But online advertising is a broad term that encompasses everything from banner ads to organic placement in the natural search results.  In the ultra-competitive world of online advertising it is the latter that matters the most.

No doubt about it, having a high ranking in the organic search engine results is the single most powerful means of driving traffic to your website. Its power derives from its efficiency. It delivers the most exposure per dollar spent compared to any other form of advertising. Unlike other less discriminating forms of internet advertising such as banner ads, pop-ups and interstitial ads, having a high ranking in the natural search results means highly targeted and unsolicited traffic. What better kind of traffic!

But the task of reaching the top of Google’s search results is somewhat like reaching the top of a mountain—hard but not impossible. And while huge companies spend millions to place high and stay high in the search results, what they are really paying for is the knowledge it takes to achieve this result. The body of knowledge to which we are referring is known as Search Engine Optimization, or ‘SEO’ for short. SEO knowledge can be acquired and implemented at little-to-no cost. All that is required is time and dedication—something most small companies and individual entrepreneurs don’t posses in abundance. There are many good books and online courses available that explain SEO in an easy-to-understand manner.

You don’t have to be an SEO expert to implement some very effective SEO principles. Above all, your site must be rich with content that is both unique (i.e., not plagiarized) and relevant. Page title is also very important as the search engines use this to determine the subject matter of your web page and how relevant it is to any particular keyword. Also as a rule of thumb, the dominant keyword or key phrase should appear in the content more than any other repeating keyword word or key phrase.

Even websites not listed on the first page of results can get a good amount of traffic. The process of achieving a high ranking through optimization is somewhat like baking a cake: It takes the right ingredients—i.e., content—and it takes time, but the end result is worth it.