There is no doubt that we’re dealing with uncertainty in our economic futures.  Will Congress finally approve a plan to shore up the flow of credit and availability of money, or won’t it?  Will our clients and customers have the confidence they need to face the future and make hiring and purchasing decisions to move their business in the right direction?

These are valid questions, to be sure, but we also need to make decisions which will help us to stay in business regardless of what the economy or our customers are doing.

In the past we’ve made large splashes by investing banner ads, print marketing, and perhaps social media.  As my wife would say, "who cares if you’re spending $50,000 per month when you’re making $500,000 in monthly revenues?"  The answer to that question and indeed our perspective changes somewhat when we’re spending $50,000 to make the same amount in revenues.  Often the reaction is to simply remove the budget for marketing all together.

In fact marketing dollars are being invested online rather than in traditional ways.  The challenge, however, is getting the biggest bang for your buck.  With so many marketing options available to us today, where do we invest our money?

There are two very affordable components to Internet marketing which I believe offer excellent opportunities for maintaining brand recognition, relevance, and importance in the public’s eye, and, let’s not forget, traffic to our websites.

Targeted Search

The first being strong, targeted search-based marketing, particularly local search.  Search Engine Optimization (including keyword research, and content development) to target local-based searches.  People like to stick close to home, and if they don’t have to spend time or (gas) money to get it, they are more likely to buy our products and services.

Link Building

The second is Link Building.  This is a campaign of establishing links on other websites which direct visitors back to your website.  A strong campaign of placing links of relevant websites, over a period of time, establishes robust and sustainable results for your site.

In fact, I believe Link Building is one of the most important aspects of Internet marketing.  So long as it is done correctly (i.e. links are submitted to websites that are relevant to your business and it is done over a period of time which reflects care and attention to the growth and marketing of your site), a Link Building campaign can be a very satisfying effort in terms of marketing your business.