One of the most interesting things about Internet marketing in 2013 is that just about everyone does it.

The web isn't just for online stores and virtual companies anymore; even businesses like local florists recognize that it's important to have a strong web presence, complete with search engine optimization, social media marketing, downloadable offers, and more.

Experience has taught most of us that politicians generally fall into two categories: those who devoted their lives to public service and their families before taking office, and the army of others who would rather that we don't look too closely into their past.

That may or may not be a good thing for our governing systems, but it does make a good example for business websites and Internet marketing.

If you are like most business leaders, you've probably heard the term "sales funnel" more times than you can remember, even if you don't have a sense of the exact meaning, or how it applies to Internet marketing.

The term itself originates with actual direct sales departments, where producers would make phone calls, office visits, etc., to identify new opportunities and place them into a broad "funnel."

Google is no stranger to surprise announcements and algorithm changes, but this morning’s might be the most unexpected in the company's history.

That's because the so-called "Big Bird" algorithm adjustment could have massive implications for search traffic across the web, beginning in the next few hours.

Although we may not have advanced degrees in psychology (okay, some of our team does), we feel confident in making a sweeping diagnosis of the traditional marketing industry: the dynamics of client-vendor relationships are all wrong.

How can we make that claim, without so much as a few hours spent on the couch?

Can anything about Internet marketing really be 1,000 years old? That might seem like an impossibility, but we certainly think so.

After all, one of the things we have learned time and time again isn't exactly new – it's something that we suspect the first vendors in open air markets probably figured out pretty quickly: that it's better to have people coming to you for business than the other way around.

When most organizations decide they need a new website (or web presence), they imagine things in two distinct steps...

1. First, they want a great-looking business site with lots of fun tools and features.
2. Then, once that's in place, they want a powerful Internet marketing plan designed to bring visitors straight to it.

That's an understandable approach – to focus on the product, rather the process – but it's also backward.

Before you deploy a new business website, you should already have a strategy for promoting it in place, specifically one that guides its design and creation, and then allows you to hit the ground running. In other words, your business website is a part of your bigger overall Internet marketing plan, not just a checklist of activities designed to catch the attention of a handful of buyers.

Specifically, everybody wants to attract more leads online, but not everyone understands what that really means, or how to define online success.

At Kayak, we've built our name on creating spectacular inbound marketing results for our clients. But, we often find that initial conversations with executives and business leaders show that many have some misconceptions about lead generation.

Have you ever been to a seminar or training session on customer service, only to see one of your coworkers screaming at a client on the phone two days later?

Most of us have, or at least have experienced something similar. Often, that leads us to the conclusion that training programs just aren't all they're cracked up to be – especially when they involve certain topics that we know are important, but don't seem that tangible or applicable to the day-to-day operation of a company or department.

Automation has become a hot topic in recent years, and for good reason: It represents the next logical evolution in finding customers through the Internet. That's because, even though a good website can attract visitors, leads, and even online sales, an automated web marketing system makes each one exponentially easier, and more profitable.

Here is why: Automating websites involves setting up individual, timed responses and follow-ups with prospects. So, for example, if a potential customer read your blog one day and signed up for a downloadable document, then after a set period of time they are sent an email inviting them to try something else – usually a slightly bigger commitment, but with a slightly bigger payoff.