Ads Next™ Local Internet Advertising, Annapolis, Maryland, Internet Advertising Solutions, Search Engine Optimization, Website Design and Integration, Social Media Marketing

The following article was posted on the Nasdaq website.  I found it very interesting.  It gives insight on the Interactive Ad industry and the challenges all types of advertising is facing due to the current state of the economy.  Although internet ads are in a better position because you are able to track performance.

“The internet advertising industry has managed to buck the slumping economy with this week’s announcement that revenues climbed to $6 billion in the third quarter of 2008.

The $5.9 billion in revenues represent an 11 percent gain over the third quarter of 2007, although the current figures are only two percent higher than they were in the second quarter of this year.

“Interactive advertising continues to be the most measurable and cost-effective way to reach consumers, and we see more and more marketers seeking to harness its power,” said Interactive Advertising Bureau President Randall Rothenburg. Still, Rothenburg also acknowledged that growth in advertising revenues had “stabilized” due to the current economic climate.

Total online advertising revenues have nearly tripled since 2000 and exponentially since such tracking began in 1996, when online advertising revenue for the entire year was reported as $267million.

David Silverman of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP also cited the economy as an ongoing challenge for any type of advertising, but suggested that internet ads are “better poised to withstand the storm” because of its “ability to combine performance-based advertising along with broad-based branding.”"

After developing a website for your business it is important for users to be able to find your website on the internet.  What is the point of having a website if no one can find it?  So how do you get found on the internet?  The best way to get a consistent amount of visitors to your website is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines via “natural” (”organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it “ranks,” the more searchers will visit that site. – Wikipedia

Optimizing your website will allow users to find you, help you stand out from your online competition and guarantee that you will get web traffic.  Increasing traffic to a website means more potential customers and more potential sales for your business. 

Matt Cutts from Google shares 5 SEO tips to help sites rank higher in the search engines.

1. Spotlight your search term on the page. If you want to be found for your keyword, make sure that term is on the page you want to rank. The term should be at the top as well as peppered throughout your copy.
2. Fill in your “tags.” The two most important tags are Title and Description b/c that’s what is displayed on the search results.
3. Get other sites to “link” back to you. This is one of the most important of the 100 factors Google considers when ranking sites
4. Create a blog and post often. This can help you get links. 
5.  Register for free tools. Cutts recommends using the tools at google.com/webmaster, as well as creating a text-based sitemap www.xml-sitemaps.com, and adding your business to Google’s Local Business center (google.com/local/add)