When marketing products and services via social networking, a completely new and different approach must be taken from conventional marketing strategy. The difference here is in the way people think about social networking. It is a fact that when marketing via social networking, you must be prepared to engage in more conversation and relationship building than ever before. For some types of products, the increased time requirement to make social media marketing a success simply does not make sense. For others, social media marketing can be just as effective as traditional word of mouth.

In times of economic uncertainty, most people like to do a lot of research and learn as much as they can about a product or service before they buy it. Favorable reviews are very helpful to convince potential customers to go through with the sale. In such cases, it becomes easier to sell your products when they are linked to social networking sites that host interaction with existing customers and positive reviews of your business. An important component of your marketing strategy should be a Facebook integration, allowing your customers a way to interact with your business outside of your own website.

Word of mouth has proven itself, time and time again, as the single most effective method to grow a business and increase sales. More than just promoting your products and services on social networks, there are ways you can convince other people to begin talking for you. Viral marketing ideas come in many forms, but the element of success is always the same. You put something out that there captures the minds of the viewer or entertains them in such a way that they are compelling to post about it on their own social networking pages, blog about it, or email it to friends.

Content is King

Let’s face it, the online competition for eyeballs of your target audience is tough for most industries, and it’s getting tougher every day.  How can you expect success online when facing challenges from hundreds of people all going after the same prize? The key is content and knowing your industry. So many posts and updates and blog posts days are junk. It seems like anyone will post just about anything, as long as they think someone will spend a microsecond of time to read it. Unfortunately, this leads to a tremendous amount of clutter everywhere. Facebook, blogs, email – clogged full of garbage. The way you push your message through all of this mess and reach your target is by posting quality content, based on real-life experience, and loaded with industry knowledge.

Let’s say you have an amazing new product that you would like to announce to the world. The first thing that most people think they SHOULD do to market that product is start making a multitude of posts and updates in many areas as possible. Linking to the product, talking about the product, trying to convince others of the effectiveness of that new product. However, that is not the way to win over the hearts and minds of new customers. A better solution is for you to start describing experiences. What adventures did you encounter while creating your product? In what ways did your product help a customer, or make someones life easier? People are far more likely to respond favorably to stories of others than they are to a bland, one line promotional pitch.

Blogging about your products and services services is a great way to get the word out. When generating content for your blog, think about tips, advice, and ways you can help your target customers. Engaging customers with stories on your blog is a powerful form of word of mouth marketing, similar to having a face to face conversation. It helps to use that mindset when posting, what would you say to a client if they were standing right in front of you right now? When making blog posts, try to think from your clients point of view and make postings that will appeal to their interests.

Generate your blog posts in this way and you will, over time, build traffic and build interest. Content is King, so make sure your content is relevant and make sure you have a lot of it.

You are a business owner, you have a website, and you’ve worked hard to promote your website on the internet. Yet, for some reason, you fail to generate income or significant leads or calls online. Consider for a moment the possibility that you are using the wrong message, or marketing techniques. As a website service provider, I have seen this on more than once occasion. A company will come to us looking for help with their internet marketing. Everything seems to be right. They have strong traffic, they have a good product. Big warning signs go off, however, upon further examination of their website.

A good website that results in sales must include several elements that are critical to making a sale. Effective calls to action, easy to use navigation, a pleasing look, crisp and clean images, and clarity of message. These elements aren’t easy to wrap together, especially when a website has been pieced together over years – and that’s exactly what happens. Most companies have a website designed all at once, and then spend several years hacking in pictures, text, and little snippets of code here and there to add features. Usually it’s all done without aid of a professional website designer which makes matters worse.

The first thing we will evaluate when a client comes to us with this problem is whether or not it’s worth the time to ‘save’ the website. Some websites in disrepair can be salvaged, and it makes financial sense to do so. Other websites, on the other hand, are so badly managed that the best way to go is a complete re-design. A website should be a copy of your business, an extension of your companies values and benefits. The information must be presented in an easy to read format and must quickly make a positive impression on the visitor. In most cases, it’s easier to start from scratch and design a new, modern website that captures these necessary elements.

Think from a customer’s point of view. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in your website, after all, it’s yours! And if you’ve worked on it yourself, you could be proud of what you’ve done. But it’s often more beneficial to stand outside of the role of business owner and look at your website from the eyes of a complete stranger. Will they really care about what your website is saying to them? If they are in a rush, will they have the time to read through long pages of text? If they have never seen your website before, will it be obvious to them how to find the information they are looking for? And most importantly, will the website be attractive to all customers, not just a few people who are ‘in your industry’?

There really is no point in designing a website without first evaluating all of these ideas. A good website design firm will sit down and meet with you, then they will make a genuine effort to understand your industry. They will understand what your business provides, the values, the benefits. And they will try to understand the philosophy of your company. Quite simply, all of the words, pictures, videos, blog content, links, background colors, links, tabs, and everything else pertaining to your website should be fashioned in a way that matches YOUR business and appeals to YOUR customers.

Your website is the very best tool available to offer up an image of your company to the world. Get that image wrong, and you’ll find that you have a colorful website and no new business. Make sure that your web design company is ready, willing, and available to take the time to understand YOUR needs and your wants and will help design a website accordingly.

seenBEST Web Design is a Phoenix, Arizona web design and online marketing company.

We offer professional web design services. Our initial contact with you will be a free consultation, where we will talk to you about your exact needs and wants for a website or online marketing campaign. After this consultation we will be in a better position to provide you with exactly the right package for your needs. Please feel free to give us a call anytime for a free consultation: (602) 456-0150.

How important are high rankings for your business website? The higher you rank, the higher the traffic, and no surprise, the more you’ll generate in new business. SEO is an investment well worth it. You’re not spending, you are investing in your company. To me, spending money on marketing is when you print 5,000 fliers and pass them around town. That’s not really an investment, because 99% of those fliers are going to wind up in the trash and you’ll never see any result. On the other hand, online marketing when done correctly is building long term traffic to your website, which results in permanent links, which results in more traffic. It’s a cumulative effect that will increase your traffic, and new business, gradually over time.

If you’re not already invested in internet marketing, you’re really missing out. Businesses in your industry that have already started marketing online have since gained a considerable advantage over you, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be to take traffic away from them. The time is now to start thinking about the future of your business. This isn’t a get quick rich scheme, but it’s a proven mechanism to building wealth over time. Even a small investment now will pay off big for you later.

For a couple of years now I have watched beautiful things happen to a business that has put together an effective web design, coupled with a solid SEO and online marketing plan. There are tools that we use in the industry to track traffic, and you can literally watch traffic climb higher and higher with every passing day. Comparing the traffic reports of company websites, before they began focusing on going after online business, and after, is a real eye opener. If you haven’t already seen it for yourself you would be amazed at the difference in traffic between a top ranked page and one that falls further down the list, several pages deep.

Guess what all of this traffic results in? More sales, more phone calls, more opportunities. I shudder when I find a client that tells me they can’t afford to spend as little as $80 promoting their website. First, because it’s not really spending. You are investing in your business – the goal is to recover those costs, and a whole lot more, via increased business. Second, because it’s so affordable. I’ve seen clients waste thousands of dollars on marketing that doesn’t work – like yellow page ads, printing up fliers, etc. then turn around and tell me that they can’t afford an $80 online marketing plan. It’s nuts!

I’m not saying that people don’t have valid reasons for not wanting to spend money. There are so many people out to scam businesses in our industry. You see spam email every day of SEO providers that promise results. Some people have come to us after being taken by these companies and tell us – well, I’ve done that, it didn’t work. Guess what? It didn’t work because the people took your money and didn’t deliver! That’s the toughest thing about working in this industry, there’s a constant need to prove your worth, prove that you can deliver what you say you can, because other people have placed doubt into the minds of many. In this regards, online marketing and SEO is a lot like automobile repair. Sure, there are a lot of people out to rip you off – they take advantage of the fact that you don’t really know the details of what they are selling you, so you can’t verify that you’re getting anything in return. But the flip side to that is, every once in a while, you find an honest mechanic. Just like auto repair, there are honest companies out there that can and will work wonders for your traffic and sales.

(PS, if you live in the Phoenix area and you need an honest mechanic that does great work, let me know. My friend owns a business called Mile Auto Repair in Tempe. Always honest service!)

Anyways, back to the point. Investing (not spending) a little extra money to build your business base through SEO and online marketing is worth it in every way. Simply adding your business link to a few online directories and making a Facebook page is not enough to expect results. You need to engage in a serious effort to get found, with strategy and planning that will put your products and services in front of the people that are ready to buy from you. It all starts with a keyword analysis and a consultation to determine exactly who your ideal target client is, and the best ways to reach them. There are multiple tools that get called into play to help do research and isolate important keyword phrases that will help your website perform its best. At the end of the day, your website shows up and the competition does not.

Soon you will see more people asking you for business. If you’re not doing this right now, you’re being beaten by companies who are. If you’re trying and you’re not seeing results, you’re being beaten by competition who is. Building your website for higher traffic and positions is like leaving your competition in the dust. The higher your ranking, the better response from new customers, and the further behind your competitors will fall to your trail. Remember, it’s called the information SUPER highway for a reason. Online search is the future of all business transacted and if you’re driving along in an old, beat-up pinto – sooner or later you’re going to break down.

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Google announced today major changes to the user interface of the popular Google search engine. For over a month, beta testers have been testing a new instant results search feature that displays search results instantly on the page as they are typed into the search box. Rather than displaying a list of terms, the entire page itself changes to reveal all results that match your term the moment a new key is pressed.

Individual reviews of this new feature have been mixed. Some found value in the new feature, others found it annoying, some didn’t care either way.

It will be interesting to watch, over time, the progression this feature will have on search as we know it. Will users continue to formulate search phrases in their minds, typing them into the search box to find what they’re after before looking at the results? Or will they simply enter a single word for a term, then let the search itself guide them to the complete phrase? Whatever the outcome, this change will have some impact on online marketing and SEO, especially page impressions. Expect the number of impressions to skyrocket for high ranking pages of basic terms, but click through rates to plummet as searches plow right past those initial pages for more specific searches.

The technology behind this feature is an absolute beast. The volume of data processed through the previous method of search was astounding! Now Google has transformed each key press into a ‘search’ button click. The ability of their systems to process this type of intense data processing demonstrates two things: One, Google likes to show off, and two, they can because they are miles ahead of the competition.

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Of all forms of marketing available to your business, effective SEO is the MOST effective and least costly method to keep you moving towards further growth, success, and profits. So many companies have struggled with growth in this economy. Yet, I have personally watched businesses reach record profits, even through a recession. The secret has been the same for all, strong online presence. It’s true that if you supply effective SEO your business website you will grow. The reason is simple. Most businesses, your competitors, do not yet grasp the importance of the internet on the mind and purchasing habits of their target clients. That makes it easy for the few that ‘get it’ to rake in record profits.

Linking your business sites to relevant areas where customers will be searching for your services is a difficult task. There are many factors involved, and an entire industry of specialists has been formed to make sure that your website beats out the competition. If growth is your goal, you should immediately seek out these experts and ask them to start marketing your business to your clients today. But the secret to selling online goes beyond just knowing where the customers are searching. Your website must become a digital handshake between you and your client. You need a compact, easy to use website that has been optimized for your target client and marketed to the right people.

So many website providers today focus on only one element of the process. They either design a website, or they market your website. Rarely do you find a company that does both, and does them both well. However, that’s exactly what you’ll need to be a success. It does little good if people find your website only to turn away because they aren’t getting the information they need from your pages. It also does little good if your website is perfect, but can’t be found by your customers.

It’s time to upgrade the techniques of your outsourced web team. Look for companies that utilize cutting-edge online marketing strategies, combined with effective page design, and are willing to sit down with you to understand your business and goals. These elements are crucial to making your efforts count. Year by year I have observed new trends in the website industry. Your website solutions provider must stay on top of the latest and greatest methods and incorporate new ideas when promoting your business.

Web Marketing Elements

After all, this is the future of your business on the line! If your website company cannot explain to you the benefits of SEO, blogging, tweets, social media, landing pages, click tracking, page speed, custom search, Google caffeine, article distribution, video linking, or PPC, it’s time to find another company. Further, if they can’t demonstrate to you effective past performance, you also need to move on. In today’s economy, time is too short and the risks are too large to play games with your ROI.

Once you find that company that is willing to sit down with you, work with your business, and knows all elements of the industry – both online marketing and page design, keep them. They will keep your business on the fast track to profits.