Online marketing » Online Marketing Strategies

Guide to Online Marketing and SEO

admin — Fri, 21 May 2010 13:28:01 +0000

Today, many online businesses are floundering despite the ample opportunities and marketing potential available on the internet simply because of their lack of recognition. This is because some businesses fail to realize that in order to capture a target audience, a strong web presence is necessary to bring your business to the forefront with effective online marketing strategies like Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

One of the most important parts of online marketing is your website and its landing page. However, keep in mind that an attractive website with heavy graphics will not serve the purpose, because weighty and rich graphics can take a long time to load, thereby driving away potential customers. The key to a good website is to properly balance attractiveness with speed and power. An effective website is a great online marketing tool.

Another powerful online marketing tool is to offer potential clients and visitors a little extra. This could be in the form of freebies, special services or offers that are available on your website. The little extra that you offer could go a long way as a marketing venture to ensuring that people visit your website and then come back again or recommend it to a friend.

Social Networking is another great way to market your business to the general public. Websites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others are being used effectively as marketing tools by many online businesses. Creating a blog that is constantly updated is also important as these little measures can go a long way to building a reputation online, and will bring your business to public notice. Social networking sites offer a lot of potential, especially for smaller business to improve their visibility.

An incredibly crucial step that will greatly improve the visibility of your business is to be present in online searches. Search Engine Optimization is one of the most powerful tools that any online business can have. It works on the simple principle that if your website is seen on top of a search, then people will visit it. If you have a large number of visitors to your website, your potential for gaining new clients increases astronomically. There are a number of methods that you can use to ensure search engine optimization. The most common of these are getting indexed on search engines like Google and Yahoo, which will ensure that your website turns up in a search.

There are other methods that you can use as well such as cross-linking so that there are more links to the main website, which in turn will mean that the page rank of the website increases. It is also necessary that you use SEO content that is rich in keyword phrases and normalization of the URL of a webpage that is accessible through many URLs.

By: Ian Charles Summers

3 Secret Online Marketing Strategies You Can Put to Work For You Now

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 11:08:23 +0000

How Many Online Marketing Strategies Do You Know?

Honestly you don’t need to have more than 2 or 3 online marketing strategies in order to succeed. Often times, you will be able to find numerous information about how you can dominate your niche using certain marketing strategies.

Sadly, if you don’t already master these strategies you will be headed for a wild goose chase. It is why you must certainly focus your efforts in doing only a few before you put 5 or more methods to work.

Secret 1: Existing Market Penetration Method

If you have a niche which other are already making a profit in then this will apply well for you. In fact, the best way to become one of the best in your niche is to observe what others are already doing.

Such as how they dominate the search engines and how they are marketing to their target audience. What you want to do is to get on their list, observe how they market and then do it a little better than what they are already doing.

Secret 2: Test and Track Everything

You would say that checking your statistics and knowing a few numbers is going to help. But it will not unless you do something about that data and know what they are there for.

For instance, if you are split testing your squeeze page or a sales page then you have some conversion figures, right? What is the difference between one page to another? Are you going to physically do something to make your website better? The point is to constantly test.

Secret 3: Becoming A Good Copywriter

Now, before you shoot me with an M16, you need to understand one thing. If you don’t capture attention online you will probably never be able to see results or any kind of response at all.

Your email open rate, your conversion rate, even if you are writing articles (just like this one), without a little copywriting skill you are bound to fail. It is always good to learn a little basic copywriting to apply in your online marketing strategies.

By: Vern How Chan

Online Marketing Strategies – MySpace

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 10:32:59 +0000

Many people want to begin online marketing strategies but have no idea where to start. One great way to begin your endeavors for developing an online wealth production system is to utilize the powerful social networking entity known as MySpace. MySpace can save you tons of time, energy and money in the process of branding yourself and/or your business. Branding means everything in marketing online. You have to establish yourself as an expert with integrity.

MySpace can help you achieve your goals because it gives its 50,000,000 viewers a day a chance to get to know you. You can show them your picture. You can upload videos. You can talk to them and tell them about what you’re offering them. When people can get a look at you and listen to you speak to them, it goes a long way in establishing your online presence. Here are some useful tips to help you make the most of MySpace:

1) There are a lot of spaces to choose from on MySpace. Make your stand out!

a) Use pictures and videos.

b) Speak with enthusiasm and apparent expertise.

c) Don’t try to sound smarter than you are; just be yourself.

d) Don’t try to be too funny.

e) Create catchy, not offensive titles for your videos and pictures.

f) Be real. Be honest.

2) Create more than one profile. Maximize your potential to be viewed by diversifying the viewers’ ability to access your material.

3) Remember that people want to know that you are real. They need to know that you’re not trying to scam them. So don’t.

4) Look at this exposure for what it is: a chance to develop your online presence with integrity and honor. Anything that you do online becomes a part of permanent Internet history. Do not minimize the importance of that.

5) Prepare at least a rough script to ensure the flow of your videos. Don’t put videos out where you’re stuttering and stammering over your own words. Know what you’re going to say before you say it and practice beforehand.

6) If you have any reservations of whether or not a video is good, scrap it and make a new one. Don’t put out trash.

MySpace is a powerful tool that can help you a lot to achieve your Internet marketing goals. 50,000,000 visitors a day is an incredible opportunity for exposure. Maximize your potential to benefit from this publicity by engaging and intelligent approach.

By: Demetrios Tzortzis

Viral Online Marketing Strategies Get the Word Out

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:00:47 +0000

Viral online marketing can provide astonishing results for your internet business. If you are not using it yet you should certainly consider it.

Most viral marketing techniques involve giving something away for free such as e-books or software,and putting in a link to your site, a product, or an affiliate link. Any number of avenues will work provided they contain good quality content people can use and have an incentive to pass along.

Some incentives might be offering a useful product for free as an enticement to join or opt-in to a list, providing a quality free gift to your subscribers, becoming an affiliate for the products within the book to earn commissions, and many other options depending on what type of rights go along with the product. Make sure to read the terms and conditions if you are not the product owner or developer.

A few viral online marketing strategies to consider are forums, (using signatures), articles, a free e-mail course, newsletters, templates, etc. Not all methods will work for everyone, as some might depend on your online business experience, having a list, or how computer savvy you are. However most of them are easy and free to implement, and the others easily learned. Just about anything can go viral under the right circumstances with the right approach. Use your imagination and think out side the box

Regardless of of the viral marketing approach you take, there is no denying the benefits you can receive including: increased and targeted traffic, increased link popularity, one way links, automated marketing efforts that grow exponentially, brand recognition, and most importantly more sales.

By: Jeffrey J Nelson

Why Use Personal Branding For Online Marketing?

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 23:18:49 +0000

Online marketing is surely becoming an industry that can no longer be ignored. Online entrepreneurs are being created daily and online marketing strategies are more and more a subject in all of their minds. The key to having a profitable online business is to know exactly how to use personal branding to build a rapport with those seeking a solution to reaching their goals. Personal branding allows for many advantages over the competition of the many other online marketers competing for the #1 position in numerous search engines.

With online marketing, there’s one thing that many still do not understand. The majority of people are not looking to become business owners. Their biggest desire is to find a solution to their most sought after problem, more money. If you can create a relationship with those seeking a solution and provide them the confidence they need in finding a solution, then there’s no doubt that you will be the person that so many individuals are looking for online. Your goal should be to become a leader yourself and lead others to success.

Personal branding allows for building confidence in the eyes of your prospects. With them knowing that you are the person that can provide them solutions to their #1 problem, individuals realize that you are the person of knowledge and value that will guide them to reaching their goal. For example: If you are looking through the internet for a solution to making more money, the first thing you are going to run into are millions of business opportunities offering you the so-called “Best Business Ever”. Now if you think about it, what would actually make you join such a business opportunity? If you had a choice of working one-on-one with someone that will help you along your journey of reaching your goal or join a business which in order for you to be successful you would have to learn the hard way and sink or swim, which would you choose? Your answer should have been working directly with someone that has already built the knowledge that is needed to become successful.

Personal branding also allows for separating yourself from the herd of other online marketers that are concentrating on only marketing their business model. With the millions of business opportunities online that a person can join, the amount of competition a new online marketing entrepreneur will have to overcome will be overwhelming. Fortunately, the use of personal branding allows you to stray away from your competition and allow you to target the actual needs of those seeking to make extra money. This technique has been used for years but only by a very few amount of online marketers. And if you did the research, these are the marketers that are actually successful and are generating multiple streams of income through online marketing, without having to mention their business opportunity.

Becoming the solution provider should be your only marketing model. Look to establish an online presence for yourself that will allow others to find you and get to know exactly how you can help them. Learn the one of many techniques, SEO (search engine optimization), and dominate the first page on search results for specific needs of individuals. This way, when a person actually looks for a solution to their problem, you will be the one to provide it to them. As one of my great mentors explained to me, “Become the hunted, not the hunter.” (Mike Dillard)

If you haven’t received the proper training on personal branding, I can highly recommend an educational platform that will guide you through the learning process. Feel free to leave a comment and I’ll be more than willing to explain what this marketing education platform is and what it can do for you.

To Your Success,
Pablo Gonzalez

By: P. Gonzalez

Profitable Online Business – Learn Online Marketing Tactics to Achieve Success With Your Website

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:22:33 +0000

You have finally published your online money making business and its up and running. Are you wondering what to do next? Are you having trouble generating more traffic to your website? Are your online marketing strategies not producing a profitable online business? Be patient. Don’t give up before the miracle happens.

When I launched my first website, I found myself in unchartered territory. I knew that I was tired of working for other people and wanted to own my own money making business. That was all it took to begin. The search was on.

In my previous job, I sold advertising and upgraded listings in “business to business” directories. Logically, my first idea was to design my own business directory- good idea, but the initial investment and operating costs were out of my budget. I realized the best option involved a profitable online business that could be started with little to no money. After reviewing and assessing the multitude of online business ideas, I settled on multilevel affiliate marketing.

With this selection, I could have multiple streams of income localized on one website while earning residual profits. This was accomplished by offering affiliate programs and services, like web hosting, which charge the buyer on a monthly basis. The beauty of this idea lies in the advantage of profiting on your buyers sales as well.

Within a week, I found a company that would design my own multilevel affiliate website for free. I needed only to pay for web hosting. They offered many choices of the highest paying residual affiliate programs. I picked the ones I found promising and the company programmed those choices into my site. That was the easy phase- now came my part; online marketing and Search Engine Optimization. This takes patience and persistent work. At times you may feel like your efforts are in vain. I implore you to shrug off this feeling and continue with the methods I have outlined below. I promise you they will pay off.

Patiently following these online marketing techniques, will garner your website more traffic via raising organic search results for your keywords, resulting in a profitable online business.

1. Launch your own blog. Just go into Blogger by Google and follow the directions for starting a blog. Then move that blog to your own domain. This way every time you post a blog it adds another page to your website. This is like putting another hook in the waters of the internet. Finally, integrate your blog design with your website design.

2. Pick a blog post that contains useful information and post that link with anchor text to a higher pagerank site than yours. Your anchor text should be a word or phrase of what your article is about; such as, the article title. I found a company that gives me 30 different sites of pagerank 6 or better with graphic instructions on how and where to place these back links for $5.00 a month! With a lot of authority sites linking back to your blog post, you will have a good chance of showing up on page one of search results for your anchor text keywords.

3. Advertise your site for free with forums. Most forums contain thousands of discussions in progress. When you post to a discussion in a forum, your response will be included as part of the discussion. At the end of your response, your sig file ad will appear so that everyone who reads that thread has the opportunity to see your ad. Search for forums that relate to your business, register, create a signature, and then take part in the discussion by posting a new thread or responding to another post. Again, this will put more hooks in the internet waters for you. This will aid in producing a profitable online business.

4. Advertise with Google AdWords. Where else can you gain access to over 100 million people in a few minutes? This is tricky if you do not know what you are doing. I suggest doing searches on “Google AdWords,” to find as much information as you can before starting.

This is a comprehensive list of marketing strategies that will enhance your website traffic and create a profitable online business for you. Remember, Keep building on these principles and your efforts will achieve success. Don’t give up before the miracle happens. Visit me at: PROFITABLE ONLINE BUSINESS

By: Justin Mullin

7 Recession Proof Online Marketing Tips

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 15:59:02 +0000

The dark clouds on the economic horizon seem to be successfully resisting the heroic efforts of the government to stave off the coming storm. The question on the mind of many is – “What Should I Cut and Where Should I Focus My Marketing Investment?”

As in past recessions, the companies that make the right marketing moves, emerge from the economic downturn in a stronger position. Below are 7 Online Marketing Strategies that should have a prominent place in your recession toolkit:

1) Focus on Current Customers: When the economy is good – everyone spends lavishly (not necessarily wisely) on winning new customers. In a recession – businesses should take comfort in the fact that selling to an existing customer is 10-20% less expensive than marketing to a new customer. Recommendation: Time to take a look at your email marketing database and develop a thorough plan for turning these existing customers into profitable repeat customers.

2) Reward Loyalty: This is the time to make sure your current customers keep your business top of mind when they are making some tough purchasing decisions. Dollar for dollar, it makes sense to offer coupons, special offers, and promotions to the loyal customers that are most likely to purchase and “tell others” about your offers.

3) “Fire” Your Banners: When it’s time to trim the fat off your marketing budget, low ROI banners should be first in line. Instead turn your attention on maximizing your investment in more ROI friendly and measurable Pay-Per-Click advertising. Search engine marketing is an excellent Recession-Proof marketing strategy because it allows you to monitor your investment and returns in real-time. Unlike Banners where you need to lock-in to potentially expensive monthly contracts – PPC is a pay-as-you go program with consistent and measurable results.

4) Conversions Take Center Stage: If you cannot tell which online marketing program makes you the most profit, then your program may need a recession-proof makeover. A website that is flooded with traffic but fails to convert is a money-loser – period. With tough times around the corner, make sure you put a plan in place to improve the conversions of your site’s landing pages, email opt-in forms, and shopping cart.

5) Get Ruthless about ROI: If you can’t quickly tell what your Cost Per Lead and Return on Investment is for each of your online marketing channels – then this recession may be tough on your bottom line. You should be able to tell in a glance what marketing channels should be cut and which should receive more investment. If your Digital Agency or in-house team can’t tell you where you are making or losing money – then it may be time to get tough and demand results.

6) Back to Basics: With the whirlwind of activity around new marketing options like Web 2.0, Social Media, Mobile, and others its easy to forget about “little ole” Search Engine Optimization. When marketing dollars are hard to find, you can’t ignore the ROI on FREE search listings.

7) Use Integration To Stretch Your Online Investment: A Recession means that Upper Management will want to see how far they can stretch last year’s budget. The easiest way to stretch your online marketing budget is to integrate separate programs into one cohesive marketing juggernaut. For example, have you considered using your PPC budget to drive email opt-ins for your prospecting database? Same investment, different focus, more profit – Recession Proof Marketing at its best.

By: Stanford Smith

Online Marketing Strategies in a Down Retail Market

admin — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:28:59 +0000

Retail sales are down significantly – as referenced in this jaw-dropping article from Bloomberg.com. This is a challenge not only for brick-and-mortar stores, but retail E-commerce sites as well. Consumers dealing with next to impossible economic times, and the startling news that US unemployment rates are at a 14-year high of 6.5%, is putting the crunch not only on how much money consumers choose to spend, but who they will be shopping with as the holiday season approaches.

Excerpt from the Bloomberg article:

“The Christmas season looks to be the worst in memory, you’d have to go back at least to the ‘81-’82 recession period,” Ken Perkins, president of research firm Retail Metrics LLC, said today in a Bloomberg Radio interview. “You’re going to have to do above and beyond to stimulate the consumer to come into your store this year.”

Not only will physical retailers have to “do above and beyond to stimulate the customer to coming to your store this year,” online retailers are facing the same challenges as well. This is now beyond “competition” for online retailers – this is approaching tactical warfare to garner consumers’ spending dollars online. In these dire conditions, let’s explore what online retailers can do to facilitate success, while keeping marketing tactics to a reasonable expense rate, open up a new channel in which to market, and most importantly, ROI:

Embrace Social Networking Communities

Research suggests that approximately one-third of large US retailers are actively participating in social networking communities, such as Facebook.com. This begs the question – why aren’t the other two-thirds using this new medium to communicate to potential consumers? Is it a lack of knowledge, a fear of the unknown, or concerns over cheapening a “brand?” Only the stores and brands can answer these questions, but I’ll give you one very strong argument as to why they should – it’s a FREE platform for tactical marketing. Where out-of-pocket funds are needed is to partner with an Interactive Marketing firm with a full grasp of the communication medium itself in conjunction with E-Commerce expertise.

If you focus only on Facebook (to start), you’re looking at a “captured” audience of over 36 MILLION US visitors alone. This is a site that is ranked at #5 of the most trafficked sites on the Internet according to Alexa.com. How can retailers afford NOT to look at an opportunity like this?

Facebook is not for kids. Facebook is not just for college students. In 2008, new users have flocked to Facebook in droves. CEOs, Moms, Dads, people rekindling friendships, and many more diverse demographic profiles are now using Facebook on a DAILY basis.

Ideas are being exchanged. Discussions are being facilitated. Opinions based on peer input are being formed. Chances are, your store or brand is already in the massive flow of conversations and information exchange. By not participating in social networking communities like Facebook, you are simply not doing your job as an online marketer to your full capabilities.

Steps To a Successful Social Network Presence:

1. Give Users What They Want – Not What YOU Want Them to Want.

Consumers in these economic times are basing their buying behaviors on value proposition alone. Forget the brand name, forget the cache’ of a store name – it all comes down to the value proposition. And that’s not to be interpreted as a marketing tactic – it is a harsh reality that consumers have little in the way of discretionary spending this year (and next at best). Instead of holding your hand out for revenue, extend your hand out to assist users with wise buying decisions, and ways to spread their limited spending to the fullest potential. The more you “give back” to the communities, the more you will be embraced.

2. Go Viral with Little Effort

As you give back to the community, the community responds by telling their group of peers what they like and dislike. Positioning your product sales from a value proposition point of view is not only topical, but informative. Information is viral – people want information, not marketing slogans. As information is distributed out, community users show a tendency to distribute the information further, far beyond your direct reach.

3. Reuse Existing Creative Assets

If you are an online retailer, you most likely have a great amount of creative imagery and messaging in which you can reuse to create your own profile. After your profile is established, continue to update it as frequently as you do your own web site, to give people a reason to come back and visit you more often.

4. Start a Conversation with Your Consumer Base

Social networking is not a traditional online marketing channel by any means. It is imperative that a two-way dialogue is established from day one. Again, when you “give” to the community, the more the community will give back. Ask for thoughts on your products. Ask for ways to improve customer service. Encourage a dialogue on a topic that relates to your business – but that extends beyond only your company. People love to express themselves, love it when others take their opinions and ideas into consideration, and appreciate those that take the time to facilitate such a dialogue.

5. Market Your Products with Tact

Marketing within a social networking environment is a careful balance of informing users of the value of your products, with no hard sell. Offering a private sale / discount code for community users encourages conversation as it becomes a special offer just for them, and if compelling enough, will carry enough merit so that the community spreads the promotion to their friends. And on, and on, and on.

Facebook is simply one example of many social networking sites that offers a tremendous marketing value to stores and brands. Your investment is time, not hard dollars. Social networks such as Facebook are giving retailers unprecedented and very personal reach to users. Take advantage of said opportunities, but remember – do not attempt to take advantage of the community. Those who push hard marketing tactics after establishing a following will find that the reaction from the community is negative, and the viral nature of such networks and communities are not to be underestimated when it comes to sharing exactly how they feel about doing business with you to their friends and family.

In closing, to execute a sound social networking strategy, look towards partners that truly understand online retailing AND this new marketing medium. It is imperative to your online reputation to execute your new efforts flawlessly, as there is absolutely no room for error where constant conversations take place. Skilled interactive agencies provide a way to provide your business with a seamless brand transition to online communities through communication strategies, programming in special markup languages for maximum visual impact, and ongoing strategic tactics to insure that your brand integrity is insured.

By: Matthew B. Brown

Online Marketing Strategies – Promote Your Products and Services Easily

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 06:39:47 +0000

Do you have a personal business? Are you having trouble promoting your products and services? Well, there are many companies who face this dilemma. Because of this, they are unable to reach a wider target audience. Some face unfortunate circumstances where they have to close down because they are not able to get proper marketing. However, do not fret. In today’s modern age, you can market yourself well with the help of one thing: the internet.

The internet has numerous resources you can utilize in order to promote yourself or your company. Because almost everyone is getting access to the web, you have instant audiences. So, apart from spending too much on print ads and other traditional marketing techniques, you should try the wonders of the net.

One thing you can do is to setup a website. There are a lot of skilled web developers and graphic artists who can help you with your dilemma. Having your own site can help inform people of the services and commodities you offer. This will also give them the chance to contact you. However, you should not stop there!

You should also use some social networking sites to grab the attention of possible consumers. These sites gather the most traffic and can help tell a number of people about your products. The best part about this is that you will be able to hear their feedback personally. They will be able to tell you which you do not have to change or things you should improve on in your company.

Yet another thing you can do is to create blogs. A lot of people love reading these online journals because these may contain informative content. At the same time, authors are able to interact with their readers. These are some of the main things you can do to help boost your company’s name. If you wish to learn more, you should do research on online marketing strategies.

By: Erika Ayala

Promote Your Store Using Online Marketing Strategies

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:47:46 +0000

Your infrastructure needs to be built on a solid foundation which includes everything from an innovative strategic marketing plan to a coordinated program which includes the following elements: A comprehensive marketing and promotional plan including assorted advertising mix in key places in addition to a national media campaign Cutting edge on-line marketing and promotion with your own user friendly website (links, pop up banner, affiliate program, ezine newsletter, direct response with a compelling sales letter, article submission, media e-mail blast to keep your name in front of the media with different press releases, sample of products, plenty of endorsements, media room, useful information, strong search engines, just to name a few) Sales forecast Financial plans Secure advanced endorsements for your book from world-renowned personalities, the media, book reviewers and best selling authors to establish credibility Distribution Fulfillment center with your own toll-free They’ve shifted budgets away from expensive portal deals to performance-based affiliate marketing and search engine marketing and it’s paying off.

Approach the search for affiliate internet marketing opportunities with care.

You can promote your store using online marketing strategies like search engine optimization, email marketing, banner advertisements and affiliate marketing among others. An affiliate is a marketer who sends visitors to another site using a variety of methods (such as placing banners or text links on their own site, buying sponsored listings on search engines, email marketing and many other different methods) and gets paid when an action happens. For those who are unsure how to search for the right products to market, and or are unsure how to put all the ingredients together to make this kind of affiliate marketing plan work, you could possibly benefit from the Affiliate Cash Secret membership. Remember, these three steps are the first steps you will need to follow when starting out in affiliate marketing, all too often an individual will join multiple programs and start submitting the affiliate pages to the search engines (those are the page that have their affiliate ID on them).

In order to earn money consistently from a single sale, you have to search for the right affiliate marketing opportunities that pay a residual income. Search Engine Page Inclusions with XML and ROR sitemaps for Google and Yahoo Search Bots Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns Web Banner campaigns Advertising Revenue through Affiliate Programs, AdSense, el al Each Marketing Company will pitch you the importance of their company’s offering providing you the “winning formula for the Internet Selling Bonanza”. The best possible alternative for enduring success in affiliate marketing is to build your own website with worth content and learn how to optimize it to get a top ten search engine ranking. Search for the name of the affiliate marketing program that you are interested in and add the word scam at the end to see what shows up in the list.

But well written pages on these sites DO rank well in the search engines, and that is what makes this form of zero cost affiliate marketing so valuable. Brett has success in the executive search business of Software Sales, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Distribution, Warehousing, Transportation, Six Sigma, Technology, SEO, Affiliate Marketing, Database Marketing, eRetail and CRM. E Marketing: Marketing via the internet, using such tactics as search engine marketing, banner advertising, affiliate marketing, and email marketing. E-marketing covers a wide range of online activities including search engine optimization, pay-per-click, affiliate schemes, e-newsletters, banners, webinars, blogs, RSS feeds, virals, podcasts and Internet TV.

By: Gagandeep Jolly