Many small businesses with a new or small web presence get stuck in the trap that investing in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) will solve their web problems and drive traffic. As a search engine optimizer I can say that is not the case. Small businesses are better off investing in an Internet Marketing strategy that incorporates many aspects of web related marketing.
If you have a new website launched on a new domain and you are in a competitive industry, it is going to take a long time to gain competitive search rankings. Likewise if your website is small (5-15 pages) and is rarely updated with fresh content, you are going to have a hard time gaining results overnight.
Internet Marketing strategies are unique to every business. Here are some of the components to how an internet marketing strategy may improve your web presence:
Email Marketing
Providing your prospect and customer databases with information is a great way to stay on their radar screen. Your email campaigns should be filled with helpful content and not loaded with sales pitches on your company, product, or service. Providing free information goes a long way. With that said, combining special offers and promotions are a great addition to your email marketing.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO is not an area that you should poor your entire budget, but certainly an aspect of your overall strategy. SEO is a long-run approach to increasing your web traffic overtime. Take care of the essential aspects of SEO early on and then continuously improve your web content.
Social Networking
Having a presence on LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter is critical in today’s online environment. Many of these platforms are free and are a great way to make noise and reach customers outside of your own website.
Blogging
Find the places online that your target market visiting on a regular basis. Locate blogs that get high traffic already and contribute content to them. Providing links to your website on industry related blog posts is also excellent for SEO.
Paid Advertising
Google Adwords, Yahoo Search, and other online forms of advertisement will drive traffic to your site in the short term. Create a strategy around this that will work with your overall budget.
These components and others are what will help make a successful Internet Marketing strategy. If you are a small business, don’t get married into an SEO plan that won’t result in short term gains for your business.
San Diego based Crown Point Design (CPD) can help you develop an internet marketing strategy. For more information call (858) 352-6292.
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