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It may be hard to believe, but the Internet as we know it
is just over 10 years old.
So, what does the crystal
ball show us about the coming
evolution of web marketing?
Web Marketing – A Look Into
The Crystal Ball E-commerce
has grown by leaps and bounds
and continues to set new marks
every year. As comfortable
as you and I might be using
the Internet, it is really
only in its infancy. As huge
as Google is, it was only
created in 1998. Think about
that for minute. Google is
less than 10 years old. My,
how far we have come! As the
Internet continues to grow,
how web marketing will evolve
is a much discussed subject.
There is little doubt the
future is bright. As more
people join up with the Internet
revolution, e-commerce continues
to grow. Still, one can’t
help but acknowledge Internet
users are becoming more sophisticated,
particularly as a younger
generation moves into adulthood
and gets issued credit cards.
Web marketing is currently
a bit of a mess. Remnants
of the old, such as banner
ads and email marketing, are
arguably one their way out.
Banner ads produce horrific
click through rates because
people are wary of getting
stuck on a site they can’t
get away from. Email marketing
is tainted by problems such
as spam, phishing scams and
identity theft concerns. Personally,
I delete all email that isn’t
from a person I know. It is
just too risky. The dominant
web marketing models now are
pay-per-click advertising
and search engine optimization.
Search engine optimization
will be around as long as
people use search engines.
The promise of free traffic
is simply too glorious to
ignore. Since it is fairly
difficult to commit fraud
in search engine optimization,
it is difficult to see any
future legal issues threatening
it. That being said, people
will always find ways to bend
the rules. Pay-per-click advertising
[“ppc”] has a less clear future.
The primary problem is click
fraud. Click fraud occurs
when a ppc ad is artificially
clicked. The only intention
of the clicker is to cost
the advertiser money. Some
estimate the percentage of
fraudulent clicks on ppc platforms
runs as high as forty percent.
If true, this theoretically
means you could take forty
percent of your advertising
budget, use it as toilet paper
and get the same sales results.
Pretty scary, eh? So, what
do the next 10 years hold
in store for marketing on
the web? In my personal view,
search engine optimization
will remain the dominant online
marketing method. PPC will
also continue, but will be
modified into something used
to conquer click fraud. I
also think information publishing
in the form of free copyright
articles will become more
and more dominant. Combined,
these three platforms represent
the future of web marketing.
Of course, nobody could have
foreseen the explosion of
EBay ten years ago, so we
may all be surprised by where
things stand in five or ten
years. Considering Google
is less than 10 years old,
nobody can really say what
might pop up tomorrow. Halstatt
Pires is with MarketingTitan.com
- providing internet marketing
services. |
