Online Marketing, Also Known as web Marketing or Internet Marketing, means the marketing of services or products over the World Wide Web. One of the major benefits of this method of marketing is the low cost of distribution of information and physical products to a wider global audience. Advanced web marketing ties together both creative and technical aspects of the online environment, Including Development, Design, Advertisement and sales (The process is not necessarily in that order though, keep on reading to find out more).

Some of the most common Internet marketing business modules are:

1.Affiliate Marketing: This Method takes place when a product or service Developed by one person or company (AKA "the Vendor") is sold by other active sellers (AKA "The Affiliates") for a share of each sale. This enables the vendor to reach a much wider audience in a less time and effort, While Getting the upper hand over competition by getting so much exposure. Almost Every Self respecting online vendor now holds his own lucrative Affiliate Program, Usually providing affiliates with online marketing resources (Affiliate link, Tracker IDs etc...) and Material which is related directly to the product (Banners, Sales Letters, Landing Pages etc...)

2.E-Commerce: This Method is based around a direct link between the vendor and the costumer. Either by B2C (Business to Customer) or B2B (Business To Business), the link between The Vendor and his client is direct.

3.Lead Based Websites: This occurs when a website asks its viewers to complete some sort of form or action and thus generates himself with leads towards potential future buyers. This method is extremely popular in the insurance and Loans Marketing Niches since this niches are so competitive and profitable, it is a wise idea to grab any potential prospect you can. Many Online Marketers use a special landing page to capture leads- asking users to subscribe to a free newsletter (these are called opt-in pages), tempting them with free bonuses or small gifts. Later on, through this newsletter, which is delivered to the subscriber's Email, They attempt to Promote Various Products and services.

4.Publishing: This means the sale of advertisement. Regardless of whether you own a small website with some banners, links or Google's Adsense service placed on it or you the Chairman of one of the top online search engines, you are practicing the art of Publishing. Google has taken Publishing to a whole new level and their Adwords and Adsense services generate Billions of dollars each year.

The Major advantage to online marketing over traditional marketing methods is the relatively Low cost compared against the reach of the target audience- Online marketers Reach an extremely wide audience for a small fraction of what a traditional marketing campaign of the same scale would have cost. Another distinct advantage to online marketing is the ability to target specific clients. Online marketers use keywords for their sites and ads to determine exactly what search term would trigger them; furthermore, there is the option of Geo-targeting, allowing online marketers to either target only costumers from specific locations or deliver unique content for based on the country from which the costumer had connected.

In conclusion, online marketing is taking the place of traditional marketing methods as the most dominant and effective form of marketing, slowly but surely. The internet offers unlimited possibilities and ever growing income and resources. While traditional marketing techniques are still useful and will not disappear so soon, Online marketing is definitely the next step forward.

Copyright (c) 2009 Yoav Reuveni