by Rahimah Sultan

Building a successful online marketing strategy is just like building anything – it starts with a solid foundation. That foundation comes from understanding three basics of online marketing:

Search Engine Optimization
Content Marketing
Social Media Marketing

SEO should include:
Relevant Keywords
Valuable Content that is Shared
A Website that Loads Quickly
Both Images and Content
Backlinks from Respected Websites

Content marketing is important because it helps build your brand and inspire confidence in you.

Blogs, training videos, podcasts, and even video games can be used in your successful online marketing strategy. Be sure your content is good quality so it will not adversely affect your rankings and damage your brand. It must be free of grammar and spelling errors so that you look professional. Remember that the content you put on your site might be the first impression a prospective client gets of you.

You can use other people’s materials with permission and proper attribution. However, if you author the material, it positions you as an expert.

Once you have provided something of value and positioned yourself as an expert, you are much more likely to build the trust necessary to sell something. You can feature your products or services with a banner ad on your blog or by inviting the prospect to click through to the ecommerce portion of your website.

Social Media Marketing

In order to make the most of a social media marketing strategy, you need to interact with your fans and create a true community. Show that you are accessible by allowing people to ask questions, voice concerns, and even complain. Then address these issues in a professional manner. Provide them with content that is interesting, not just promotional. Remember, social media is just that – social!

Gaining a certain number of followers or obtaining a target click through rate can be wonderful short-term objectives. However, the final objective of Internet Marketing is sales.

The Internet in general and social media specifically can be wonderful tools for generating sales. But, like all tools, they have to be used properly to produce the desired results.

Always keep the marketing basics in mind in your strategy. Ask yourself these three questions:

1) Why would a prospective customer buy my product or service rather than the offerings of a competitor?
2) Is there a segment of the market that would value the things that differentiate my product or service and is it large enough to support my business?
3) What is the most cost-effective way to reach this segment with the message that my product or service is different?

Then, only launch an Internet-Marketing campaign if it is the most cost effective way to reach your specific target market with your message.

Using a successful online marketing strategy is the way to open the door to sales.

by Rahimah Sultan

Russell Armstrong states, “For anyone who needs to clear out the cobwebs on their social channels and sharpen their effective social media marketing strategies, here are a few techniques to employ so you can take back control and rise in the ranks.”

Develop a Strategy and Follow It If you don’t have a solid plan in place, your content will probably be lost and never seen. For example, set a reasonable limit on how many tweets to publish every day. Adjust the number as needed, but definitely have a goal. Even publishing just five tweets a day gives you somewhat of a benchmark to work with.

You need to build trust by responding to tweets or posts on your channels. If you don’t reply people will turn to your competitors for answers or guidance.

While tracking is generally thought of as time-consuming and tedious, it needs to be done at least once a month.

Remain active on Google+ as that is essentially free advertising for your brand when other people search for you on Google.

There are five key platforms that you should use to grow your brand.

Click here to read the article.

by Rahimah Sultan

With everyone focused on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), many overlook the importance of Social Media Optimization (SMO). For business owners and entrepreneurs using social media optimization across social media platforms is crucial to generate results.

Social Media Optimization is the process of making content that is generated for a specific brand easily shareable across several different social media platforms and sites referred to as the social media web.

The focus on SMO is not necessarily to drive larger loads of traffic to your site, but to get your content seen in order to get organic traffic. Social networks are actually driving more traffic to professional websites than Google, the most popular search engine.

One way to effectively spread branded content across the social web without requiring users to visit your website is the use of widgets and badges. Badges count as backlinks, which can improve Search Engine rankings. Another optimization strategy is the social sign-in strategy which eliminates the need for filling out a long form.

Click here to read Russell D. Armstrong’s Step Up Your Promotion With Social Media Optimization

by Rahimah Sultan

You must use good website promotion techniques to get your site noticed. This article covers a few tips on web site promotion for home business owners.

Website promotion is an ongoing process for attracting visitors to your website. It includes techniques such as web content development, search engine optimization and search engine submission.

Content

High quality unique content is one of the most effective ways to improve your online presence. Without good content your website could go unseen. Good content gives you lead generation, increased traffic and search engine rankings. Be sure your search engine optimization (SEO) is done correctly. If you are just starting a home business this might be new to you. Just do some research or get someone to help you. There are plenty of resources available.

Search Engine Submission

Submit your website directly to major internet service providers, such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, and others. Major search engines will eventually find your website if you do not submit it to them, but many webmasters believe it speeds up the process. Most of your traffic will probably come from search engine clicks so you want to make sure you list your site with the popular search engines. It will take a few days for your site to begin showing up in searches.

Connections

Submitting your website to other high ranking sites and blogs will help you gain back links (Read Article) to your website. Google and other search engines measure and rank your website by the importance and quality of other websites linking to you. Be very careful where you place your links. Be sure these links are not associated with spammy directories or link farms. These types of sites can have a detrimental effect on your rankings.

Website Promotion

Promote your website as many ways as possible. Here are a few:

Use a blog to gain followers and get useful information and feedback from potential customers.
Advertise on internet message boards, discussion forums and online communities.
Put your URL on everything connected with your business: letterhead, business cards, flyers, etc.
Build business partnerships with businesses offering complementary products.
Write ezines about your business, products and services.
Use social media.
Join Google +.
Use images and videos.

Start with the basics and as you become more knowledgeable and comfortable with the various processes, include more strategies. Your success online depends on your ability to attract visitors to your website. These tips on web site promotion for home business owners will help.

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