Code and Capital: Web Presence

"People use the internet for information."

When people hop on to the internet, they primarily use it as a source of information. And in this day and age, the Internet is becoming the main source that people use, especially Google.

But, like any good source, it will only give you the information you are looking for or, by extension, information that you might be interested in.

For example, if I'm searching for dogs, I might be a dog person, and if I'm searching for suits, then I might be a person who wears suits. Now, as a person who appreciates suits and dogs, without searching for it, I might appreciate coming across this handsome devil right here:

Or not, depending on what I'm interested in or would be interested in. Meaning this could peak my interest in searching for canine-related clothing. Afterwards, I might go on a 'searching' spree of Dog Suits.

This is the backbone of what online marketing is.

First, figuring out what your customer wants to find out, providing that information.

Next, predicting what your client might want to find out and providing that information, and then some.

Some of the best websites out there present predicted content to searchers on Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any other site. The people click on it, absorb the content, reflect on what they have learned. But, what they don't know is that every good article or piece of information that's optimized for the business, doesn't have all the information located on one page, or else it would be an encyclopedia set. Even Wikipedia, the Internet's premier encyclopedia with it's 4.5 million plus articles is organized by title.

With that being said, every good piece of information on the internet doesn't have all the information contained within it. However, what it does is make finding new information extremely easy, especially if those new pieces of information keep you on that website.

This varies across businesses and your strategy will be different. A local coffee shop's online presence is going to be drastically different than a lawyer's or a restaurant's firm.

Marketing, alone, consists of buying ads, spending money, researching competition, and figuring out your market. Online marketing is all of that, except the foundation in which you start, is your content and online presence.

What information you choose to create your online presence is important, but how you choose to present that information is just as important.

I'll cover the how in my next post.

Until next time,
Josh