Alternatively known as digital marketing, internet marketing, online advertising, online marketing, web marketing, and by some other names, Internet marketing, and advertising is a form of marketing and advertising that uses the Internet as a delivery medium.

Ever since there has been something to sell, there has been marketing but, until the late 1990s, this has consisted of offline mediums like posters, billboards, print ads in newspapers or magazines, radio advertising, or television advertising. These mediums still exist and prevail, but Internet marketing is becoming more important every year.

Search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) programs, and content marketing were in the early stages in the late 1990s. Social media came into being a little later in the early 2000s. Today, various elements of Internet marketing are in play. Some companies have employed business plans that are entirely online, while nearly every business is dependent upon Internet marketing to some extent. The Internet is accessible to anyone, while the corner store is not.

Internet marketing includes search engine marketing, social media marketing, email marketing, and several types of display advertising, as well as mobile advertising. Like traditional advertising media, online advertising generally involves a publisher and an advertiser, and sometimes includes an advertising or marketing agency, an ad server, or advertising affiliates.

Changes come more quickly online than off. Internet marketing techniques that were good a couple of years ago are not so effective today, and it can be hard for a business owner to keep up with the changes. Of course, it is still important to attract new visitors to your website, although a sole concentration on bringing visitors to the first (index) page may not be the most effective campaign. An effective leads conversion process can convert new visitors into customers through call-to-action buttons, landing pages, registration forms, and other means.

Content creation is as important as it has ever been, as content is the meat of a website. Effective content should not only help attract visitors to the site; it should also engage them, make them want to return, or take action, whether this is to purchase a product, register with a site, or complete a contact form.

Email marketing is perhaps not as effective as it once was, but it still has a place in Internet marketing. As most Internet users are saturated with spam, an effective email campaign needs to stand out from the rest.

Search engine optimization is as important as it has always been, although the requirements for an effective SEO campaign are in a constant state of flux. This may also include optimizing to a niche, pay-per-click advertising, or other means of bringing new visitors to a site. Web directories are a part of this, particularly for new sites, but also for established sites seeking to diversify their link building campaign.

In recent years, social media has become far more important, and should be included in an effective marketing campaign. Sad as it may seem to some of us who have been on the Internet for a couple of decades, a lot of potential customers rarely look beyond Facebook.

Marketing automation systems are a relatively new player in the Internet marketing field. Marketing automation refers to software that can be used for repetitive tasks, such as emails, social media, and other actions.

As more and more Internet users have abandoned desktop computers for wireless mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, it is becoming increasingly important to market for these smaller screens. Mobile advertising might take the form of static or rich media display ads, Short Message Service (SMS) or Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) ads, mobile search ads, advertising within mobile websites, and on mobile apps or games.

Affiliate marketing has become more difficult as newer browsers offer ad-blocking options, which are on by default in several of the more popular browsers, but it still has a place in today's advertising.

Many business owners may opt to handle their own Internet marketing campaigns and, for them, there are books and informational websites available that can offer suggestions or instruction. There are also training programs available, online or in classrooms, that may be used to prepare individuals to carry out a more effective Internet marketing campaign.

Others, and perhaps most business owners, will opt to outsource all or part of the task to individuals or firms who do that for a living, and who, presumably, might be better equipped to maneuver the ever-changing field of Internet marketing.

These, and other related issues, are the focus of this category and its subcategories. Many of the resources alluded to here may be found below.

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