Internet Business Optimization

Targeting is the means to internet business optimization. In 2007, there were over 7 billion searches for something of interest on the internet. People searched for individuals, places, and things. A majority of these searches were targeted toward the products and services of local businesses. That means that even though the internet is on a world-wide platform, people still seem to migrate toward their own communities. This is good news to those who still have brick and mortar buildings and offices; yet the news is mixed for those who are exclusively online. Both types of business must learn how to target a marketing message to make an impact on the people most likely to purchase a product or service. The "yellow pages" have always been a dominant force in helping people to find what they were looking for, but in the internet age the yellow pages is just not enough.

What the internet brings to the fore is diversity of thought processes. Internet business optimization is a way for people to find these products and services in a non-traditional way. It is also a way for non-traditional companies to be able to compete against those more traditional business models on a more level playing field. Moreover, instead of a single playing field, there is a multiplicity of playing fields. The location of each of these playing fields is visible to some and invisible to others. Using the example of a pie chart, a typical business marketing model might indicate that there are 4-8 slices or four to eight top companies who offer a particular product or service. Other companies may also offer this product or service, but because these companies do not have sufficient resources to market their wares effectively, most people will never know that they exist.

When internet business optimization takes place, the pie is no longer limited to the traditional 4 to 8 slices, but is more of a puzzle cut out pattern. Some pieces are very tiny, but visible to those who are searching. Instead of a person saying, "Let me look for the longest, or most beautiful, or fattest piece of pie," they say, "I would like a slice with a slightly browned crust and a tiny dip in the center." Using cell phones as the industry, the searches using the old model from the yellow pages would look something like this: Cellular, Verizon, or Wireless. Online searches could look like this: best cell phone company, cell phones in mill creek, or family talk plans. In the new search model, the key words can be used individually, combined, even customized. The technology of internet business optimization opens up any industry to companies who don't even have a listing in the yellow pages.

Basically, when a person uses internet business optimization the playing field becomes a free-for-all. What used to cost an arm and a leg to achieve in marketing, now can literally costs only pennies. And the searches that are possible are limitless. This means that the ways to market a product or service are also limitless. Once restricted by the number of categories that were affordable, new marketing techniques through the internet allow people with little or no resources to compete evenly online. "If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man's field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution." (Exodus 22:5)

There is one caution, though. Complacency has no place in this arena. In the more traditional advertising arena, one well positioned advertisement could sit for months, sometimes even years and continue to call out to people. The internet is not ad driven. People do not search for ads. People want good information. Well developed content can pull in people just as good as, if not, better than good sales copy can in a well placed advertisement. Using internet business optimization is both an art and a skill. When people are searching for something on the internet and find good information about the topic, they tend to read first before clicking through to purchase. The more compelling the content, the more people will come and tell others. This behavior is very beneficial for the person who wants to develop a business online. By developing content that feeds into the keywords that people are searching for on the web, content developers can lead people to the pages and websites that offer the products and services wanted.

It is imperative that anyone involved in internet business optimization be aware that the top ten slots (or search results) are the most critical ones for any search. When the search engine returns the results of the search, all companies want to be in one of those top ten positions. Some companies pay good money to people whose job is to make sure their company comes out on the top of the list. Yet, the small company does not have to worry nor compete directly with the large company effort. People search the internet according to keywords. Because there are billions of people in the world and many ways of thinking about things, the keywords that they use may not be the same ones the big company is using to produce their content. Small companies and individuals have just as much opportunity to utilize the "right" keywords to pull prospective customers in with effective internet business optimization. Plus, the little guy has more motivation to produce more relevant content, because their focus is usually more targeted on a single or a few products or services.