Google, Yahoo!, MSN, Ask and other search engines provide tools to help businesses advertise when consumers search for certain products and services. This new form of direct response advertising matches interested consumers with businesses, creating potential for very effective advertising and dramatic sales results that follow. However, the secrets to success are hidden in the execution and management of campaigns.

Creating a truly effective marketing campaign online takes a lot of work that consumes a great deal of time for small business owner. Simply having a website will be suitable to many, but this is hardly relevant if it is poorly designed, hard to use, or bland. The process starts with having a website but never truly ends. Maintaining the site, targeting an audience, tracking statistics of visitors and other factors have to be employed to grow your business in the information age.

Keep in mind though, if you’re not planning to dedicate the resources and time to testing and analyzing results, you probably should not even begin a campaign. Even with the virtually endless advances in computer technology over the last decade, testing is the only repeatedly proven way to learn what works and what does not. This mystery game is what makes online advertising so exciting because when done right, it forces you, the business owner to constantly innovate to build your client base and revenue. If done correctly, the sky is truly the limit.

1. Quality over Quantity—do not be misled by increased traffic.

With all the benefits that search engines bring to marketing a small business, they still leave much to be desired—after all, it is their job to sell their ad space, not to build your customer base. While your traffic may increase dramatically with search engine advertising, you might not notice a strong correlation with sales. Building traffic to your website is the first step to getting new customers, but enticing them to buy your product or service is the next so it is imperative that the traffic you receive is interested in your site and knows what they want. If you place all your marketing into increasing.

2. Style and usability should work together—your website must be attention-grabbing and easy to use.

Americans like to be impressed, so when they find your page, make it excite them. Think about it: when you casually land on a generic website, do you spend time on it or just hit the back button to try to find something better? Your customers will probably click the back button as well if your website is sloppy, uninspiring, or just bland. Have an interactive menu or advertise online-only specials to keep customers open to what you can provide them. Some of the best websites combine professionalism with inspiring, relevant graphics or descriptions to maximize conversions from casual browser to new customer. At the same time, always assume that it is the user’s first time trying to do business online. It has to be easy to navigate; if it isn’t, your potential customers may feel hassled and will look to send their business elsewhere.

3. Be proud to be local—make sure your ad and targeting reflect the true local nature of your business.

Chances are high that many people who find your website are locals, so make them feel at home on your website. You’ll capture the interest of more qualified prospects if they know where you are located, when you’re open, and your contact information. Don’t be afraid to share some of your history or give a statement about your goals and your mission as a company. Not only will this differentiate your business from non-local firms, but the convenience factor of you being near them can give customers a sense of insurance. Consumers who are ready to buy are more likely to be trying to select a store from which to buy and not searching for the product itself (which has already been determined). Be personable and friendly on your site and proudly declare your locality! They already know what they want or need and now it’s up to you to do business with them.

4. Use statistics to your advantage—install tracking code on your site that helps you determine which search engines, keywords, ads and campaigns are driving the best and most profitable conversions.

As was mentioned in the first secret to success, building traffic is only one element, so what happens next? Once customers are on your site, you need to know where they go, where they spend their time on your site, and what they click. If you install tracking code into your website, you can narrow down exactly what keywords lead specific customers to specific areas of your website. Through this, you can begin to learn the demographics and the interests of your website’s visitors and modify your advertising plans accordingly. After you have this data, you can better target your audience by modifying keywords that you use on search engines and fine-tune your advertising campaign based on the general demography of your audience. With statistics and tracking code, you’ll also be able to learn what parts of your site are stagnant and which are highly active. Once you know this, you can capitalize on the most profitable areas and either change or eliminate the less profitable areas.

5. Keep your advertising dynamic—use your data and acquired learning to make changes to your campaigns.

Nothing is worse than throwing money into a bottomless pit. Many small business owners feel that advertising on a search engine is the only way to advertise online, but fail to realize that this is just the beginning. You have to be dynamic. If you’re spending money without earning new revenue and continue to do so, your resources are working against you when they should be working for you. Achieving this isn’t as tough as it may see. If your business is seasonal, modify your website accordingly, or if you notice trends in your local market take action to utilize these trends. These short-term solutions will produce long-term dynamic results.

Final Thought

The long-term effectiveness of online advertising is more complex and requires a bigger time investment than most choose to accept Setting up a campaign is the easiest part, but because it’s so easy, everyone does it. Reviewing, tracking, testing and changing require not only proper setup and analysis (which is often done incorrectly), but also regular follow-up modifications. All of this becomes a fairly technical undertaking, but because it is hard, not many are willing to dedicate the extra effort even if it means sacrificing income and future clients. To be honest, if you value your time and money, you probably want to find an expert to help you with all the fine-tuning and analysis. By working with an expert, you’ll virtually guarantee that your resources will be used with high-efficiency and will attain results that you could do on your own after a great deal of frustration and many hours later. Once you have an effective website and strong online marketing campaign, you won’t have to chase customers; the customers will come to you.