banner

The 6 Essential Online Marketing Steps For Small Business

Do you end up getting discouraged with the constant updates in the arena of Internet marketing? Listing My Business Details to GoogleAre you bewildered by all of the social media and Internet marketing platforms you are “expectedto use?Stop.

You needn’t be!

While Online Marketing can seem to be time consuming and confusing, just a little perseverance and experimentation from you will provide you the best return on your investment for you and your enterprise.

In this online age, you simply can’t expect to carry on as a small enterprise until you use the Internet to expand your consumer base and keep ahead of the competition. As a small enterprises, you need to discover how to embrace updates and changes in the emerging marketplace.We

regularly get asked by local small businesses exactly how they can be found on the web and in the major search engines by their clients. They are eager to know what measures they ought to put in place to attract more visitors to their website and convert them into customers.In the

traditional business world, brick and mortar businesses – those that have a storefront or a physical location for people to engage with them need foot traffic. It is vital if their business is to carry on. Businesses would include stores, restaurants, locksmiths, hair salons, art galleries, and bars. Each of them need passing trade or they would simply go out of business.It is no different for

businesses taking their business online. In order to survive your internet site requires visitors and then once the visitors arrive, you need to have procedures in place to encourage them to buy from you.We have

developed a selection of six easy fixes along with vital marketing strategies which will give your internet presence a much-needed boost.

Some of them cost very little to do (in actual fact some are free) and are actions you can take easily yourself. Others though, may need a little bit more expertise but they’re worth it and will have a significant impact on your online business.

1. Get Your Online House In Order

To begin with, ensure that you have a well-designed web site which properly reflects your goods and services. Take the time to study every single page of your website to make sure that is free from mistakes and it’s also current and up to date. For instance, check out the copyright date towards the bottom – does it say “2011? If that’s the case, it tends to make your website look stale and won’t inspire confidence in your visitors to buy from you. 

Is your
address and telephone number at the TOP of each and every web page? There is nothing more irritating than visiting a site and having to search for their street address and/or phone. Make it easy for your visitors and give them a link to clickable map so they can easily find you.Is yourinternet site mobile-friendly? If not then you should certainly fix it. There are numerous excellent WordPress themes which are very affordable and in a lot of instances even free of cost. A lot of of them are mobile-friendly, and your customers will probably thank you for it by purchasing more from your website.

2. Get Your Web Business Listings Setup and Claimed

One great Website marketing tool to begin utilizing right away is “Google My Business,” which places your business on Search, Maps and Google+. Submit My Business Details to GoogleGoogle My Business is actually a must-have tool for small businesses. It is very important for small businesses to find success and to be discovered by their target audience.The hardfact is, search engines like Yahoo have replaced the Yellow Pages in referring customers to businesses, and Google My Business is one of many important ways this is happening. By listing your company your business will have a lot more awareness and credibility as people look for the products and services you offer.

3. Get Your Online Reviews and Testimonials

Feedback on sites like Google+ and Yelp are hugely influential. Put your hand up if you study the reviews on Amazon prior to making a purchase. Yes? Well your customers are doing the same thing

If you don’t have any reviews
you need to start nurturing and encouraging it as soon as you can. Nonetheless, don’t just e-mail all your family and friends asking them to review you. If you get 50 reviews in one week when you had none before, which is pretty suspicious, and they’ll probably suspend your account. Getting reviews and testimonials is easier than you imagine and most online customers wouldn’t think twice about doing it as it is part of the culture online. Gently nudge your customers one by one to “tell you how their experience was”. Some will, some won’t but over time they will soon build up.Don’tbe worried of negative reviews either. We all get one or two no matter how good our business is. If you have no good reviews, those negative reviews stand out just like a big old sore thumb. However, when you have 50 great reviews, and you get a negative one, many people will discount the bad review.The biggest thing for your customers, is how you answer the bad review. Your response should be fast, professional and courteous. Let the individual know that you want to make their bad experience right – offer them their money back, or something else to provide you with another chance. It goes a LONG way in diffusing a bad review. Even if it costs you some money, not doing so will cost you far more in the long run and definately will earn you many more new clients.

4. Set Up Your Social Media Accounts

Don’t worry, you don’t need to do every one of them, after all, there are so many. But as a minimum put in place a Facebook and Google+ account initially then you are able to start experimenting with others like Twitter and Pinterest later on

Do not use the accounts to blatantly sell to people. Instead, utilize them to interact and build relationships with your followers. Make them aware of interesting bits of information regarding your business, your industry, something cool a competitor is doing (make it positive only – never ever trash somebody else), and just interact with your community.There is a familiar saying: “People buy into you before they buy from you.” That isparticularly true on social media. If your social media is up-to-date, offers interesting bits of information, videos, articles, people will engage. If you haven’t posted to your page in three months, well guess what? No one’s paying attention.

5. Optimize Your Website For the Search Engines

The search engines want your business to be found by the people looking for the products or services that you provide. If they didn’t deliver the results that people wanted they will not use the search engine.
So lets say that you manage a hair salon. If a visitor types in “hair salon” into a search engine, they would expect to find and indeed, would find websites for hair salons. They wouldn’t expect to find websites of luxury automobiles or pet supplies in the search engine results.
To ensure that their users find the details that they are searching for, search engines are built to detect what a website is about and how important that website is on subject — which is exactly where we get into Search Engine Optimization (SEO):
If you operate a cheesecake business, the likelihood is that your web site will be all about cheesecake. Cheesecake references would be found in both the descriptive content and blog posts on your website. It is probable that the search engines therefore will recognize that your website is genuinely committed to cheesecake.The problem is thata whole lot of other sites in your niche are too and they are going after the very same customers. In actual fact should you be in a competitive market, some of your rivals might be large businesses with a marketing budget to match.So, just how are you going to stand above the fray and get your website on the first page of a search engine? This is where SEO is necessary and why it is so important.

6. Get Started With Pay Per Click (PPC) Advertising

Whether you knew it or not, you have most probably clicked on Google’s paid ads at some point. These ads are strategically inserted to tempt visitors like you into clicking on them in hopes of locating the most relevant information related to your search. Google’s paid advertising system makes billions of ad revenue dollars for Google and its publishers for one main reason….it works.

Of course, results can and do
vary, but if a pay per click marketing campaign is correctly set up, managed and optimized, then pay per click generally is one of the most cost effective forms of online marketing and offer fantastic results.It works simply byenabling the advertiser to only pay for clicks that are relevant to the search phrases the advertiser is bidding on and the search engine user is utilizing. When you stop paying for / bidding on key phrases the ads come down. If you bid greater than your rivals and optimize your account for the highest possible quality score, then your ads go and stay up – as high as achievable. You are in full control.

The advantages of PPC

• Increased relevant, quality traffic to your site on a daily, weekly and monthly basis
• Increased conversion rates from your website visitors that come through the sponsored results
• Increased brand visibility in the search engines
• Results that you can track down to the penny

More customers, bigger profits

By developing some or all of these steps your online business should see some significant results by providing you with more clients and greater profits

We
understand that many small businesses do get overwhelmed by Internet marketing. If that is how you feel, don’t forget that you don’t have to everything yourself and we can give you’re a helping hand.If any of the steps we have suggested in this or any other article interest you but you do need some assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact us and we will be glad to share our expertise and knowledge with you.


About Ash Siva