High-performing companies use smart web marketing to grow their business despite a difficult economic climate

Nearly every business has a website but, in reality, few deliver strong business performance. High-performing companies have moved beyond the 'we need to be on the web' stage to implement a range of smart web marketing strategies. Since 1995, web marketing firm Brand New Way has been involved in developing and testing brand new ways of using digital marketing. 16 years ago, the options were limited but now, there are so many choices, few companies have big enough budgets or expertise to do everything. Success depends on choosing the best web marketing strategies for your business and implementing them effectively.

A major survey by online experts Econsultancy recently asked 885 senior marketers 'How do you rate the following channels in terms of return on investment?'

Search engine optimisation and email marketing ranked the highest with 73 per cent and 72 per cent of respondents respectively rating them excellent or good. Pay per click was third with 56 per cent and social media was fourth with 43 per cent. The remaining channels (mobile marketing, affiliate marketing, offline direct marketing and online display advertising) scored between 34 per cent and 24 per cent.

From experience with high performing companies (big and small), across all sectors, there are five key methods that consistently deliver powerful web marketing results:

1 A 'pretty brochure site' that simply tells people what you do or sell is no longer enough. Design and build a website that effectively converts visitors to leads or customers. Set objectives and measure performance.

2 Use Google pay per click advertising to reach prospects who are searching for your product or service today. It can deliver great results even with modest budgets.

3 Email marketing can be used in many strategies and is good at increasing customer lifetime value. Newsletters can help you stay in touch, keep customers engaged and get them coming back for more.

4 Search engine optimisation is crucial to get a good search ranking given Google is often the first place (B2B & B2C) buyers search when looking to buy a product or service

5 Analyse your website performance. Web analytics will help you to identify what's working and what isn't and can also provide great insight.

Which of the Fantastic Five you focus on will depend on a number of issues such as your business objectives, product or service, target customers, brand message and, of course, budget. It's always better to start with one or two methods and do them well than try to do five or more badly.