As a result of today’s lackluster economy and the growing unemployment rate many have turned their focus to self-employment. Though this is a viable and rewarding option, many fail to due diligence on the business model, the competition, and cost. This is especially true for Internet based businesses.
Starting an Internet business sounds simple, right? All you need is a website and you’re in business! Or at least this is what some companies and late night infomercials lead you to believe. In the real world this is just not the case. Much like a traditional brick and mortar setup, opening the doors is one thing but getting customers to walk in is a different story. In order to generate quality traffic whether it is for the traditional brick and mortar or the Internet business you will need to analyze the competition as well as your audience to develop a proper marketing and advertising strategy.
Internet marketing strategies can vary depending on the type of business and its audience. However, majority of the time a holistic approach is best. By combining search engine optimization, ppc advertising, and social media marketing you will be on your way to establish a strong online presence.

If you are running an NPO at one point or another you have or will be facing the difficult decision of whether or not to venture into the world of Internet Marketing. On one had you realize the opportunities that it can generate. On the other hand you must eliminate or drastically reduce funding to certain program(s) within the organization in order to compensate for the cost associated with Internet Marketing.
Molding Web would like to Help! We value non-profit organization that here to improve our communities whether they’re focused on environmental factors or childhood education. Molding Web is prepared to offer its search engine optimization and/or social media marketing services to qualifying NPO’s at minimal or no cost! If you are interested contact us for details, we would like to hear from you.

Two long-anticipated announcements this week by Google provide a clear indication of how quickly the fields of search engine optimization and social media marketing are converging. Google’s implementation of real-time search and personalized search will not only affect their standard search engine results pages, but should also shape the short- and long-term Internet marketing strategies of shrewd online businesses.

Real-time search is the change that will have the greatest impact on social media marketing. In addition to image, news, and traditional search results, Google SERPs will feature keyword-relevant messages drawn from social networking sites, blogs, and other websites under a “Latest results” heading. These results will appear on Google SERPs just seconds after being posted elsewhere on the Web.

On the SEO front, Google’s implementation of worldwide personalized search presents a new challenge for search engine optimization campaigns. A search for a specific keyword will no longer yield a standardized set of results for each user. Instead, Google will customize its results to your search history and geographical location. Personalized search has long been in place for people who are logged in to their Google accounts, but it’s now been extended to signed-out users worldwide.

So what do these changes mean for your online business and its Internet marketing strategy? Well, for one, it’s no longer going to be enough to rely just on search engine optimization and/or pay-per-click marketing. Establishing a presence in real-time search results via social media marketing will be important not only for keyword rankings, but also for online reputation management. Local SEO will become even more important for online businesses to reach potential customers. In short, a more comprehensive approach to Internet marketing is going to be essential to the long-term growth and success of your online business.

Creating comprehensive Internet marketing strategies is what we do at Molding Web. Call us at 1-877-900-6932 to discuss how your company can benefit from our SEO and social media marketing services.

2010 not only means a new year, but for many online businesses it also means a new search engine marketing budget. A number of recent surveys have found that while companies are intrigued by the potential of social media marketing, they lack the time and internal resources to adequately determine its value. One of the primary reasons we started Molding Web is to offer Internet marketing assistance to developing companies in just such a position. You have the vision. You have the desire. You just lack the time or experience to handle both the challenges of running an online business and the critical Internet marketing steps that must be taken if that business is to grow and prosper.

As you examine your company’s marketing needs for the coming year, we would welcome the opportunity to consult with you about the role that our social media marketing, search engine optimization, pay-per-click management, and content writing services could play in 2010 and beyond. Molding Web can help you to stretch your marketing dollars and take those important first steps into new and exciting areas of growth and development. Call us today at 1-877-900-6932.

For some people, the term “social media marketing” can seem overly abstract—especially if their social media experience is limited to looking at photos of friends and relatives on Facebook. But Internet marketing that includes the creative use of social media can provide some very tangible benefits. Here are four things that social media marketing can do for your website or online business:

Establish industry expertise

Customers want to work with an online business that’s knowledgeable and trustworthy. By establishing an informative social media presence, your company can develop a reputation as a source of expertise within its industry. Answer questions and provide useful information, and you’ll establish a niche as a company people turn to when they need a related product or service.

Broaden awareness of your company and its products/services

As we mentioned last week, even something as basic as blog writing services could increase your website traffic and inbound links by as much as 50% to 100%. Combining social media with search engine optimization and targeted pay-per-click advertising would make your company synonymous with the keywords people use to locate products and services within your industry.

Improve customer service

Just having a website isn’t enough anymore for online business success. Customers have questions; social media is an interactive venue in which you can provide answers. Engaging with online customers puts a human face on your business, and develops customer loyalty that can override even tough economic times.

Enhance communication

Marketing and advertising are ultimately about sharing a message. Don’t funnel your online message through just one channel, be it a website or traditional marketing campaign. With social media marketing, your message is amplified, enabling you to reach a broad range of customers who are looking for a company like yours.

Forbes Insights in association with Google released a report yesterday that suggests many interesting ramifications for the future of Internet marketing, particularly in the areas of pay-per-click marketing, search engine optimization, and social media marketing. Titled “The Rise of the Digital C-Suite: How Executives Locate and Filter Business Information,” the report illuminates a stark generational divide between the top executives at large U.S. companies who are under 50 years of age and over 50 years of age and how they make use of tools such as search engines, blogs and social networking websites, online video, and PPC ads. Based on these differences, the report predicts that “profound organizational evolution” will take place as “Generation Netscape”—those under-40s whose careers began in the 1990s—move into the senior positions at their companies.

The report is based on a survey of more than 350 top executives at U.S. companies with at least $1 billion in annual sales. The subjects were questioned on their information-gathering styles and whether or how frequently they used different Internet tools. Though the effect of age on one’s comfort level with technology is a given, some of the findings in the Forbes/Google report are still rather shocking. For example, the report found that 41% of under-50s frequently use pay-per-click advertising to gather business information, compared with just 6% of those over 50. Perhaps less surprisingly, 59% of executives under 50 use online social networking websites daily or several times per week versus 18% of those over 50.

One of the report’s most interesting findings was that, in its own words, “search is the executive’s home page.” Nearly two-thirds of respondents identified general search engines as very valuable, but here also the connection between age and usage was striking. Thirty-nine percent of the executives under 40 perform more than 20 work-related searches per day, versus 17% of 40-to-49 year olds and 6% of 50-somethings. This suggests that search engine optimization will become more rather than less important even as social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook gain importance as information-gathering tools.

Speaking of Twitter, 56% of executives under 40 said that they use micro-feeds such as Twitter at least several times per week, versus 34% of 40-to-49 year olds.

The core lesson with which the report concludes is that the generation of executives under 40 is “likely to take collaboration and networking in research to unprecedented levels,” turning transparency and openness into “core professional and personal attributes.” To download a copy of the report, visit http://www.forbes.com/forbesinsights/digital_csuite/index.html.

Today is Earth Day, and much is being written about the various successes and failures of the environmental movement. Though it may seem like environmental messages are everywhere you turn, a new survey by Generate Insight has found that green organizations could be doing a better job of capitalizing on their very positive public image among teens.

The survey targeted Millennials, the generation of people aged 13 to 29, and asked how they perceive the green movement and whether their purchasing decisions mirror those perceptions. Though the top three words associated with the green movement were responsible, smart, and cool, over 70% of respondents aged 13 to 17 said they would buy a less expensive product rather than one that gave back to the environment.

Perhaps not coincidentally, this was the same demographic group that was least impacted by the Internet marketing efforts of environmentalists. Eighty-five percent of 13- to 17-year-olds said school was their main source of environmental education versus 79% of Millennials who learn primarily via the Internet.

Two primary points in the Generate Insight survey could benefit from renewed marketing efforts by environmentalists:

• Just 48% of 13- to 17-year-olds believe they can make a difference, because the magnitude of environmental problems is overwhelming.

• Most Millennials are unsure why environmentally friendly products are more expensive.