Recent developments in the way we communicate through the net have been less about traditional broadcast media and more about interactive, two way contact. As this type of communication develops it will undoubtedly affect the way search engines run and by association the process of Online Marketing.

Historic media “broadcasts” a message to the intended audience, whether it is in the form of a paper or an advert (physical or digital) which exposes the reader, listener or watcher to a message. The communication is one way and the planned audience is advised of something, in essence “talked at”.

Established methods of Online Marketing carried out by the marketing fraternity and more recently the relatively new sector of Search Engine Optimisation companies (SEO Company) are targeted at the way that Google (largely) accesses web pages. This is a type of broadcast media not too far removed from to a newspaper albeit with digital trickery to make the occurance more fascinating.

Is this all about to morph? Are the accepted Search Engine Placement services about to become less helpful? Assuming the internet continues to expand along the same lines as it has for the last 10 years, we can expect to see the use of the internet becoming more implanted in our day to day real time lives. It will develop into more of a delivery platform as opposed to an information resource, a concierge as opposed to a librarian. If we are accessing the net in real time that association will become two way and transactional, broadcast methods will offer a shallow experience and become obsolete.

Once a buyer can engage with the seller of the product or service through two way communication just reading a website will be less than rewarding. At this point customary Search Engine Placement services become obsolete and Online Marketing becomes about making connections not appreciating content.

The clever SEO Company will be looking at how that conversation can take place in an environment that is so packed with information. In an ideal world, a buyer is exposed to a seller (or a number of sellers) in an situation where he can actually interrogate and compare their goods, 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 links and may take place on Twitter, chatrooms, forums even within games where product placement is already starting to occur.

Tags: small business, internet marketing business, online business