For many a small business owner the world of internet marketing is a bit like outer space. There are lots of bright shiny lights and cool things to see, but most of it is dark, mysterious, and sounds more like voodoo than science. However, some will want to venture out to see what this strange world has to offer. For those who do, there are great rewards, but only if they understand the science behind it.
Let's start with the basics of internet marketing. There are six key areas that affect your business’s online presence. We will deal with each one in more detail in later articles. The six key areas are as follows:
- Citations and Links
- Website Factors
- Location
- Reviews
- Social Media
- Paid Advertising
These six factors will play a major role in how your business succeeds online. We will define each one of these six areas and explain in short why it is important.
Citations and Links
A citation is a mention of your business online. It should include the name of your business and may include the phone number, address, and website. A link is just what it sounds like. It is a link somewhere online to your website. Search engines will use the quantity and quality of citations and links as ranking factors in determining whether to list your business in online search results.
Website Factors
Now there are lots of website factors and we will not go into all of them here. However, some of the primary ones are keywords, titles, location, and domain authority. We will go into these in more detail in a later article. However, you can ask the following questions: Does my site contain the words people will be searching for in the titles, headings, and body content? Does my site have the address of my business? Has my website been around for a while and become well established?
Location
Search engines will show a local business before a business that is located in some other town. This means that it is important that your business has its address as a prominent part of your internet marketing strategy.
Reviews
Reviews are vital to internet marketing as search engines use them as a ranking factor in search results. If you are receiving good reviews on social media, business directories, and review boards, your business will be better off. Not only is it more likely people will find you online, but they are also more likely to choose your business over a competitor.
Social Media
If you use social media, you have seen business advertising and marketing via social media. Social media is free and can be used to let your customers know when you are having sales or other announcements. It is also a great place to get your name out. If your target market is younger this is even more important.
Paid Advertising
Most online advertising is called PPC or pay-per-click. This means that every time someone clicks on your advertisement you pay. Some advertising companies will charge for impressions (each time the add is shown on the internet). Some of the primary places where businesses advertise online are with search engines and social media; for instance, Google, Bing, Facebook, and Twitter. There are many other good places to advertise online, but these will give you some of the largest target audiences.
Now What?
Any small business owner can leverage these six areas to achieve an excellent position online. Watch for our upcoming articles on each of these six areas. We promise to help make the strange voodoo of internet marketing into a clear internet marketing strategy.
