Developing Internet Marketing Strategies
Andy Eliason
In an environment where so much commerce is taking place online, any company who wants to achieve their full potential must have a solid Internet marketing strategy in place. Unfortunately, even with the online world such an integral part of doing business these days, many companies don't completely develop their strategies.
Even with all the information available online about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising, and all other forms of Internet marketing, many companies are unaware of the best procedures to get to the top of the search engines. Working in the SEO industry I am often surprised (though I suppose I shouldn't be) at how many misconceptions are still so prevalent.
For example, many companies still believe a simple website is enough. If you build it they will come. And then they seem surprised when no one visits the site. Then there are the companies who actually still believe that old Black Hat SEO techniques are valid Internet marketing strategies. These are techniques that have long ago been shunned by search engines, such as keyword stuffing or automated generation of countless doorway pages.
Why do they do this? Because somewhere along the line of marketers someone heard that someone else had a lot of success doing this. Pretty vague, right? This is, of course, a bad way to start developing Internet marketing strategies.
If you are going to create a valuable marketing plan you must start with a strong knowledge base. This is probably the main motivation for many companies to outsource their SEO campaign. The just don't feel as though they can conquer the learning curve withing a manageable time frame.
But if you are going to do it in-house, this is where you need to start. Gain an understanding of what works and, more importantly, why it works. The same goes for techniques that are ethically questionable. Find out what makes them Black Hat SEO and why all the search engines frown on them. Then you'll be able to actively apply your knowledge as you attempt new Internet marketing strategies.
The next step in developing a strong marketing plan is evaluation. Take a moment and really evaluate what you have on your site. It has to be a "friendly" site, and it has to be friendly in at least two aspects. First, you must be visitor friendly. This means readable content, intuitive navigation, and strong information architecture.
Second, you must also be friendly to the search engines. This means readable content, intuitive navigation, and strong information architecture.
Sound similar? There's a reason for that. They are. But don't be completely fooled. Search engines and customers may be looking at the same thing, but the way to impress them is subtly different. Knowing these differences will help you accomplish this and be friendly to both at the same time.
Next, it's time to reach out to other areas of the Internet and draw attention to your site. I'm not talking about customers yet. I'm talking about other websites. You need links from them in order to build high rankings. These rankings will be required before customers can find you, so you must seek out "votes" from other sites first. There are a number of ways to accomplish this, and a great deal of SEO revolves around this task. This could include social marketing, viral marketing, article marketing, bloggin, and any other ethical method to gain one-way, quality links.
Finally, and this almost brings us full circle, a marketing strategy requires understanding. It means you must understand that despite the speed in which eCommerce moves, Internet marketing does not have overnight results. It takes time. Time to gather links and time to build trust with customers and with search engines.
Developing an Internet marketing strategy, then, requires knowledge, evaluation, outreach, and understanding. When you can accomplish this you can begin to secure your online presence.
|
