Impact Media's SEO Blog

Over the past couple of years, the media buzzword has been ‘credit crunch’. We’ve been inundated with doom and gloom stories of struggling retailers, repossessed homes and banks collapsing. But as with all downturns, there are some businesses that buck the trend.

Whilst back in the 1920’s it was mostly bootleggers, today there is an altogether different trend. Although, that said, many might argue that today’s bootleggers have moved from ‘hooch’ to music and video, just look at Pirate Bay, but that’s a different story altogether.
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It’s a trying time for UK companies; you can hardly switch on the TV or the radio without hearing about the economic downturn and the gloom of the recession. Business leaders are under great pressure to take stock of their financial situation and cut back wherever possible; every pound saved means less dependence on immediate new business.

However, there is a slight paradox; if companies are to survive the recession and emerge strong and competitive with a healthy market share, then they must continue to invest in their sales and marketing to get more orders.

The wise choice then, is to market your company in a way that provides the best return on your investment. Those companies that have an online presence have an immediate advantage, since online marketing represents the most cost effective and beneficial opportunity to make a healthy profit.

As online marketing goes, the most immediate benefits can be achieved through the use of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategies to push your business to the top of search engine listings in your chosen market.

By investing in the right SEO consultant to collaborate with you, you can increase the number of potential clients that find you online, based on the key words and phrases they have searched for in the likes of Google and Yahoo.

You may have the best products and prices in your market, and the confidence to provide a better service than your competitors, but if people can’t find you near the top of the list, you won’t get the opportunity to win their business.

You don’t need to sell products and services directly online to get the benefit of Search Engine Optimisation. Since a good SEO strategy is multifaceted by using a mix of optimised web copy, site content and article writing there are many different methods to grab the potential customer’s attention.

Once your business has been noticed and given attention by the customer, you can use a variety of cost effect direct marketing techniques (such as e-mail marketing) to encourage them to place an order.

Along those lines, it’s also worth remembering that a good SEO approach cannot only win new clients, but also help develop existing ones. As any marketing manager knows, it’s more profitable to develop additional business from existing clients than to solely rely on new ones, and online marketing is a perfect tool to achieve those results.

As consumers in the private and commercial sector look to get the best value for money in their purchases, they will invariably increase their online buying habits in the search for a better deal. This is comforting news for a marketing manager who is looking towards a strong online marketing push to get results.

Search Engine Optimisation is regarded by Internet experts and business leaders as the most effective and efficient way to transform your online presence into orders. SEO is a high impact tactic, and most importantly in these tough times, offers an excellent return on your investment.

If you’re a business looking to maximise the return on your marketing investment, Impact Media can help with cost effective SEO services.

The increasingly devastating financial condition known as the Credit Crunch has hit the advertising industry hard. The traditional advertising media of television, radio and newspapers are all recoiling from the strong fall in sales figures for 2008.  Projections for traditional modes of advertising in 2009 are also depressingly glum.

Whilst traditional forms of advertising maintain a failing fingertip grasp on the market, Internet advertising is only percentage points away from surpassing all of these advertising methods in terms of annual market spend.

Steady Growth

Even as far back as 2001, media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s all-powerful ‘NewsCorp’ announced a massive slump in revenue from advertising.  At the same time, although weakened by the Dot Com Crash, Internet advertising revenue continued to grow.  Between 2003 and 2007, Internet advertising transformed itself from a niche in the market, to the third largest advertising source.

Since then things haven’t got much better for traditional advertisers. By 2006, Internet advertising in the UK had convincingly surpassed newspaper ads. In 2007, television giant ITV saw pre-tax advertising profits fall by 39%, as the market already recognised the value for money represented by online options. Reuters, the international news agency reports that during 2008, online ads will overtake television advertising too.

Newspaper advertising has also taken a heavy beating from the Credit Crunch.  Peter Williams, finance director at DMGT – the publisher that owns the Daily Mail, confessed that during the third quarter of 2008, advertising revenue had fallen and “we’re not relying on any pick-up in the near future”.   Businesses recognise the immediate and powerful results obtained by Internet advertising and have deserted newspaper advertising in droves.

Conversely, during this period of economic crisis, Internet advertising continues to grow. Whilst all advertising growth is clearly slowing down, predictions for online advertising in late 2008 and 2009 show a steady growth, revealing a trend towards increasing confidence in the effectiveness of Internet advertising and the valuable ROI it represents.

Internet Advertising Growing in UK

In 2008, Internet advertising presented a growth of 21% whilst traditional media fell.  Internet advertising within the United Kingdom represents 19% of the total share of advertising revenue.  It has been predicted that by 2011, the total online advertising spend will be £4.5 billion in the UK alone; this will be 30% of the UK’s total advertising share.

In the UK, paid search leads the way in web advertising sales with a growth of 28% across 2008.   Natural search hasn’t been slacking either with a 68% increase in growth in last twelve months.  Obviously this supports the message that a blended approach to online advertising is the best way to secure your own share of the market.

Positive Forecast

The Credit Crunch may have affected most of the global economy, with traditional advertising channels suffering badly.  However, online marketing and advertising appears to still be growing because it has proved itself as a cost-effective tool that provides crunch-proof results that matter during a difficult time.