SEO and Social Media -- Affordable Ways to Maximize Your Exposure
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Wed, Nov 25, 2009
If you're a small business owner, it can be really difficult to get the kind of exposure you need without spending thousands of dollars on an advertising campaign. People who don't have the kind of money to throw away on pricey traditional marketing techniques may think that there's nothing they can do to gain more customers. Fortunately, this is not the case - SEO and social media are great ways to affordably get your company's name out to the world.
Consider the following:
- With more and more people relying on free online news sources, fewer people are renewing their newspaper and magazine subscriptions. Despite this decline in readership, the prices of print ads haven't gone down. In fact, many companies have increased their ad prices.
- As more people watch their favorite shows at their own convenience (online, via TiVo, OnDemand, etc.), fewer people are exposed to traditional television commercials. However, this hasn't decreased the price of the average 30 second ad spot.
- On average, Americans spend almost 14 hours a month on the Internet, and that number is increasing.
Online advertising, SEO and social media marketing are industries that are really starting to take off. Really, it's no wonder. Unlike just about every other advertising method, you can easily track how well your efforts are paying off. As you see your search engine ranking start to creep up into the first few pages of popular Google searches, you're almost certain to see your website traffic increase.
Besides being the most affordable option (by far!), SEO and social media marketing is something that just about anyone can have access to. Anyone can start a Facebook page for their business, and it's really starting to level the playing field.