The internet is a large and growing marketplace that you cannot ignore, particularly if you have an internet focused business. There are hundreds of thousands if not millions of consumers on the the internet and since the arrival of Google it has literally replaced the phone book.

At the same time, the internet also poses a quite different challenge. The web, as a marketplace,  creates as much competition as you can imagine and your competition is both local and global.

Having a website alone is not enough to compete online. You need traffic and ideally, targeted traffic that brings your perfect customers walking through your front door. You have to expose your website and make it known in order to be frequently targeted by customers and prospects.

For this reason, you must Invest in marketing your website.  There are basically two options available to you, SEO and PPC.  Either form of traffic will need to be part of your internet business strategy if you want to maximize your site visibility online. Here is a brief overview of each:

1. SEO

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which is the process taken to ensure that users will find your website and to improve rankings to achieve top results . This will ensure that your business will be visible and can clearly stand out above your competitors. Recent statistics indicate that nearly 70% of searchers use the Google search engine to find and locate web sites.

Link building is an important part of every online optimization strategy and not every link is the same. Factor such as Google PageRank and Alexa rank often play a part in the quality of the link you receive. The process involves targeted back-linking , wherein hundreds or even thousands of pages will be utilized to promote a particular website of a client.  However, the back-link process must follow strict guidelines and managed growth.

In SEO, you dont “pay for the clicks” but it requires you to spend time doing research to find a favorable combination of ads and target audience. The SEO process is a long term one. It requires months, 6 months at the least, before the proper outcome is fully achieved, but once the goal is accomplished you will reap the rewards and the profits.

2. PPC

PPC means Pay Per Click and it is the fastest way to get traffic online. Pay-per-click advertisements are sponsored listings that you see whenever you make a search. You pay whenever a visitor or web surfer clicks on any of your ads which is great, if they buy something. Typically, the highest bidder for the price per click will get the first chance to be first listed.

With this kind of advertising, you can still basically control your campaign as you get to create your own ad. You will also manage the target audience and still stay within the bounds of your budget. Most of the providers of PPC advertising will allow you to specify the target market, either by topic, industry or geographical location. You can also very well check if your ad gets to be shown at all and if it is competitive with the rest.

There are some guaranteed benefits when you get to maximize the PPC strategy.

1   PPC lets you advertise to the whole of the online community. It is also relatively easy to set up.

2   At first glance, PPC advertising may seem very expensive. Could it possibly happen that someone out there will go on clicking on your ad? This will definitely give you a large bill without the expected profit on your part. If this provides a lot of worries, be rest assured that there is a protection for you. Networks are able to recognize fraudulent clicks.

?    You can also set a budget for a certain period. The moment your budget has been used up by the target number of clicks, your ads will no longer be displayed until the next period you want it again displayed.

?    You will also be able to adjust well to changes in market demands and trends.

In deciding which of the two strategies will work right for you, think of your goals and of your resources. They definitely offer benefits and advantages that will work for your good. The better way to approach this two is to evaluate according to your short term and long term plans. Take the PPC course for your short term goals and choose SEO if you have long term ones.

There world is out there for you now. Just make sure you do what will work best for your entrepreneurial endeavors and visions. The secret to success lies in your hands. Just study your options well and you’ll get exactly what you want.