Marketing For Small Businesses
The rise of the internet coupled with the crash and recession from a few years ago has changed the face of marketing and advertising. Consumers are no longer content to deal with faceless corporations that hide behind big names and glass buildings. They want to deal with a company that interacts with their customers, listens to them and is interested in more than their bottom line. This has placed large corporations in a bit of pickle, but has given the small business owner a golden opportunity.
Small business owners can now reach out to customers all over the globe. By interacting and providing added value, a small business can now move in and take market share from larger companies. However, even small businesses need professional internet marketing consulting so that they can gain that coveted position in front of their customers.
Of course, anyone can eventually get some traffic to their website, but the question is can a small business afford to take the risk that what they are doing may or may not work? Internet marketing can take time to show results, albeit not as long as some other marketing methods, but still long enough to warrant hiring an expert to handle the job.
What you need to ask yourself is whether or not you can afford to waste time? Essentially, a business with no internet presence might as well pack up and go home because it’s as good as dead. The internet has brought people closer together and is also changing business practices. If you aren’t ready to adapt then you will be pushed out of the market.
The advantage of getting professional internet marketing consulting is that you will see results much quicker and your return on investment will be much higher than if you did it alone. You will be able to take advantage of expert knowledge and your campaigns will be much more effective.
Even if you think you can do it on your own, because after all how difficult can all this internet marketing stuff be, you may have a big surprise. There is a fine line between success and failure in internet marketing and a business can end up losing a lot more money by trying to pinch pennies in the wrong places. You may save a few dollars now by trying to put together your own internet marketing campaign, but how much revenue will you lose because your campaign isn’t as effective as you thought it could be?
With internet marketing consulting you will receive professional advice on everything from choosing the right mix of communication channels for a cost effective campaign to measuring the efficiency of each individual campaign. That is the beauty of the internet that no other advertising medium has been able to offer before, quantifiable results. An internet marketing campaign can be tracked down to the last click and you can quickly see how effective each channel is so that tweaks can be made if you are dissatisfied with the results.
However, to be able to take full advantage of all these benefits, you need some good internet marketing consulting to put on the right track so that you don’t waste your money on inefficient campaigns.
The Importance Of Links
If you have been on the internet a while, researching either how to make money online or how to promote your business online, then you have probable heard of internet marketing links and their value. Links increase the value of your site in the eyes of the search engines and also help to drive traffic. However, not all links are created equal and some have more effect than others.
Internet marketing links affect the page rank of your site and different types of links have different effects. For example, inbound links from other sites increase the relevancy of your site in the eyes of the search engines, while internal links allow search engine crawlers to find other pages of your site.
The greatest value to your own website lies in inbound links and there are several ways you can get these internet marketing links.
1. Request Links.
This is one of the most straight forward ways to get a link but it can also be one of the most difficult. Essentially, you have to contact other website owners requesting a link back to your site. Remember, though, that the relevance of the site linking to yours is important. The higher the relevance in terms of similarity in topic, the more value the link has. The less relevant the website is to your niche the lower the power of the link, but it is still more valuable than not having any links at all.
2. Writing Articles.
This is probably the most popular method of gaining internet marketing links and involves writing content on the same or similar topics to what your site is about. This is then posted to article directories and relevant websites in the form of guest posts. This is a valuable strategy because not only does it provide links but can also drive traffic if the content is useful and people want to discover more about that website.
3. Power Of The Press.
Press releases are a great way to gain exposure, both for linking purposes as well driving traffic. The advantage to press releases is that they have a good chance of getting picked up by various publications, both online and offline, which increases exposure exponentially. And it’s all free.
4. PPC and Paid Links.
Another method of obtaining links is via pay per click advertising campaigns or paid links. Pay per click campaigns usually involve bidding for a certain keyword with the major search engines and paying only when someone clicks on your link to access your site. Paid links can also come from other websites and blogs.
5. Affilaites Programs.
Affiliate programs are another great way to increase page rank through internet marketing links, as well as a great source of traffic and sales. Essentially, an affiliate program means that, for a percentage of a sale, people will promote your product or website on their own sites. This is an excellent way to increase your sales and exposure.
These are a few of the methods that you can use to obtain good, relevant internet marketing links that will help increase your page rank and thus your position in the search engines.
Getting Help With Your Marketing Efforts
The internet is changing the way people do business as it has brought companies closer to their customers than anyone ever imagined possible. Companies no longer have to open offices in other cities or countries because now all they have to do is put up a website and they can instantly reach the entire world. Not only is it fast, but it is also a much more cost effective option than opening up a brick and mortar office or point of sale.
A website is no longer just a calling card for a business. It is an essential part of any marketing campaign. In fact, there are many businesses which only have an online presence. However, to take full advantage of a website you need to know the ins and outs of online marketing and this is where an internet marketing site can help you.
Rather than having to go around in circles and hope you are doing it right, the best choice is to get some expert advice and tips from an established internet marketing site. There is a lot more to making your online presence profitable than just simply putting your site up and hoping for the best.
An internet marketing campaign can be just as complex, in fact even more complex, than traditional marketing campaigns. However, the up side is that unlike traditional mediums, internet marketing campaigns can be strictly monitored for effectiveness since the results are easily quantifiable.
Your business can grow exponentially if you leverage the internet wisely, but to use it wisely you need to have experience which can take time. There’s a saying: a wise man learns from the mistakes of others, a fool learns from his own. Therefore, why not learn from the mistakes of others when they are there for all the world to see.
There are so many internet marketing sites offering valuable information that can save you tremendous amounts of time and money, that it is a shame for you not to leverage all the resources at your disposal.
Of course, not all internet marketing sites offer useful information, or sometimes it takes longer to sift through the useful information than it is to simply buy an internet marketing product. If you are in a hurry, the latter is an option, but generally, most of the information is available for free. At least what you will need in the beginning.
As you progress in the internet marketing field you may more information or even the services of a professional internet marketing consulting company. However, initially you will probably be able to manage with the information available on internet marketing sites for free.
As long as you act on what you learn, there is no reason for it to be ineffective. Unfortunately, though, that is the main killer in the online business arena, people do not take action on what they learn.
However, you have the opportunity to take your business to a new level by establishing an important, online presence and you can do it all with the information available for free on any internet marketing site.
Continued In Part 7…