Online marketing set to triple by 2011

14/04/2008

Businesses have been urged to optimise their websites, after new figures revealed online advertising will more than double over the next three years.

According to online solutions provider WSI, online marketing will rise by almost 23% this year, creating an industry worth almost £4.5bn by 2011.

The organisation said research by eMarketer.com found over a third of online consumers say they 'do not mind' online advertising, as long as it is relevant to them.

WSI urged businesses to make the most of the figures, saying it is essential to be familiar with the latest marketing techniques to stay successful. "Just having a website will not necessarily guarantee companies a slice of the revenue," said a spokesperson.

The organisation added that website visitors take just 1/20th of a second to decide whether or not to buy a product, with the average time spent on a homepage standing at just 25 seconds, and the average time on an interior page 45 seconds.

Stefan Tornquist from marketing site MarketingSherpa said very few firms test their landing pages before launching an online campaign, and as a result many fail to recoup their investment by attracting new business.

"Ideally, if a site is well optimised, every page can be a landing page," he said.

"With the expertise in search engine marketing and other advanced techniques that are being made available to the small business market, I am optimistic we will see many more tried and tested online campaigns as well as result generating landing pages in the future."