If you have ever tried to market or advertised your business online, you have likely come across websites or forums that talk about website optimization or website promotion. The two are interesting in fact because they all play a similar end-game, but the approaches are different conceptually but not necessarily in practice. Optimization and promotion both get your website noticed by the public but it is important to know the differences between the two to determine the type of service you would like to take part in.
Optimization
Optimization, or website optimization, is achieving maximum performance through search listings. The practices within optimization are known as organic search engine optimization (SEO). It is important to note that optimization and promotion in this case can be mutually exclusive, but that is not always the case. An example of where optimization and promotion are mutually exclusive is with online press releases and blogs. For some business owners, optimization is the way to go for their business. The progressive nature of the various practices involved add up to organic search listings and relative competitiveness in the online space.
Keywords and key phrases are the back drop of optimization practices, coupled with quality links and link structures, and quality content. Without these features, optimization becomes promotion. The key to website optimization is getting the most use out of the money you’ve spent.
Promotion
Promotion of the site can fringe into the world of optimization but not all the time. You can look at promotion as more traditional marketing techniques that promote the tenets of your business without a keyword standpoint. Organic listings can be affected by general promotion, to be fair. It is a system that utilizes methods that “get your website” out there as a way to bring in traffic. The end-game with promotion is that your business is represented the way you want it to be represented. Without the proper representation, no one knows what your site is about, where you are, how your business stacks up with others, and the list goes on. Promotional techniques sell you to the public.
Many promotional techniques are not always optimization friendly. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing. To effectively market your site online whether in optimization form or promotional form, your goal is always the same. Proper representation of your business online through one of those forms of marketing will still draw potential clients to your site and in business that is key.