Recent developments in the way we communicate through the web have been less about conventional broadcast media and more about interactive, two way contact. As this type of communication alters it will undoubtedly affect the way search engines operate and by default the process of Online Marketing.
Traditional media “broadcasts” a message to the intended audience, whether it is in the form of a tabloid or an advert (physical or digital) which exposes the reader, listener or watcher to a idea. The communication is one way and the anticipated audience is advised of something, in essence “talked at”.
Usual methods of Online Marketing carried out by the marketing fraternity and in recent times the relatively new genre of Search Engine Optimisation companies (SEO Company) are aimed at the way that Google (predominantly) accesses web pages. This is a variety of broadcast media not too far removed from to a newspaper albeit with digital trickery to make the occurance more appealing.
Is this all about to change? Are the accepted Search Engine Placement services about to become less helpful? Assuming the internet continues to grow along the same lines as it has for the last ten years, we can expect to see the use of the web becoming more implanted in our day to day real time lives. It will grow to be more of a delivery platform as opposed to an information supply, a concierge as opposed to a librarian. If we are using the net in real time that relationship will become two way and transactional, broadcast techniques will offer a one-dimentional experience and become a thing of the past.
Once a buyer can engage with the seller of the product or service through two way communication merely reading a website will be less than rewarding. At this point usual Search Engine Placement services become obsolete and Online Marketing becomes about making connections not identifying content.
The smart Search Engine Optimization Company will be looking at how that conversation can take place in an atmosphere that is so teeming with information. Ideally, a buyer is exposed to a seller (or a number of sellers) in an atmosphere where he can dynamically interrogate and compare their product, ask for detail and maybe even tailor the product or service to his needs before he makes the decision to buy.
Instead of providing website optimisation for a stationary broadcast, online marketing may be about promoting associations and may take place on Twitter, chatrooms, forums even within games where product placement is already starting to take place.
