Looking for some basic internet marketing tips for your small business? While there are 100’s of suggestions we can make, here’s a list of 10 that we think might be the most useful for 90% of small business owners.
1. In the words of Ron Simon, “What the hell are you trying to do?” What is the goal of your website? Ultimately, it should be to drive more business, but how exactly will it do that? Start with one goal - such as increasing the number of phone calls - and branch out from there. It’s important to set goals, but it’s just as important to come up with a system for measuring those goals.
2. Evaluate your website’s content. What does your website say? Is the content unique and useful? Will people learn anything when they visit your site? When was the last time you added new content? Content is king - does your website have content worth reading? Does your content match your business goals?
3. The <title> tag. Visit your website. Look at the very top of your browser window. What do you see? Does it describe the page you’re looking at? Is it a unique description? Does it contain the keywords you want people to associate with that page of your website? If you’re a local business, does it contain your key local search keywords? If you can’t answer ‘yes’ to all these questions, check out this article all about title tags.
4. Call tracking and analytics. You can’t improve upon what you can’t measure. Analytics provide a tremendous amount of incredibly useful data, such as where your website visitors come from, how long they stay, and what they do on your site. Important stuff. Google analytics is free and pretty darn good, and we recommend it. We also recommend you make sure you can track every lead that’s generated by your website. If you don’t have a dedicated phone number for the website that you can track calls on, visit Mongoose Metrics. You can get a dedicated phone number for $5 a month and $0.50 a call. They’ll forward every call you get to your main number while also tracking the number of calls you receive and some other useful stats.
5. Take advantage of free local business directories. There are a few great local business directories that are completely free. Get your business listed on each of the directories below and you’ll see a boost in website visitors - and hopefully a boost in business too. Just keep in mind the word “free” - we don’t advocate paying for any directory listings anywhere unless you’ve got a very good reason.
6. Check out your competition. Visit your competitors websites. Do some searches for keywords related to your business. Find out what others in your vertical are doing and saying. This is a great way to get some ideas and take stock of your own company’s online marketing efforts.
Does this dog look ugly to you?
7. Repeat after me - “I have an ugly baby.” A lot of business owners love their websites, but the first step to improving your website is to admit that it has some deficiencies. No website is perfect, and every website can use improvement. Period. If you have a website, you have an ugly baby. Just how ugly your website is, however, is open to discussion.
8. Start blogging. Every business, and we mean every business, has something to gain by blogging. The list of benefits is long, but here’s a short list of reasons small businesses should blog.
9. Get some video online. Video is still a little cutting-edge for some, but the benefits can’t be understated. Online video is the wave of the future, and every business needs to have something on YouTube, Metacafe, etc. If you’re concerned about expense here, keep in mind there are some low-budget options that won’t damage your brand while still providing concrete benefits.
10. Contact us. Seriously - these are just the basic tips. Contact us so we can discuss your business and your basic goals. Take advantage of the benefit of our experience - we’re always happy to share some good ideas.
