Jump on Board the Web Marketing Train….before it Runs Over Your Small Business!
Posted by Jason Hughes on Fri, Sep 03, 2010 @ 10:34 AM
The face of small business marketing has changed forever. Business owners have witnessed a turning of the tide as more and more consumers disregard interruptive marketing methods such as TV, radio, and press campaigns and turn to the web to find the products and services they want.
This has forced many small business owners to recognize the need to embrace information age technologies and jump on board the web marketing train.
If you are a small business owner that hasn’t yet reached the same conclusion, here’s a wake-up call:
The Web Marketing Train has a full head of steam…..and it’s headed straight for your business!
What are you going to do: jump on board, or get squashed…..justa-like grape?
So you want to jump on board do you?...but you don’t know how to take the next step. Well, here are some keys to help you get started.
Here are 3 Fundamental Components of Web Marketing Success for Your Small Business
Just like a train, your company’s web marketing campaign requires three 3 things to run effectively: an engine, some fuel, and a conductor.
The Engine: SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It’s fitting that Google, Yahoo, Bing, and others are referred to as Search Engines because they literally provide the power behind your web marketing success. The key is harnessing the power of these engines to drive people on the internet to your site. This is what SEO is all about, presenting the content on your site in such a way that it is recognized by the Search Engines and therefore appears on their SERPs, or Search Engine Results Pages when people type in specific key phrases. Just as trains don’t move without engines, your web marketing campaign won’t progress without a basic understanding of SEO.
The Fuel: Tons of Quality Content
Quality content is the fuel that feeds the Search Engines….and we’re not talking about coal or steam here, were talking rocket fuel baby! The concept here is simple: answer the questions the consumer has about your products or services…the good the bad and the ugly. Do this well and Google will love you. The platform used to present this content to the world is your blog found on your company’s web site. Each blog article you write should answer a specific question of the consumer. Answer enough questions with enough blog articles and you’ll begin to see incredible results…..and it’s all free!
The Conductor: You, Not a Web Master
Don’t let someone else drive your train! I’m talking about web masters here….you know the person you have to call and wait a week to fix a typo on your web site? The only way you can truly tap into the power of this train is to drive it yourself.
No one knows your business the way you do.
No one else knows your customers the way you do.
No one else knows your products and services the way you do.
Therefore, no one can drive the train like you could….so do it!
I know what you’re thinking….”But I’m a web dummy, I can’t do that!”
I’m here to tell you that you can. I know you can because we were web dummies too, but we learned to take the keys to our own train with a tool called a CMS, or Content Management System. It’s web design for dummies….and it’s awesome. If you can use a word processor and drag and click you can do this….I promise!
This isn’t just a cool concept, or something you should consider doing, this is absolutely imperative to the success of your web marketing campaign. A web master knows your business the same way a substitute teacher knows a class....not very well. They understand the concepts, but it’s simply not possible for them to do as good a job as the teacher who truly understands the demands of each student.
Let me say it again: You have to drive your own train!
Just to recap: for your web marketing campaign to be successful you must be able to harness the power of the engine (SEO), provide tons of fuel (quality content), and drive your own train (fire the webmaster). This is the foundation, everything else builds from here. If you’re ready to take the plunge, this is where you need to start…..and we’d love to help. We’re web coaches, that’s what we do. Feel free to contact us and we’d love to spend a few minutes with you analyzing your current web site or talk about the direction of your web marketing campaign.
Thanks for being here….comments and questions welcome!