The process of internet marketing can be broken down into three major steps.

Building a website does not guarantee it will get traffic. Promoting a website in the search engine result pages (SERP's) of Google, Yahoo and Bing is crucial for it to be found. One way of accomplishing this is boosting a site in the natural listings using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques. Another way is to buy placement in the sponsored listings of SERP's using pay per click advertising (PPC).

Just like a salesman can learn new techniques to sell, a website can be tweaked to improve its chances of convincing and converting visitors into customers. This is known as conversion optimization, which involves A/B and Multivariate tests to show different page combinations to different visitors. 

Internet marketing makes it easy to remain in constant communication with customers. When used properly, techniques like email marketing and social media can be very effective at retaining existing customers.