12 Effective Internet Marketing Techniques
Internet marketing can appear intimidating and difficult. There are numerous options available. Which tactics, though, should you begin with?
We’ve broken down internet marketing into its most fundamental tactics to assist you answer that question. We’ve also made them easier to understand so you can get started right away.
We’ll go through 12 effective internet marketing tactics in this article:
Optimisation for search engines
Marketing with content
PPC advertising
Email advertising
Affiliate promotion
Marketing with influencers
Video advertising
Marketing on social media
Podcasting
Optimization of conversion rates
Management of reputation
Webinars
1. Optimization for search engines
The technique of optimising a website or webpage to boost the quantity and quality of visitors from a search engine’s organic results is known as search engine optimisation (SEO). You can acquire nearly free, passive traffic to your website if your pages rank high in the search engines and retain their positions.
How to Go About It
You must target topics that your audience is searching for if you want to rank high on search engines. Keyword research is the process of determining what these themes are, and the best place to start is with a keyword research tool like Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.
This is how:
Go to the Keywords Explorer on Ahrefs.
Enter one or more terms related to your website or industry (e.g., if you sell coffee equipment, then you may want to enter keywords like coffee, French press, cappuccino, etc)
Go to the report on matching terms.
From here, you’ll want to go over the list and select important areas to focus on. In general, “optimal” keywords have a high Traffic Potential (TP) and a low Keyword Difficulty (KD) (KD).
You may quickly narrow down such subjects by using the filters.
Then you must develop a page that is worthy of ranking for that keyword. This procedure has several aspects. The most critical step, though, is determining why people are searching for that issue. This is referred to as “search intent.”
You may accomplish this by looking at what’s currently ranking for your topic on search engine results pages (SERPs). If we search for “best frying pans,” for example, we’ll find that the majority of the top-ranking results are blog posts about the finest non-stick frying pans.
We’ll have to follow suit if we want to rank for this term.
You’ll need to generate links once you’ve created and published that page because they’re a crucial Google ranking element. Backlinks can be obtained in a variety of ways, therefore I recommend reading our link building tutorial.
Finally, make certain that the technical parts of your website are correct. (After all, Google can’t rank your pages on the SERPs if it can’t find and index them.) The simplest method is to use Ahrefs’ Site Audit to do a website audit. Using Ahrefs Webmaster Tools, you may accomplish this for free.
2. Content promotion
The practise of developing and distributing content to attract and keep customers is known as content marketing.
How to Go About It
Fill out the content strategy canvas to get started. Your objective is to respond to five basic questions:
For whom are you producing content?
What motivates you to create content?
What kind of content are you going to make?
Where will the content be published?
What method will you use to develop the content?
When you promote content, you’re not waiting for your intended audience to find it. Rather, it’s about actively presenting the content to them.
3. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising
PPC marketing is a type of online advertising in which advertisers are charged a fee each time someone clicks on their ad.
The most prevalent ad format in PPC marketing is search engine advertisements. Display ads on websites and social media ads, such as those on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, are examples of other formats.
How to Go About It
You must first choose a platform on which to promote. Only pay for adverts on sites where your target audience is present. You might not want to advertise on TikTok if you’re selling enterprise software to C-level executives, for example. (Of course, if you have data demonstrating that these executives in your business are frequent TikTok users, you should advertise there.)
Following that, you should familiarise yourself with the platform. Take a look around the ad platform or enrol in a course. These platforms frequently provide training tools to assist you in learning how to run advertising (here’s one from Google).
Because your targeting decisions can make or break your ads, make sure you have data to back up your targeting decisions. If you’re running search advertisements, for example, you’ll need to conduct keyword research. You’ll need to figure out what people search for and how much you’ll pay on average for clicks.
You should also double-check that your tracking is set up correctly.
Decide on a daily budget that won’t eat up too much of your entire marketing budget and start there. Regularly monitor and optimise your campaigns. You can boost your budget once you start seeing positive results.
Finally, in PPC marketing, creatives and text are important. Make sure you’re always trying with different photos, videos, headlines, body copy, and other elements to find what works best for your audience!
4. Marketing via email
Email marketing refers to any type of marketing communication sent by email.
How to Go About It
Email marketing is more than just sending emails. It also contains:
Creating a mailing list
Designing, composing, and sending emails to your list’s subscribers.
List segmentation.
Choosing the best time to send the email.
Results are being tracked.
The email list is being curated.
You’ll need a list of email addresses to send messages to to get started. Offering an incentive to website visitors in exchange for subscribing is the simplest approach to grow this list.
You must also pick what type of emails you will send to your subscribers. You should have a welcome email with the incentive you promised previously at the very least.
5. Affiliate promotion
Affiliate marketing is the practise of having others advertise your items in exchange for a commission. If your product costs $100, for example, you can pay an associate $10 for each sale they bring in.
How to Go About It
You’ll need to start by creating an affiliate programme that folks can join. This provides them with a unique link that they can use to promote your product and track sales.
Then you’ll need to find folks who might be interested in promoting your goods.
Finding people who are already advertising competing products is the simplest method.
This is how:
Visit Ahrefs’ Site Explorer to learn more.
Enter a competing product’s domain.
Go to the Report on Backlinks.
In the URL, look for an affiliate footprint.
6. Marketing with influencers
Influencers are someone with a large, engaged following (typically on social media) with the capacity to persuade them to take action.
Working with influencers to promote your brand’s messages, products, or services is known as influencer marketing.
How to Go About It
Using existing third-party technologies is the simplest approach to locate influencers. Different tools are available for various social networking platforms. Here’s a list to consider:
Heepsy (Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Twitch)
inBeat (TikTok, Instagram)
Wonkwonkwonkwonkwonkwonk (Twitter)
Influencing (YouTube)
intelligence fusion (Reddit, SoundCloud, podcasts, Amazon reviews, iOS and Android reviews, Twitch, LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok)
Grin (Twitch, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, TikTok)
Influence.co is a website that allows you to influence others (Facebook, Pinterest, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, blogs)
Auditor of Hype (Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch)
Don’t contact anyone until you’ve compiled a list of influencers. Because social media may be manipulated, some of these influencers may have a large number of phoney followers. Fake followers will always exist, but you don’t want them to make up a large portion of those influencers’ following.
Use a programme like SparkToro’s Fake Followers Audit (Twitter only) or HypeAuditor’s Instagram Audit to quickly check.
You’ll want to check the quality of engagement as well as the quantity of followers. It’s a potential red sign if an influencer has a large following but receives few comments on their posts.
Effective Internet Marketing
7. Video promotion
The use of videos to advertise and educate your target audience is known as video marketing. It can also help you reach new and larger audiences by increasing brand recognition and social engagement.
How to Go About It
To begin, you must first decide what type of videos you want to make. Video marketing has three basic goals: brand recognition, education, and entertainment.
The good news and bad news is that there is no blueprint if your purpose is to create videos for brand recognition or enjoyment. It everything comes down to your imagination.
If you want to make instructive videos, perform some keyword research to see what kinds of topics or queries people are looking for on YouTube.
This is how:
Go to the Keywords Explorer on Ahrefs.
Change to the YouTube tab.
Enter one or more relevant keywords.
Go to the report on matching terms.
Change to the Question tab.
Create a video that will rank for the themes you want to target once you’ve chosen them.
8. Social media marketing
The use of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to sell a company’s products or services is known as social media marketing.
How to Go About It
To begin, establish a presence on popular social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Even if you’re not planning on using those networks, having a page or brand account establishes legitimacy and protects your account from squatters.
It’s all about the content on social media. You’ll need to post frequently to acquire a following and interaction. Being active on so many different social media channels might be challenging if you are short on resources.
You should be active on the standard social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
You may always publish your articles, films, or podcasts on your social media pages if you’re currently creating material.
9. Podcasting
Podcasting is a sort of content marketing in which audio content is produced. It’s ideal for establishing a brand and expanding an audience.
How to Go About It
When it comes to podcasting, there are two main approaches:
Create a podcast of your own.
Appear on another person’s podcast
Because starting a podcast is a topic in and of itself, I’ll leave you with some resources:
The Ultimate Guide to Podcasting: How to Podcast
How to Create a Business or Podcast from the Ground Up
We have experience appearing on podcasts at Ahrefs. Tim Soulo, our chief marketing officer, once made a goal of appearing on 20 podcasts in a year and accomplished it.
You’ll need a list of podcasts to guest on in order to appear on them. Apart from Googling for the best industry podcasts, one method to locate them is to hunt for someone in your speciality who is already on one.
This is how:
Find someone well-known in your field who has appeared on podcasts.
In Ahrefs’ Site Explorer, type in their domain.
Select Exact URL as the mode.
Go to the Report on Backlinks.
Sift through the results for podcasts that are relevant to your niche. Pitch the shows after you have a list.
10. Improving conversion rates
A conversion occurs when a visitor to your website takes the action you want them to do. So conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is the practise of improving or encouraging more of the actions you want visitors to do on your website or pages.
How to Go About It
CRO, like SEO, is not a one-time event. You can always improve your optimisation. CRO is a systematic approach informed by data, rather than one-off hacks you apply to your website.
CRO is “about meaningful experiments backed by rigors conversion research and implemented utilising a disciplined, step-by-step approach,” as CRO expert Brian Massey puts it.
It entails learning about user psychology, user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design, copywriting, persuasion, A/B testing, statistics, data analysis, and more.
Here’s a simplified illustration of how CRO might appear. Let’s imagine we wish to boost the Ahrefs Webmaster Tools page’s conversion rate. That is, we want more users to join up for AWT after visiting the page.
To accomplish this, we might want to run A/B tests on items like:
The page layout.
The first sentence.
The headline’s sub-headline.
The CTA (call-to-action) button.
Social evidence (e.g., testimonials, case studies, etc.).
However, keep in mind that you’ll need a considerable quantity of traffic to your website for your A/B testing to be statistically significant (i.e., prove you can trace any rise or decline to the change you made and that the change is not by accident).
CRO is vital, but it’s not something you should undertake immediately now. Prior to doing split testing, concentrate on employing other internet marketing tactics to increase visitors to your website.
11. Managing your reputation
The process of employing digital marketing methods and platforms to assist shape the public opinion of a brand, an organisation, or an individual online is known as online reputation management (ORM).
How to Go About It
Many diverse actions make up reputation management. It could, for example, entail using social media to join in on conversations and respond to bad or dissatisfied remarks about your business.
We were able to deflect anger and improve our relationship with the customer by acknowledging the source of unhappiness and listening to him.
It isn’t just about social media, either. You may also manage your reputation using search engines. For example, you can come across articles on Google that are critical of your brand or promote a misunderstanding.
If it’s something you can fix, attempt to do it as soon as possible.
Here’s where to look for them:
Go to the Content Explorer on Ahrefs.
Exclude your own site [-site:yourdomain] while searching for your brand name .com]
Set the Page traffic filter to a high value (e.g., 1,000+ monthly visits).
12. Set up a webinar.
If you don’t think a contest is right for your company, webinars are the next best thing — especially if you’re a B2B firm. They’re crucial for informing the public about your products and services, as well as providing prospective leads with the opportunity to hear directly from a company representative about your offerings. They can then ask questions and receive responses in real time.
Selling a difficult item? Create a dedicated webinar page on your website to list both future and prior webinars. Customers will have easier access to educational content, and prospects will be able to learn more about your products in a more engaging way than a simple blog post or case study.
Last thoughts
This is by no means an exhaustive list of internet marketing tactics. However, it should have taught you about some of the more well-known and timeless ones.
The strategies work and will continue to work when implemented appropriately.
