Billions upon billions of dollars have been generated through ecommerce in the past decade. While the revenue generated is impressive for a relatively novel phenomenon, even more impressive is the manner in which ecommerce has transformed the national landscape of business; both from the viewpoint of the business owner and the consumer.
Ecommerce, as is demonstrated by quarterly figures released through The United States Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, has become an important, powerful, and significant part of our corporate lives. These staggering statistics indicate the powerful role ecommerce plays in our changing economy.
Issued for public consumption in November 2007, the Q3 2007 ecommerce report showed sales rates of 34.7 billion dollars. Do these figures indicate people are buying more, or conversely buying less through traditional means? A study done by the USC Annenberg Center for the Digital Future suggests people now spend fewer of their dollars in brick and mortar establishments than at any point before in corporate history.
In fact, reports indicate that people spend 65 percent less in traditional stores since the ecommerce boom commenced. While shopping habits have not changed completely, the gap is shrinking at a swift pace. The future of retail business will depend a great deal on the traditional retail front partnering with online ventures. As the saying goes, if you can't beat them, join them.
For you, the ever-important consumer, this information may be more relevant and important than you think. Ecommerce is growing at a rate of 25 percent per year. Growth in any area of business generates greater choice and availability of both goods and services.
Essentially, this level of growth incites some healthy competition among the businesses involved, thus keeping prices low. It permits merchants to offer a broader range of transaction options and incentives. Most importantly, it allows the consumer more freedom on how to spend his/her hard-earned funds.
In the past, a consumer could find reading material at a local book dealer. Most booksellers were very willing to special order a book that was not available on store shelves. Through ecommerce, the consumer can order a book from any location in the world and have it delivered to his/her doorstep within days. The entire practice of ecommerce has served to indulge our yen for instant gratification and, in the process, made our lives easier.
Who would have thought in a matter of minutes one could pay his/her mortgage, download a CD, book a vacation, order groceries for home delivery and purchase a gift all with only a few clicks of the mouse?
Beyond aiding the consumer, ecommerce has changed the face of business full circle. Millions of entrepreneurs are using this process to make their concepts and wares available to the world, and for relatively small start-up fees.
New industries have been born from this trend, some out of necessity and some from sheer genius. The Aberdeen Research Group predicts that the technology of BI (Business Intelligence) will be one of the most sought-after technological solutions for 2008. BI technology, in essence, gives the retailer real time information that allows a swift response to consumer demand on the Internet to create customer retention and loyalty.
Without ecommerce specialty, niche industries never would have existed. The domino effect filters down to the manufacturers, sales people and marketers.
No longer a novelty, ecommerce is here to stay. The natural progression of this new corporate art form has been exciting to watch and participate in. To us it may spell convenience; in the eyes of the world, the possibilities are endless.
Low Cost Search Engine
Pay per click advertising is hands down the best invention in marketing this decade and maybe of all time. Never before in history could you start a business and within minutes have targeted, qualified prospects who are looking for what you are selling directly in front of your offer. Most advertising and marketing is hit and miss without any real indicator for knowing what is working and what isn't. With pay per click you not only pay only for targeted visitors but you can now know exactly which ads are producing sales and at what cost per sale (referred to as cost per conversion in the Internet marketing industry).
Google, Yahoo and MSN can instantly bring thousands of visitors to your web site but if you have given pay per click a try you know that the competition for top placement is fierce and it is so easy to lose your shirt if you don't know what you are doing. Frankly, even if you are experienced the costs per click in most niches can drive your cost per conversion through the roof eating away at your profits.
Before I found alternatives to the ?big three? search engines (Google, Yahoo and MSN) my profit margins were terrible simply because of ridiculous pay per click costs per click. I want to let you in on a little secret that I wish I would have found years ago.
You don't have to compete on Google, Yahoo or MSN paying crazy rates barely making money in your business. Did you know there are alterative, lower cost search engines where you can drastically and instantly improve your return on investment with significantly lower costs per click which means higher profit margins or lower cost per conversion using industry jargon.
While a pay per click campaign on one of the lower cost search engines can quickly put cash in your bank account you must be sure to choose a search engine carefully. There are literally hundreds of search engines offering low cost pay per click; some of which are known for excessive click fraud and simply traffic that does not convert. So before you run out and start throwing money at every low cost pay per click search engine you can find I recommend investigating pay per click opportunities with a few considerations in mind.
The following are things to consider when choosing a lower cost search engine for your pay per click campaign.
Where Does The Traffic Come From?
This question gets to the heart of the issue of traffic quality. Traffic that doesn't convert to opt ins or sales is worthless and a waste of money at any price. You cannot sacrifice quality traffic for low price because you don't have a business until a sale is made.
Cost Per Click
This is an easy one but how much are you going to pay per click in your target market? Compare these numbers to costs per click at major players like Google and Yahoo. Some lower cost search engines can get you clicks for as low as 1 cent per click. Compare this to more than a dollar at other search engines and you can clearly see the potential for maximizing your advertising dollars.
Customer Support
How responsive is customer support? Will they be available if you have questions or issues with your account? Granted you may not really know the answer to this question until you try them out but it is an important issue.
Click Fraud
Click fraud costs companies millions of dollars in both advertising expense and lost sales. How does the search engine protect you against click fraud? Do they have technology in place for detecting fraudulent clicks? This is very important and a serious problem in this industry.
Chosen carefully, lower cost search engines can provide pay per click advertising at substantially cheaper costs per click, lower costs per sale and a better return on your investment.
You can visit Two of the better low cost search engines. Be sure to bookmark for future reference: Goto:
http://My7Search.info
Be sure to also check out another favorite:
http://MySearchFeed.info
Another option highly recommended is Enhance. Your return on your investment here is good, because the traffic is quality. For those that want exposure to specific countries, this company does offer geo targeting, this can be very helpful. Go and Bookmark here:
https://PayPerClickValue.info
Although I use the big 3 for PPC Campaigns, I highly recommend these Lower cost search engines because they offer excellent return on your investment and they are a inexpensive way to start while you learn to master the art of PPC. The Big 3 can get quite expensive quickly if you are not familiar with pay per click advertising.
Instead of paying the high prices of AdWords or similar companies, venture out into other markets. You may be surprised by the results!
Both Garey Simmons & Keith Synan are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Garey Simmons has sinced written about articles on various topics from self improvement and motivation, Site promotion and Skin Care. Garey Simmons writes about from experience using SEO Services from his. Garey Simmons's top article generates over 33100 views. to your Favourites.
Keith Synan has sinced written about articles on various topics from Aquarium Fish, Search Engine Marketing and Internet Marketing. Keith Synan is an experienced internet marketer who offers tons of free resources and information designed to help you succeed with your online business. Discover how you can maximize your online profits by visiting. Keith Synan's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.
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