. Remaining to be a top disruptor of the video marketing and media industry throughout his career, his world-renowned success is a product of his passion for storytelling through the art of video. Tony Rockliff Productions specializes in video and audio creation, producing music and videos, YouTube optimization, and building out-of-the-ordinary websites. Currently, Tony Rockliff Productions focuses on organic YouTube video marketing, a profitable niche of the industry that is host to 1.9 billion logged-in users per month. You can visit him here https://tonyrockliff.com/

SOURCE Tony Rockliff

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Untapped Territory: YouTube is the New Google for Search Engine Optimization - Yahoo Finance

Cheap Car Insurance 2020: How to Save Money on Auto Insurance – Yahoo Finance

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / February 23, 2020 / Compare-autoinsurance.org (http://compare-autoinsurance.org/) is a top auto insurance brokerage website, providing car insurance quotes online from trustworthy agencies all over the United States. This website offers car insurance info about different coverage types, available discounts, and money-saving tips.

Car insurance is a necessity for any driver. Besides ensuring financial protection, the insurance provider will also offer legal defense and counseling. However, this service does not come cheap and, in many cases, it is really expensive. Drivers should check the following tips for lowering car insurance costs. Also, get free quotes from http://compare-autoinsurance.org/ and compare prices.

Compare-autoinsurance.org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc.

For more information, please visit http://compare-autoinsurance.org/.

"Lowering car insurance costs is not as difficult as may first seem. But you must play your cards smart and negotiate for every discount you may get," said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company.

CONTACT:

Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: cgurgu@internetmarketingcompany.bizWebsite: https://compare-autoinsurance.org

SOURCE: Internet Marketing Company

View source version on accesswire.com: https://www.accesswire.com/577482/Cheap-Car-Insurance-2020-How-to-Save-Money-on-Auto-Insurance

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Cheap Car Insurance 2020: How to Save Money on Auto Insurance - Yahoo Finance

Maine reminds cannabis businesses about advertising rules – Mainebiz

As it assembles the rules and business procedures for Maines recreational marijuana market, expected to launch in the spring, the state Office of Marijuana Policy is trying to reinforce guidelines for advertising the product.

Maine regulations for both the medical and adult recreational use of marijuana prohibit ads aimed at people under 21. But as the industry ramps up, some marijuana businesses have become more public in their promotion for example, by recent advertising at the Androscoggin Bank Colise in Lewiston.

On Friday, the state reminded businesses about the rules.

OMPs main concern and focus of this guidance is whether advertisements have a high likelihood ofreaching, or are designed to appeal to, individuals less than 21 years of age, Director Erik Gundersen wrote in a letter on the offices website.

Advertising cant be placed in areas, such as near schools, where those under 21 gather, he said. Marijuana businesses that advertise in the mass media must have data to show their ad buys target an age-appropriate audience.

Text marketing and location-based ads targeting mobile devices are banned, unless the ads use an app installed by device owners who are at least 21.

Internet marketing must also be focused on the 21-and-over crowd. Unsolicited internet ads are prohibited. Websites and social media platforms promoting pot must employ age-verification access techniques, such as those used on certain websites for liquor businesses.

However, Gundersen said OMP recognizes that the rules arent foolproof.

(OMP) understands incidental exposure to individuals under 21 years of age is unavoidable, he wrote.

In many instances, context is going to be critical. Permissible marketing activity could be deemed impermissible depending on the audience that is likely to encounter the advertising.

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Maine reminds cannabis businesses about advertising rules - Mainebiz

Why SEO Should Be The Foundation Of Any Small Business’s Digital Marketing Strategy – Forbes

In my line of work, Im often asked, What is this SEO thing Ive been hearing a lot about, and why should I care about it? These days, businesses already have to worry about website design and social media, so most business owners may not even be aware that search engine optimization (SEO) is a thing. If this sounds like you, then this guide might be of some help.

What is SEO?

Simply put, SEO is the process of optimizing your website in order to get organic or unpaid traffic from search engines like Google or Bing. It increases both the quality and the quantity of traffic to your site.

This means making changes to your websites content and design that will make it rank highly on different search engine results pages. But why should you care about your website being the top result on Google? Why is generating organic traffic better than paying for ads?

The Internets Librarians

Imagine that you are one of the librarians for the most complete repository of knowledge and data that humanity has ever created. Imagine that millions of people come to you every day looking for information on a specific subjectfor example, on Nietzsche or the Oscars or how to cook the perfect steak.

In order to help each person find the information they are looking for in a fast, efficient manner, you will need to know a bit about what each book in your library is about. You also need to arrange all the books according to some type of systemperhaps alphabetically, year of publication or by topic or keywords.

Search engines act like the internets librarians. They try to match the users search terms with the most relevant information in their database, and we need to understand how they do this in order to understand why SEO is so important.

How Search Engines Work

Search engines work in three steps. First, they send crawlers through all available content on the internetwebpages, images, audio, video and so on. Crawlers are bots that send snapshots of all accessible content back to the search engines servers.

Next, the information is organized into a searchable list. This huge list is called a search index and can serve as the basis for a raw keyword search. But good search engines like Google and Bing go one step further.

These search engines rank all the pieces of content relevant to a searchers query, using an algorithm to order the generated list from most relevant to least relevant. These algorithms are always changing, with Google, in particular, making constant adjustments.

Search engines that consistently deliver relevant results gain repeat users. These loyal users learn to depend on that search engine above all others. Recent data shows that Google and Bing make up almost 85% of all internet searches. This indicates a high level of user trust in these search engines.

Getting Ranked

Recent market share statistics show that most people begin their online experiences through a search engine. Thats why it is important for your website to rank highly on search engines: A high rank indicates high relevance, and high relevance brings trust in your brand and your website.

Google determines its ranking through a mix of hundreds of different ranking signals, but three have remained consistent: quality on-page content that satisfies the searcher, links pointing back to your site, and RankBrain, which uses artificial intelligence to simulate a human gut feel approach to interpret difficult searches.

Content Marketing

Google and Bing employ metrics such as clicks, page views and time on page to measure the levels of user engagement throughout your website, which indicate how satisfied users are with the information they find on your site.

The more qualityand, therefore, more relevantcontent you have on your site, the higher your pages are more likely to be ranked by the search engines. Good content makes satisfied users!

Links To Your Site

Another way search engines measure a websites relevance is by external sites that link to it. The quality of the backlinks is just as important as quantity, as search engines will ban sites that attempt to spam backlinks.

A better way to build backlinks is to build relationships with the community. Fans and other satisfied users will link back to your website when they write about it and mention it on social media. This builds organic backlinks that are far more valuable than a hundred spam links generated by bots. Quality content is more likely to be shared.

SEO Versus Paid Ads

So, why use SEO instead of other methods of increasing traffic, such as paid ads? After all, Google itself offers a paid AdWords system where advertisers bid on keywords.

It helps to return to the library metaphor we used earlier. Imagine a books publisher launching a multi-million-dollar marketing campaign to increase awareness of a new book about, lets say, building birdhouses. There are television ads and radio spots, print ads in newspapers and Google AdWords for the keyword how to build birdhouses.

These campaigns may boost sales of the book temporarily, but eventually marketing campaigns end, and the next clueless nest box enthusiast will have to go down to the local library and ask a librarian to recommend a book on building birdhouses. This librarian will most likely recommend a book that has satisfied previous birdhouse queries before, whether it was a bestseller when it was first released or not.

Thats the beauty of SEO and why it is the foundation of any small business marketing plan. It may take some upfront time and investment to set up properly, with quality content and a network of organic backlinks. But a well-designed website that follows the principles of SEO will continue to generate a steady stream of organic leads and traffic for your business, for free.

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Why SEO Should Be The Foundation Of Any Small Business's Digital Marketing Strategy - Forbes