Taking a business online? Building a commercial Web site for yourself or a client is just the start. To grow any business on the Internet, you'll need to market strategically to your customers, using a range for tools from content sharing to email marketing, search engine optimization, co-branding, ad buys, and more, to reach your target audience.

In this 6-lesson course, you'll learn practical skills for growing your business on the Web. Studying with a professional Internet marketing consultant, you'll learn how develop an entire marketing plan for your online business. Course projects will include target audience analysis, developing a site plan, creating a content development strategy, email marketing campaigns, search engine optimization, co-branding and community strategy, ad buys, sales/lead conversion, and using site metrics.

Whether you're looking to build a new business online or simply get better results from your existing Web site, this course will give you systematic strategies you can use right away. Web designers and marketing professionals will both benefit from this intensive course.

Holly Berkley is an online marketing specialist and consultant... get bio

LESSON 1 Internet Marketing Foundations Internet marketing isn't your father's marketing channel. How will you make your Web campaigns count? Lesson One explains the ways in which Internet marketing can be more measurable, targeted, and cost-effective, than print, radio, and TV ads. You'll read case studies on companies that have successfully leveraged online advertising and examine reasons that companies succeed or fail in this space. You'll explore the critical issue of how to identify and attract your target audience through thematic, language, technology, and even color choices. In the exercise, you'll conceptualize a product, company, or service (this could be your own entrepreneurial project), analyze its target market, and design a home page targeted to this market.

LESSON 2 Content Strategy and Email Marketing
On the Web, content is king—and having a content strategy is key to any site's success. Lesson Two explores the important role of Web content. You'll look at how to develop and cycle content to attract visitors to your site and ways of sharing content with partners. Viral and tell-a-friend strategies will be examined with reference to successful case studies. Finally, you'll learn about ways to promote fresh content through email marketing campaigns. Topics will include how to generate a quality list, write an effective campaign, schedule appropriately, craft compelling subject lines, and observe CAN-SPAM compliance laws. In the exercise, you'll put together a content development strategy and map out a one-year email marketing campaign.

LESSON 3 Search Engine Optimization A billion users on the Web, but does anyone know you're there? Lesson Three focuses on search engine optimization (SEO), the art of making sure your site's pages are well ranked by search engines such as Google, MSN, et al. You'll learn the major do's and don'ts of site optimization and explore current trends for getting noticed on Google. An overview of the different search engines will help you track and update your site's search engine performance. By reading case studies on SEO optimization, you'll learn how link popularity and optimized content like press releases can affect your positioning. In the exercise, you'll develop and carry out an SEO plan for your course project.

LESSON 4 Community and Co-Branding Internet marketing is driven by two kinds of community: communities of users that visit your site, and networks of business partners who can drive more visitors your way. Lesson Four examines both marketing approaches. You'll read case studies about successful Web sites that have developed a strong sense of community, and explore the risks and benefits of blogs and message boards. Ways to achieve co-branding are discussed, with a focus on how co-branding can strengthen or hurt your company's image. Creative ideas for working with business partners are explored with an emphasis on how to create efficient, synergistic relationships with online partners. In the exercise, you'll develop a community strategy for your course project, identifying 5 co-branding partners for a win-win relationship, and deciding the pros and cons of building a user community for your course project.

LESSON 5 Internet Ad Buys Internet advertising (banner ads and other ad buys) can be a boom or a bust, depending on how you approach it. Lesson Five gives you a practical orientation to today's online ad space. You'll learn what makes online ad buying different from other media buys, what questions to ask the seller, and how to determine if your ad was successful. The merits of Google and Overture keyword buys are discussed, with an emphasis on ROI. Email marketing and newsletter sponsorships are discussed as ad buy opportunities. Finally, the utility of the venerable banner ad is analyzed for today's market, with a look at what's working and how to utilize landing pages. Case studies encapsulate some online advertising successes and failures before you plan an ad buy strategy (keywords, banner ads, landing pages, placement, and pricing strategy) and design some banners in the exercise.

LESSON 6 Lead Conversion, Sales, and other Metrics How will you measure your site's success? No Internet marketing strategy is complete without some well-defined success metrics and a sales/lead conversion plan. Lesson Six begins with a discussion of how to obtain and interpret site visitor metrics. You'll look at creative ideas and technological solutions for increasing lead conversion and sales, including contests, exit pops, calls to action, and other lead generators. Lead collection software options and shopping carts do's and don'ts are addressed, with a focus on turning online shoppers into buyers. In the final project, you'll round out your studies by developing a complete Internet marketing campaign, from start to finish. Look out Bezos, your competition is here.