Marketing your Internet business isn’t exactly a difficult feat, but the vast majority of online business owners only seem aware of paid traffic methods.
While PPC ads and buying traffic works, the world of Internet marketing is much more well rounded then this.
This will take you from starting the business to having a marketing machine that will bring in visitors. Even if your business is already started, you should read the beginning steps to make sure that you didn’t miss anything.
Create a Design
Most people treat Web design like the smallest part of Internet marketing, but it is actually quite important. While a good design can have some SEO benefits, you have to step away from search engines to see the beauty and power of a unique design.
Your online business is just like any other business. Companies spend millions planning out new designs, and they spend even more when the designs are used in all the stores. That’s because a good design can help sell the product.
If you have the money, then you should hire a Web designer to make you a custom website and logo. If not, then look through free website directories until you find one that matches the feeling and aesthetic you want to portray with your website.
Understand the Customer
Who is buying your product or reading your information? Understanding your customer will help sway your marketing practices, and it will also help with the next few steps.
Some amateur business owners find it hard to differentiate marketing from one demographic to another. How would you market:
-a free game website to 15-18 year old males
-a bedding and interior design blog to 30-35 year old females
They are both very different, and the intended customer reacts to different marketing. If you don’t know the demographic right off the bat, then don’t worry. If you install Google Analytics, or any other analytics program, then it will record information on your visitors.
Use this information to find out who your demographic is, and then market accordingly. Experimentation is the key to marketing, so see what your demographic really wants.
Develop Keywords
Unlike a physical business, your online business needs a list of keywords to target for paid advertisements and organic traffic. Going after very broad keywords is generally a bad idea.
For example, let’s use the keyword “train.” There are many daily searches for that keyword, so it might seem like a good idea. But it’s not.
For one, the keyword is far too broad. It gives absolutely no details about what you are selling or talking about, outside of general trains, and there is a lot of competition for these broad keywords. Also, the traffic you get from this keyword will often not be interested in buying your product.
You need something more specific. Here is something that is a bit better: “red plastic kid’s train.” You have the color, material, the demographic and the item all in that keyword. The competition is much lower, and you will get traffic that is interested in buying the product.
But, before going after an incredibly specific keyword, know that there are also dangers of being too specific. For example, this keyword uses far too many words, and the daily searches will be very low: “red thin plastic 8 to 12 years old boy’s train with 50-inch track made from real pine.” Very few people will type in something this long.
Just think about how people use search engines, and you shouldn’t have a hard time developing the proper keywords for your website.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is all the optimization you need to do on your own website. While this can get very detailed, it can be broken up into several different sections.
-Use meta tags (keywords and description) to tell search engines more about your website.
-Make an HTML title with your keyword.
-Add the keywords to your Web content.
-Develop a streamlined navigation system.
-Optimize images with a good title and description.
These are most of the basics, but the one that is often overlooked is adding the keywords to your page. Some people want to rank for a keyword, but they are surprised when all their work still leaves them at the bottom of page five in the search engines.
Scan through your Web copy and look for your keywords. If you don’t seem them, then subtly add them into your page. Just a few instances of the keyword will be enough to tell search engines what your website is about.
Create an Opt-In Form
Have you ever heard that marketing to a list is easier than marketing to everyone else? It’s true, and that’s why nearly every online business has an opt-in form. You ask for someone’s name and email, and in exchange you email them about new products, discounts and other things going on with your business.
There are several mass emailing services available, and they will all make you an opt-in form that you can add to your website. Make sure to have Web copy that tells people the benefit of submitting their email address to your website, and make a privacy policy detailing what you will do with their information.
Paid Advertising
Now that the main marketing work is done, you should start off with paid advertising. Some people say that you should start with organic traffic, but you should really start that after you get the paid advertising started for reasons that will be explained below.
There are many methods of paid advertising that can be effective. Generally, the two best are PPC ads and buying traffic. PPC ads are generally more targeted to your specific niche, but a good traffic seller can provide you with targeted users.
PPC ads are also more expensive, so consider the pros and cons before starting the paid advertising step.
Organic Traffic
Organic traffic is great, especially if you can reach that top spot in Google. However, it takes a reasonably long amount of time to hit that top spot. Some websites have to work for months to reach it.
Paid advertising, on the other hand, starts working instantly. These ads will bring in people while your organic SEO is reaching its optimal spot. You should start this right after you have the PPC ads circulating. Don’t wait for the campaign to end.
Getting organic traffic primarily uses off-page SEO. One of the most common practices is to submit articles to article directories, but it’s usually better to also post the articles on your own company blog. You control the content, and you don’t have to worry about being dragged down with the site if Google ever hits it.
There are tons of other off-page SEO tactics, like:
-Blog commenting
-Video marketing
-Forum marketing
-Social bookmarking
-Social media
The list goes on and on. Article marketing is often the best. Just make sure to link the article to your main website for the SERPs boost.
Interaction
Lastly, get on a social media website and start talking to people about your website. Interact with them, and talk to your potential customers. People love interacting with businesses they are thinking of buying from, and your personality might be able to sell a product better than any other marketing.
Just make sure to keep your social media page fresh and updated. There is nothing worse than a stale account. Some people might even assume that your business is closed or downsizing.
Conclusion
Here are all the major steps and tips needed to make your business. Once you break them down into manageable tasks, you will see that it isn’t that hard to accomplish. You just have to know how the Internet works, and what people are looking for. If you can do that, then you should have no problem marketing your website.
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