Want develop an online component to your business - but don’t know how? Internet Marketing is much easier than 10 years ago, thanks to a variety of helpful software - from setting up your site, to bringing clients to see it, to mass emailing people with your offer, to tracking how many people have actually opened your email.
There is software out there for every aspect of running your online business – let’s take a look at a few options.
How Good Is Your Website?
How much traffic you get is the key to success. Do you really know how good your website is?
Some Free Tools
A very useful and free tool is http://www.grader.com/ You can get a score of your website, Facebook, Twitter and a few others. At least grade your website. Each time you make a change check your grading.
This grader will analyse the market effectiveness of your site. It is also a Search Engine Optimisation tool - a strategy that maximizes the opportunities that your site will show on search engines like Google and Yahoo when people type in phrases related to your products/services.
If the SEO tool shows very little optimization, it means that you need good writers who are specialized in SEM (Search Engine Marketing).
Also have a look at http://www.linkvendor.com It does a similar job. In some ways it’s a better tool for grading your website and keywords.
Find The Best Software
What software should you buy to market your site? Don’t be fooled by pretty website designs; that’s not what you want. You want a website that will reach thousands of potential customers. Have a look at http://www.hubspot.com/products for some useful information.
Peter Caputa, the author on the hubspot blog, suggests…
“Don’t just stop with a content management system. Make sure you can launch landing pages (the page that appears when a potential customer clicks on an advertisement or a search-engine result link) and edit the right spots on your pages to do SEO.”
Make sure you have a marketing analytics package that knows where your leads are coming from. Based on my experience, it’s very beneficial if your SEO analytics tools gather data from your analytics package and your customer relationship management integrates with your landing pages.
Others Can Help You
OK, it’s a bit confusing at first. But you don’t have to learn all the technical jargon. If you team up with a reputable marketing company (do your homework, just like for any supplier), they will do most of the work for you. After all, there are specialist internet marketing companies that can help you out.
You Must Have Good Copy
I mentioned skilled writers at the beginning to help you obtain the most benefits from search engines. One place that you can try, probably the most successful in the freelance business, is http://www.elance.com
There you will find a whole array of specialists who can help your site become successful, from copywriters, to web designers, to SEO specialists, to software engineers. There is a profile for each provider that lets you choose the most experienced and most competent for much less money than through a regular supplier.
And don’t forget the social networking.
HubSpot also suggests…
“This may be obvious now, but you’ll be much more successful if you can connect online with your real world clients, suppliers and networking partners. If you can get your whole network blogging or using LinkedIn effectively, you’ll stand a much better chance of success yourself.”
Most Important
Make sure you have an effective tool to measure your response rate from your email campaign (Oh, yes, email remains the most effective tool to sell something on the Web).
Again, choose the software you use carefully. Some products are very expensive. You may want to start with a cheaper software that gives you the basics.
In other words, how many targets opened your email (the text is extremely important, so consult a specialist) and how many of those actually clicked on your link (that will take them to your site).
CALL TO ACTION
1. I have built up some good contacts when it comes to Internet Marketing. If you have any questions or want to know where to get advice
OR
If you want some help with technology to handle your internet marketing…
Then contact me:
gail <at> achaeus.com.au. This email address comes direct to me and is the best address to use.
2. Use Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics) to measure statistics related to website visitors. It’s the best. There are other choices but you can’t go wrong with Google Analytics.
3. Keep track of email statistics like open rates and links clicked for all emails you send to your mailing list. Your email ‘Subject Line’ is a key component for getting emails opened. Monitor different email ‘Subject Lines’ for open rates.