This post is a contribution to the Internet Marketers United Group Writing Project hosted by Courtney Tuttle.
Many businesses, large and small, are coming to a realization that Internet marketing is a necessary piece of their marketing puzzle. Offline channels like press releases, billboard advertising, radio spots and other techniques are still effective and important but the growth of the Internet is bringing a new aspect to traditional marketing. The following are some of the most common Internet marketing mistakes. As a newer field, most Internet marketing mistakes tend to be by omission. Businesses that take control of their online presence now will have a great advantage over those that don’t. Online advertising and purchasing continue to grow each year, avoid these mistakes and enjoy a positive online image and growing online sales.
- Lack of Interaction - The Internet is becoming an extremely social place where anyone and everyone have a voice. It is easier and easier for the average Joe to express his feelings on your product or service. Despite being a well-respected, customer oriented company, you may have a disgruntled customer now and then. Instead of blowing them off, respond to their concerns. There are many websites that have gone popular by discussing bad experiences with businesses. By reacting to even the individual complaints, you may save yourself hundreds of future customers.
Taking a proactive approach to online interaction is also becoming more common for all types of businesses. Many companies are instituting blogs on their websites to communicate with customers and announce news. Social media sites like Digg and talking with bloggers is a great way to manage your online reputation and build a following.
- Manage Dedication and Expectations - Online marketing is never a one-time event. In fact, it takes a lot of hard work on an on-going basis to maintain your online presence. Companies need to remain dedicated to their online efforts. One aspect of Internet marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), can take months to see results in some cases. You can’t give up after 2 months because you’re not on the top page for a tough keyword. And with PPC, you can’t just let your campaigns run on auto-pilot. Once you enter the arena of online marketing, you need to have dedicated resources (time or people) to administer online activities.
Too often, people have unreal expectations for the Internet marketing campaigns. it is possible to rank for competitive terms but it definitely takes time and lots of dedication. Instead of blaming Google and our competitors, you really need to ask yourself why your website should rank in the top 10 for a given keyword. Provide services or information that is worthy of being in the top 10.
- Worry About What You Can Control - You will never know the secret to dominating the Google search engine results. You can’t control how awesome your competition’s website is. You can learn as much as you can about website usability and design and make it a great place for visitors or customers. Many prolific bloggers have stated that search engines are not their main concern. They focus on great content and design with search engine optimization (SEO) rules in mind. If your site is truly popular among readers, chances are you will rank well for keyword pertaining to your subject. Create websites for your audience first, then search engines.
Leveraging the Internet for your business can be and has been one of the greatest enhancements for many companies. Internet business and marketing continues to grow each year. However, it is becoming more difficult to compete in this space. By getting ahead now and staying current with the latest Internet marketing trends, your business can continue to be successful online and off.
For more specific tips on Internet marketing and SEO, check out our SEO blog.
When making the jump into search engine optimization (SEO) many businesses run into the decision whether to outsource their SEO work to a SEO firm or independent SEO specialist or hiring a full-time SEO specialist onto their team. As with any business decision, there are no easy answers here. The decision to hire a SEO specialist or outsource your SEO work really depends on your situation. As much as we wish outsourcing SEO work to SEO specialists was the only answer, there are instances where you may be better off hiring a full-time search engine optimization specialist. Here’s a breakdown of pro’s and con’s and what your best option is for different scenarios. 