By Bill Fletcher
Are you looking for advice on Internet marketing? Be aware that Internet Marketing is always changing. What is working today maybe different tomorrow. And tomorrow something new will be coming. However, the basics of marketing never changes.
There is a large scope of tactics, and each is evolving at amazing speed. Yet, you need to learn it and keep up with it to succeed. This article will offer some tips that will help improve your online marketing efforts.
While Internet Marketing may sound like gobbly gook, it can really be thought of 3 basic elements: SEO, Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing. Learn these 3 element and you will be well on your way to be and expert in marketing.
Build A Online Marketing Strategy
Building a successful online marketing strategy is just like building anything – it starts with a solid foundation. That foundation comes from understanding 3 basics of online marketing:
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Content Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
But knowing what each facet does for your website isn’t enough. As many people discovered after the recent Google updates, applying even well-established marketing techniques incorrectly can hurt your ranking. To maximize their benefits, you also need to understand their shortcomings.
Search Engine Optimization
When people think of online marketing or Internet Marketing and the search engines, SEO is usually the first thing that comes to mind. The purpose of Search Engine Optimization is to create a site that the search engines will look at and will rank as one of the relevant pages for a given term or keyword. The fact is, 95 percent of people looking for a specific keyword or phrase will click on the first page results for Google, Yahoo! or Bing. You can see that search rank is a big deal!
Building a solid SEO strategy consists of selecting relevant keywords or phrased and providing valuable content related to those keywords. In the past, SEO was driven by factors like keyword placement, keywords density and even how many times a keyword was used to link to that page.
But the search engines quickly discovered that keywords could be easily manipulated. A page that had nothing to do with a keyword could be ranked on the first page of Google. Today, this means that sites who rely solely on keywords are often ignored by the search engines.
- Relevant Keywords
- Valuable Content that is Shared
- A Website that Loads Quickly
- Both Images & Content
- Backlinks from Respected Websites
Since Keywords are important to ranking here is a brief on keywords:
When someone uses a search engine, they type in one or more words describing what they are looking for: ‘dog training’ or ‘how to blog for money”. These words or phrases are known as keywords.
The search engine then comes back with a list of web pages, with content that relates to the keyword used.
So if you are building a business website you want to ensure that when customers search for relevant keywords, your website appears as early as possible in the list of results. That is what Search Engine Optimization is all about.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is not a new concept. In fact, John Deere started the trend in 1895 when they released The Furrow, an agricultural magazine. Other companies like Jell-O and Michelin followed suit with recipe books and automotive tips. Content marketing is important because it helps build your brand, your product, your business opportunity and inspire confidence in your Internet business. In fact. 6 out of 10 consumers say, that after reading a publication, they feel better about the person, product or business.
Online content marketing has expanded the field to include blogs, training videos, podcasts, Facebook and other social media programs. But like every online strategy, content marketing can have a downside. Low quality content is the most common mistake and can affect your rankings and damage your brand.
For example, if your content is riddled with grammar and spelling errors it makes you look careless and unprofessional. Providing statements without verifying the facts can make you look foolish. Remember that the content you put on your site might be the first impression a prospective prospect gets of your business opportunity, product and even you.
Another mistake many Internet marketers make is to move away from content marketing all together. This was most likely the results from a trend against guest blogging prior to the recent Google updates. Many aggressive marketers were creating guest blog posts and then submit them to anyone who would publish them in return for a backlink to their site. These backlinks were thought to be the perfect marriage of content marketing and good SEO.
Google, however, thought differently. They saw poor quality content of no value used for nothing more than backlinks. So Google took action against these aggressive Internet marketers and online marketers became concerned. Many dropped guest blogging and content marketing entirely, worried that their ranks would fall.
The lesson here is that Google wants marketers to provide valuable content and host it on reputable sites. Which should have been the plan for most marketers to being with. It just as easy to provide good content as it is bad content.
Social Media Marketing
For some, social media is nothing more than a way to stay in touch with old friends. But for businesses, social media is a way to tie SEO and Content Marketing together.
Social media is also quickly becoming the primary way content is shared. Sites like Twitter, Google+, Stumble Upon, and Facebook all allow consumers to share valuable content with others in their network. Research shows people are more likely to trust content shared from people they know.
That’s key to becoming successful. People are more likely to trust someone they know, like and trust.
A common mistake in social media marketing is thinking a large number of followers is all you need. Not necessarily, keep in mind that friends and fans are not enough – you need to build relationships and engagement. Remember the know, like and trust.
In order to make the most of a social media marketing strategy, you need to interact with your fans and create a true community. Show that you are accessible by allowing people to ask questions, voice concerns and even complain. Then address these issues in a professional manner. Provide them with content that’s interesting, not just promotional. Remember, social media is first of all social! You don’t want “push” or “sell”. You want to offer dental reminders about your business opportunity, product or your Affiliate Company, or MLM Company or Network Company.
Conclusion
These 3 components are just the foundation of building a successful online marketing strategy. But without an understanding of how these three areas lay the groundwork for your overall strategy, you could find your efforts wasted. By building a solid online marketing foundation, you can begin to build a successful strategy that works for your home based business.
Luckily, there is a great deal of information to improve your marketing skills. It is not necessary to learn every single thing about all that I mentioned above. All you need to do is read articles like this and absorb the information given. You can make quick improvements in the way you market your business online. Watch closely and be aware of your results so that you can constantly improve.
To your success
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