The Growth of Online Advertising

By: Mary Anne Winslow
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:23:29
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Due to the World Wide Web’s incredible growth rate, almost every sizable company (an even some small ones) are taking advantage of the opportunity to advertise internationally. Companies have come to realize that the Internet can be a very lucrative way to advertise, but one must be in constant participation in order to compete with each other. The Internet has become increasingly saturated with company web sites advertising and even doing business online.

In this case, promoting web sites is vital in order to attract visitors or even potential customers. However, the goal of a business' site shouldn't be to just get masses of people to the site. It should also be to get people to buy their products.

Importance of Online Advertising

While the number of new Home Pages grows exponentially every month, it is getting more and more difficult to find a particular business site. According to AdRelevance, the number of company web pages has more than doubled since January -- growing by 157 percent over the past ten months.

In this context, advertising plays a crucial role in making a business page known on the web. It is not only cheap and flexible but it also allows exposure to a vast audience. The basic model for advertisement is based on the cost per thousand of consumers who see the advertisement, or, in this case, the Home Page, which displays the ad, or the link to the advertiser's site. Thereby, a conglomeration of text, graphics, motion video, and sound can be utilized to disseminate a host of information.

With reference to online advertising, one can differentiate between various kinds of methods. Today, almost everything is imaginable. There are search engines to submit to, banner exchanges to sign up for, signature files to make, lists to post, and more.

In respect to advertising online, businesses have generally recognized better methods for effectively targeting their intended market. According to Love a very popular, and effective method is, for instance, e-mail, e-zine and newsletter advertising.

With email newsletter advertising, companies can target the exact customer for their business, product or service directly. On the web there are thousands of online newsletters/ ezines, many of which have a large number of subscribers in every category imaginable.

Another approach, which is favored by many businesses, is the exchanging of links. By creating links with other merchants' pages, businesses can expose their site to a new set of customers. When businesses trade links, they can create a little box on their page that says, for example, "for more information, please visit the following sites", and then list a number of sites they have traded links with.

Finally, opt- in online advertising is another outstanding result- oriented method. Successful opt- in advertising involves renting particular lists of people. This allows you to target specific markets while eliminating the possibility to reach people who have no interest in your business. As the advertiser, you create a sales letter, then visit a database web site, select the lists you need for your offer, and pay accordingly, usually a few pennies per list name. The opt- in service then forwards your sales letter to the recipient lists you have selected, with response being almost immediate.

Finally, such practices do carry a risk. Company and business advertising is heavily regulated by ethic rules. First, the public must be protected from false and misleading advertisements, and second, companies must be aware of what is appropriate and what is inappropriate in regard to advertising.

Article source: Expert Articles