Definition of Web Marketing

Web Marketing is a phrase with broad meaning, which is not surprising because it relates to almost all aspects of planning, building, and managing a Website. We define Web Marketing as follows:

Web Marketing is a set of activities that enable the acquisition of targeted Web traffic and the conversion of Web visitors.

Visitor Acquisition There are many methods, both online and offline, which can be used to bring Web visitors to a site. Common online techniques are: Search Engine Optimisation Pay-Per-Click Search Advertising Link Acquisition and Building E-Mail Marketing Banner Advertising Directory Submission RSS Feed Submission Of course, any advertising medium can be used to increase the awareness of a Website.

Acquisition, when approached in a proper Web Marketing manner, focuses more on the quality of the traffic (how well targeted the visitors are) than on the quantity, so that visitors are more likely to convert. If you spend money on acquiring traffic, but have no idea how well your site converts visitors, then there’s a good chance you’ve thrown your hard-earned money away.

Conversion
Every Website has - or should have - clearly defined goals (and you’ll hear about it in every Web developer’s sales pitch). At the most basic level, Websites are classified1 in these categories:

	Online Commerce - sites that sell products, services, or information Advertising - sites that attract visitors with content, enticing some to respond to advertising Lead Generation - sites that present information about a product or business with the intent to identify and gather contact information from qualified prospects Customer Support - sites that help visitors answer questions about a product or service

Visitor conversion occurs when one of the site’s key actions is taken, thus delivering a purchase, an ad click, a lead, or a problem solved (the site’s "goal" is achieved). Unfortunately, many sites are little more than online brochures, and not designed with conversion in mind. A site design that maps Website goals to key calls-to-action is more likely to produce satisfactory results.

The Job of the Web Marketer
So the Web Marketer’s task is to ensure flow of well-targeted visitors who feed a high-conversion site. The Web Marketer also develops measurement processes and uses analytics tools to help evaluate the results of the strategy in order to deliver continuously improving return on investment (ROI).