In what has huge implications for the way people will arrive, (or not arrive), at your website, Google last week conducted a major restructuring of how organic, (the left hand side), search results are displayed. You will now notice that there is a new column on the far left of the search page incorporating tools such as blogs, videos, time-based results and more. So what does this mean for you?

1. Regularly update your site

Now there are many more filters that people can use to find what they are looking for. You need to ensure that your site is optimised to take advantage of these new methods of segmentation. This means regular updates / changes / additions to aspects of your site such as articles, blogs, pics and videos. It also mean that whoever your web designer is, they should at least know the basics of search engine optimisation (SEO) and be applying them to your site. Remember to make sure all these changes to your site are relevant to the product(s) or service(s) you are attempting to sell.

2. Embrace social media

One of the best ways to keep your site full of fresh content is to employ a social media strategy. It doesn’t need to have all the bells and whistles and you can start small and grow your campaign as time allows. Tools such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are good ones to start with. Check out the articles in sites like Mashable and on blogs like Thinktank Media and start the learning process now.

3. Start a Google AdWords campaign

Obviously there is a great deal of effort in trying to get onto that elusive Page 1 of any search engine, including Google. Whilst virtually every business appears at or near the top of Page 1 for their own business name, the unfortunate reality is that that is often where their ranking success ends. Some businesses manage to appear for a few keywords, but even the best ranking businesses on the left hand side will always rank better by using an effective pay per click (PPC) / search engine advertising (SEA) strategy. You can bid on as many or as few words as you like, but with recent studies showing searches are now involving many more words than in the past, a strategy employing many terms and geographic areas has never been so vital. Effective SEO and social media strategies may enhance your positioning, but effective PPC / SEA will all but ensure it.

Sure you can attempt to tackle these 3 points by yourself, but do you have the time, the knowledge or the patience? So what’s my advice?

Do some research and find a great web designer, a great social media firm and a great pay per click / search engine advertising provider. In the case of the latter, just like you’d be less likely to choose a builder that’s not a Master Builder, you should also be diligent in choosing a provider that’s a Google Authorised AdWords Reseller or a Yahoo! Certified Local Ambassador, or better still, a firm that holds both certifications.

So there you go. Do the research, get the knowledge and go kick some ass!

The digital age has brought with it some of the most exciting developments in marketing since Professor Neil Borden of Harvard Business School and Professor E. Jerome McCarthy of Michigan State University developed the Marketing Mix and 4Ps in 1953 and 1960 respectively.

When most people think of digital marketing it is likely that the Internet would be the first medium that comes to mind. Encompassing email, interactive and search technologies, it is these areas of advertising that have experienced the greatest growth in recent times. It is also these areas that are expected to experience the most growth in the foreseeable future. Round 2, Media Survey Results & Analysis shows 40% of U.S. marketers are planning to increase their spend on email, 31.3% are seeking to boost their spend on interactive and 23.5% plan on increasing their outlay on what has been the biggest boom segment of the past few years, search. Other digital mediums include digital tv, the recently launched (in Australia) digital radio and digital outdoor.

Sections of the market most likely to see a reduction in spend are those traditional arenas of print where 37.5% of marketers are planning reductions, tv at 21.4%, radio 8.9% and outdoor at 5.4%

This tremendous shift towards digital marketing in recent times can in part be attributed to the Global Financial Crisis, with marketers looking for more accountability than can be gained from the traditional methods of print, terrestrial radio & tv and outdoor.

At the 2008 ad:tech event in London close to a thousand event attendees were surveyed. Of those, 48% expected to assign over 30% of their budget to digital marketing for the ensuing 12 months, a 9% increase on the previous year. Of the reasons given for this level of commitment, the No.1 response was a belief that “online marketing delivered greater ROI than offline marketing channels” (PRNewswire, Aug 18, 2009).

Mobile marketing & video advertising were also increasingly being seen by respondents as worthy receivers of those precious marketing dollars, with 37% of respondents planning to invest in mobile marketing. Global spend for this burgeoning sector is forecast to grow from $1.8b in 2007 to $24b in 2013. Whilst only 15% of respondents planned to channel funds towards video advertising, this is still a significant percentage and this space will definitelty remain one to watch.

Now let’s have a look at the digital advertising industry as a whole. According to “The Kelsey Group’s Annual Forecast (2007-2012): Outlook for Directional and Interactive Advertising,” we’re looking at at an increase for digital, (search, display, online classifieds and other interactive products), of US$45b in 2007 to US$147b in 2012. Compare this to the projected growth of the entire global advertising industry from US$600b in 2007 to US$707b in 2012. That represents compound annual growth rates (CAGR) of 23.4% and 2.7% respectively.

Breaking it down even further we can see the local search sector move from US$2.1b in 2007 to US$6.6b in 2012 (CAGR 25.5%). This is in direct contrast to print Yellow Pages which is expected to have US$2.1b wiped from its annual coffers over the same period.

This first post is only meant to provide some general trends with respect to digital marketing, highlighting the fact that it has experienced and will continue to experience extremely strong levels of growth, especially when compared with tradional forms.

In future posts I’ll be having a much closer look at the various parts that make up the digital marketing world, including the aforementioned market sectors and the influence of social media platforms, applications and assorted technologies.

Until then