Local online advertising continues to grow as more companies come to the realization that consumers are moving to online marketing. A new report by Borrell Associates found that companies spent $12.1 billion on local online advertising in 2008. Many local companies have found great success in online marketing, where still some others have seen little to no return from their investment. What differentiates the strategies employed and what factors could determine success or failure in an online marketing campaign?
Strategy #1: Be professional
The most common mistake made by small businesses in developing on website is to seek out cheap developers on Craigslist or to use hosting accounts that build their site for them. Though these methods are typically inexpensive they have severe pitfalls. When it comes to using a cheap independent developer many companies have found they paid in advance for some, or all, of the contract and received nothing in return. Most of the other companies end up with a website that looks home-made and contains extensive spelling and grammatical errors as well as severe design flaws.
A professional site includes custom artwork, a unique presence and a well formatted design. The site should be pleasing to look at and offer the user something they may not have seen before. Content should be well written and address the consumers questions or concerns effectively. Finally, if your site does not function correctly on some browsers, or the formatting doesn’t work correctly, you pretty well lose a large chunk of your market.
Strategy #2: Give them what they want
We have to consider the perspective of the consumer when we approach our online presence. In many cases the consumer will use Google maps or an online search tool to find a business close to them. They will then navigate to the websites provided by that tool. The consumer’s ability to go back and click the next company is your main consideration when it comes to online marketing. If your site does not give the consumer what they are looking for easily and effectively, you can assume they will go to the next one on the list.
Always keep in mind that the consumer’s experience on your site may be the only impression of your business they will get. It is important to develop a plan and identify customer concerns before you begin any development process. Consider everything from the perspective of the consumer and write down questions they may have.
Strategy #3: Trust is key
Amazingly consumers develop trust for a company, to some degree, simply based on the web presence that company portrays. Everything; including design, navigation, content and tools; tells the consumer what kind of business you are. Consumers have shown definite trends of trust revolving around businesses with custom well designed sites and easy to use navigation.
Strategy #4: Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
There is no way around it, if you do not show up on the search engines, they will not find you. A common misconception is that you need to be first in the search engine listing to be effective. You actually need to be on the first two pages of results for as many of the key search terms relative to what you provide. Identifying those terms is critical in your strategy. You will need to make sure they are prevalent and relative to your content.
An effective developer understands the basis of search engine criteria. First and foremost, developing to web standards is critical. Search engines use what is called a spider to search sites for content. Using flash or images to display text, will not be picked up by a search engine. Having meta descriptions, titles, effective text-based content and well designed code will help your chances.
Strategy #5: Getting connected
Search engines look for more than the information on your site to determine relevance. One key element the employ is called link-backs. This is simply the number of other sites that link to yours, and how relevant those links are to the search terms provided. Link-backs are critical not only to increase your search engine rating, but also to provide more avenues for consumers to find you.
Consider online marketing as a tapestry of closely knit services all linking to one another. It is important for you to link into those services as effectively as possible. Networking sites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn help to meet some of the link-back requirements, but it is also important for you to market yourself through relative forums, community sites and possibly quality link exchanges. This will ensure more people receive your message and help those search engines find you more effectively.
Strategy #6: Continue the effort
Another major mistake of online business is the mentality that once you put a site up, you can just leave it alone and expect it to generate sales. Consider the average consumer, they may use your service or store once, then in a month or two when they need similar service they go back to Google and start the process over. Or perhaps there are services you offer, they are unaware of.
It is important to keep in touch with your customers, and to keep your website in their head. To do this, it is usually a good idea to offer the ability to join a mailing list or allow them to sign up for notifications of specials. This gives you the opportunity to send emails out notifying customers of new changes to the site, specials or sales you may be running and useful news about your business.
In the end, quality of service and price will still be the key factors to your success. Simply having a powerful and dynamic site will not be enough to make your business. You still need to offer superior quality and service to your customers in order to keep them. The site and online marketing just makes it easier to communicate with them and draw in new customers.