Studies suggest that despite an enormous increase in the internet being used as a form of media, many marketers are missing out on a major opportunity to promote and sell their products and services online.

Depending on the size of your business and the products you sell, your internet presence can range from a simple website to a multi-page e-commerce site, but it's not just the design of your website that counts as internet marketing. Online advertising and link building are becoming the key growth areas, as advertisers discover more about the medium, and how it can be exploited to increase sales.

The first thing to do is to consider what you want from your marketing strategy. Do you want to use the internet simply to let people know you're there? Or do you want people to be able to buy your goods and services online? How are you going to encourage browsers to come to your site and, once they're there, what will make them buy?

Like any marketing strategy, you need to know who your target audience is and what types of behaviour marks them out. For internet marketing purposes, you should want to know how they use the internet and whether they are comfortable buying online or whether they'd rather make their purchases over the phone. Will you communicate your web address to target clients or will you use links and advertising on existing sites to attract them? Consider using marketing strategies such as Pay Per Click, which will help to drive traffic to your site, and look at the content of your website to make sure that it is optimised; this will increase your chances of appearing higher up the rankings page on the major search engines.

Above all, allocate a realistic budget. Some internet marketing can be done relatively cheaply, but if you want to succeed, you may need to speak to experts about how to get the most out of your website, and you may need to invest in some serious advertising with sites who already have a high profile with the search engines. Whatever you do, don't ignore internet marketing as "not for me". It's for everyone and your business could lose out if you don't take advantage of the opportunity.

At Webevents we are always on hand to help our customers with any internet marketing advice they may need, so give us a call on 01423 529300