Success rarely comes automatically to an internet business. It is still the result of hard work and careful planning. And planning requires research. Part of what makes an internet marketing venture profitable is a well-thought-out strategy of how to attract clients and promote the product effectively. Otherwise, the business could end up floating without direction in the wide expanse of the web.

Research is key to a successful internet marketing business, but like any other marketing tool, it is only effective if used well. Here's how:

Know your market
Going into internet marketing blind is like trying to pop balloons with darts in the dark. You might hit some and feel lucky, but probability very rarely favors the players. Just go to Las Vegas any day and you'll see why casinos still stand.

Since almost anything can be sold online nowadays, going in without knowing who to sell to is a waste of time and effort. Do some research on what internet surfers like, what kind of sites they are attracted to and most importantly, what kind of stuff they actually buy. Positioning your product or service using this information can do wonders for your revenue.

Know your competitor.
Internet marketing is much like traditional marketing, in that you also need to know how and what your product stands against. It's easy to be carried away by the promise that internet marketing is for everyone and marketers can just ignore their environment. This is a fatal mistake.

If your product has to stand out, you will need to do research on what makes it different from everything else. And that involves a little sleuthing on your part. Get to know your competitors, their products and their market. Find out how they promote and sell, how much traffic they get and why and then use this information to better tailor your product and keep it at par or better, a cut above the rest.

Keep the traffic in your direction
If you know what makes surfers tick, you can take a look at your site and your promotion tools and see if what you're doing currently is right or a total waste of time. You might need to do a little site tweaking, add freebies like shareware and ebooks and revamp your marketing concept to come up with a site and product that people actually want to check out and buy.

To do this, you will have to make yourself visible on the net. Use articles and provide links to your site, offer useful information and tips, even free stuff. If your site is worth visiting, it will attract more people who will come back and actually stay to check things out.

Keep content fresh and relevant
To keep abreast with the changing demands, you will need to keep your site look brand new on a regular basis. Publish new contents to add to your site and keep your old info and articles in an easy to browse archive. Writing new articles or publishing new product photos and ads not only keep your site from looking stale, it will also do well to optimize it for search engines. You have a better chance of popping up high on a search engine list if your content is not only optimized, but new as well.

Keep up with trends
Markets do change and it is quite rare to see a product or service remain in its original state and still be a bestseller, unless it's Coke or Dove, and those don't rely on the internet to get sold. As more and more people use the internet for information and business, internet marketers need to use research to see and accept that trends come and go and adapting is not really compromise - it's survival and a keen marketing strategy.

Finding the right pack to hunt with
Lone wolves do survive in the increasingly competitive world of internet marketing and many of them have been successful with their venture. However, finding the right circle to associate your business with could also work to your advantage. Remember how networking is still a highly effective strategy in traditional business? It works just as well online.

But as an internet marketer, you must be careful where you put your money in, since association with some bigger names and inclusion in well-browsed directories can cost a few dollars. This is where you will need to do a little background research on possible partnerships to find out which is the more profitable one to have.