I hear time after time the same story that the site or ad did not rate high enough or the money ran out too quickly so the advert had to stop.

Well I hate to be the one to break the news, but websites do not bring in business by themselves. Like any offline business, a website needs publicity in order to attract visitors. You wouldn't open a shop and just hope that someone might wander in. Even if they did eventually find you and wander in, there is no guarantee that they will buy from you, but you are weighting things in your favour if you have a steady stream of targeted customers, and are selling exactly what they are looking for at the precise time they are looking for it.

This is where Adwords can produce great results if used properly.

So how DO you get noticed online?

With an increasing number of online purchases originating from search engines, website visibility is vital, and with thousands of businesses competing for the top spot, you are going to need some help to get noticed.

Terms like 'Search Engine Optimisation' (SEO) and 'ALT tags'' may have you running to the hills, but are definitely the place to start. Basic optimisation involves identifying the most popular 'Keywords' or '‘Keyphrases' (i.e. what people actually type into Search Engines), then placing them within the content and code of your web pages.

There are many companies that can provide an SEO service for a reasonable price, but be aware that optimisation alone is no guarantee of getting the coveted number one spot in the Google listings.

Often in highly competitive areas, you need to employ more than just a few well placed keywords. New domains can take months to be listed, and if you do not continue to promote your website after it has been optimised, your search engine position will soon drop.

What else can You do?

Well, while you're waiting for your search engine optimisation to kick in, and before you pay over the odds for advanced web strategies, you may want to consider pay-per-click advertising such as Google AdWords.

AdWords adverts surround the 'natural' search listings at the top and on the right hand side of every results page, and are triggered when a user searches for any of those keywords that I mentioned earlier.

An AdWords campaign can provide you with an instant stream of the targeted customers you seek, at the very point that they are searching for a product or service, and can help you get straight to the top of the search engine listings, no matter how competitive the market.

Of course, if your website it giving the wrong message or doesn't explain in plain English why your product or service is better than anyone else's, your online advertising could still be a waste of time and money…
But remember, once you start your Adwords campaign you must keep a very close eye on it, to make sure you profit from it, because all to often you end up being presented with a large bill that's been run very fast with little return.

And don't forget the Adwords terrorist who will just click and click on your site until your daily limit is reached, thus removing your advert from the pages of Google.

In my opinion you can't beat good old free marketing like articles and fliers.