Google plays a huge role in creating a complete web presence.
This guest blog post was written by Karin Gryder from AdzZoo Atlanta. Karin has an interest in SEO and guest blogging, but her real passion is helping small businesses survive in this tough economy. As a former business owner, Karin understands the struggles of marketing and the challenges that face any business on extremely tight budgets.
A complete web presence is vital to your company’s marketing success. Old forms of marketing are no longer as successful, and your marketing budget should be spent on the most effective forms of advertising. Your clients are online… your competitors are online… are you? Here are 10 components that should be addressed in order to market your business for success.
(1) Optimized Website:
Relevant information is the Key. Search engines try to match the searcher with the product, service or information they are trying to obtain. Words are more important than color, flash and videos, which is one of the reasons Wikipedia comes up frequently in your search.
(2) Geo-Targeting:
State-of-the-art marketing that allows a business to advertise on the Internet in the area where their potential customers are searching. This reduces the marketing cost and narrows the search. A pizza restaurant may choose to target 10 miles around their restaurant. They will only show up on computers or smart phones in that 10 mile radius.
(3) Google AdWords:
Google is the dominant player in search marketing. 83% of people searching don’t go past the first page of Google. If your company is not on the first page, your competition is getting the business because you were nowhere to be found. AdWords allows you to be on the first page of Google on a rotational basis. This is similar to a rotating digital billboard.
(4) Social Media Marketing: Facebook
Facebook is the 1st or 2nd most visited website daily. (Google is usually #1.) The average user spends 55 minutes a day on Facebook. This is a great place to brand your business online in a targeted geographic area and market. You choose your target market: age, gender, education level, marital status and area and ads show up on the right side of their Facebook pages. Great branding exposure!
(5) Maps:
Google, Yahoo, and Bing Maps are another place to be found on the first page of these popular search engines. Keywords can be added to the maps to increase the traffic to your business. The maps are a very important addition to your strategy.
(6) GPS Devices (Garmin, Tom-Toms, etc.):
GPS devices are particularly important for restaurants, service industries and retail locations. Submission and optimization to the various mapping platforms is crucial to your exposure on various devices.
99% of traffic is done on 1% of websites. Most of those sites have a Google Toolbar at the top. They are part of the Content or Branding Network. Relevant ads can be placed on these popular websites, again in the geo-targeted area, to help brand your business and increase your name recognition.
(8) Online Business Directories:
From-Yellow Book, Merchant Circle, Kudzu, City Search and more. We are used to using the Yellow Pages in the past and now people use online directories.
(9) Mobile Marketing/Texting:
Mobile Marketing uses texting to notify your clients of specials or offers on a weekly or monthly basis. (Ex. Join our VIP club and get a Free Appetizer. Text “Free Appetizer” to 99134) Use your website to get potential clients or customers to opt into your mobile marketing program. 97% of texts are read within one minute or receipt and only 3% of businesses are currently using this form of marketing.
(10) Monitoring:
Technology is quickly changing and it is vital to have a company or someone that is monitoring the changes that are taking place on the internet. The average business owner does not have time or the training to keep up with these changes to maintain maximum exposure on the internet.
A complete web presence will provide the exposure your business needs to acquire more customers. Your potential customers are looking for you on the internet, smart phones, GPS devices and more. You need to be where they are spending their time (Facebook) and on the search engines (Google) where they are searching for your products and services.
Karin Gryder, AdzZoo Atlanta; 404-245-2323
Related articles
- How Page Rank Influences Website Promotion (web-traffic-pro.com)
- Do Keywords or Content Get You to the Top of Search Engines (lanechase.net)
JT
November 8, 2010Karin,
Your website info is right on. Web presence is so important for the business owner. Google still dominates when it comes to actual relevant search engine success. Business owners do not need an SEO company to do the things AdzZoo will do for so much less and very effective. A small investment is not the same as just spending advertising money that you can’t really track hoping it works. We always tell the business owner that you will never make big money saving it!
JT – NE Atlanta, Ga
Richard
November 9, 2010Good list of some resources to use to build an online presence. Even though google is often the number 1 visited site, facebook actually ranks first for the amount of time people spend on a site. So, if you can establish a presence on facebook and google, you’ll pretty much dominate the web.
karen
November 9, 2010Hi Richard, as somebody who is also starting up a business, it’s good to hear that. I’m going to check out your recent blog post… making sure I don’t make any Internet Start-up mistakes!
Karen