Small businesses 'should keep online marketing simple'

13/08/2008

Small firms starting out in the world of online marketing would do well to keep their strategies as simple as possible to begin with, according to one expert.

David Wei, chief executive of business-to-business marketplace Alibaba.com, advised small businesses to ensure they do not do too much at the start and to outsource any aspects of online marketing they do not understand - which may include search optimisation - to an outside party.

"The most important criteria in making the selection should be ease of use, return on investment and manageability," he commented, according to Livemint.com.

Mr Wei also explained that while search engines can be beneficial when it comes to both mass marketing and reaching specific individuals, pay-per-click marketing may result in advertisers incurring higher costs than expected.

According to E-consultancy's 2007 Search Engine Optimisation best practice guide, search engine marketing is "highly effective and highly measurable" and can help businesses to achieve a variety of objectives.