Tips on Internet Marketing
Better Internet Marketing
When it comes to internet marketing, people assume that everything has to be new, complicated, or somehow technical. Now, that’s occasionally true, but most tactics and techniques really come down to trying to identify potential customers, giving them a message they can’t ignore, and then getting them to take some sort of action.
But, because business owners and executives are convinced that there has to be a lot more to it than that, they sometimes outsmart themselves, making decisions that seem clever but aren’t likely to work in the real world.
The key to avoiding these mistakes is understanding that everything you hear about Internet marketing – especially from someone who is trying to sell you a SEO package of services – has to be weighed against what you already know about making smart business decisions.
Four common-sense tips for better online marketing:
1. Don’t try to get something for nothing. A shocking number of business owners and executives still think they can earn a top Google ranking, or hundreds of thousands of Facebook followers, by working with an overseas company that charges less than you’d spend for a few pizzas. If that were really possible, wouldn’t everyone be doing it? In other words, if something sounds too good to be true, then it almost always is.
2. Build a website that your customers would want to find. Search engine optimization has gotten to be so popular, and so important, in recent years that it isn’t unusual to find business websites that are built specifically to rank well in Google. That’s understandable, until you realize that many of the same sites aren’t very useful to actual buyers – and that the search engines are starting to crack down on “over-optimized” web pages.
3. Look at the results that really matter. With web analytics, business owners and executives tend to behave one of two ways: either they ignore them altogether, or they focus on every detail. Neither approach is ideal, and it’s important to keep in mind that the profitability of your website (and your business overall) are what really matter.
4. Don’t expect overnight success, even in online marketing. Because everything moves faster in the digital age, lots of people expect that they should be making big profits online almost instantly. Common sense tells us that things don’t work this way, even on the Internet. Expect that your online marketing plan is going to take a little bit of time to gain traction, because it probably will.
A lot of what goes into Internet marketing is new and exciting, but that doesn’t mean that you can throw all the old ideas – or even basic common sense – right out the window. Instead, you have to balance what you hear against what you already know about the way the business world works… and then use the combination of the two and build a stronger business.