Search engine optimisation (SEO) should be used once companies have managed to build up some brand value using internet marketing, according to one expert.

Steve Sherlock, managing director of car rental comparison site Oodles.com, said that while SEO can help companies maintain a strong web presence, it is likely to be ineffective until a company can establish itself among its customer base, e-Travel Blackboard reports.

"Don’t do SEO until you have a direction for your brand, otherwise you might get enough business to keep you going but you will never work out a clear direction," he explained.

Targeted internet marketing could be used to reach those customers who are most interested in the products and services being offered, helping to build a reputation that will allow SEO to be more successful once it is adopted.

New figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau show that internet marketing spending overtook press advertising in the second half of last year to take a 19.8 per cent share of the advertising market.

News brought to you by ClickThrough – specialists in Search Engine Optimisation and Internet Marketing.