So what is Internet Marketing?

It is simply using one or more of the opportunities available on the Internet to potentially reach customers and tell them about your products and company.

Here are some ideas to get you launched in the world of Internet Marketing:

Design a user-friendly website

Have you ever opened a site and closed it just because it takes a long time to load?  Just like you, a buyer will leave your website if it doesn’t load fast enough. Including too many links and photos on your website can make it non-responsive, especially for users using mobile phones to browse.  You need links and photos to sell your products so make sure that they are optimized and aren’t larger than they need to be.

Almost half of the users browse the internet on their mobile devices. So, if your site isn’t optimized for mobile browsing, your clients may find it hard to browse your website. A mobile-friendly site should have the following content to give clients the best experience:

• • Information about why they should buy from you and what makes your company different. Trust is one of the most important things you need to demonstrate to your viewers.
  • The products that you offer including a shopping cart where they can easily order their chosen product.
  • Frequently asked questions about shipping, returns, substitutions, or any other questions that a prospective buyer may have.
  • Remember to have a way that they can easily reach you with questions and concerns.
  • Create a valuable, relevant blog

Valuable blog content will help you achieve stunning SEO results. Your digital marketing strategy can’t achieve anything without valuable and relevant blog content.  To be relevant, the blog posts shouldn’t be about everything in the world.  They need to provide information about your products and your industry with internal links to other pages and products that you offer.  If you offer gifts, include posts about holidays and occasions when people would send gifts.

It’s also important to keep your website content updated so that it is always accurate and relevant.  Make sure that all your links work.

Invest more time in SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a way to have the search engines – primarily Google — drive leads to your site. If you do it correctly, search engines will rank your site and web pages high during searches.  When people search for a product, they usually don’t look past page 1 or occasionally page 2.  SEO is what will make your company or product show up when they search.

Search engines are constantly updating their algorithms which means that what worked last year may not search this year. Your choice of keywords and how they are used on your posts and pages will make a big difference in how those posts and product category and product pages will show up in a search.

Create a social media marketing strategy

Don’t try to use every social media platform to market your business.  You will only be frustrated.  Choose one or two that you will concentrate on.  You can always add others later.  And don’t just constantly post sales pitches.  Make some informational posts and even a bit of humor occasionally.

Some things you can post about include:

• Information about a new product
• Testimonials
• A teaser and link to a blog post
• Show what your company is currently doing.

The secret to having social media work for you is to share useful content to a broad audience regularly so that when they need your product, your company will be the first one they will think of.

Create a mailing list

Be sure that your shopping cart asks for permission to send emails to customers when they check out.  You can also provide an incentive to sign up for your mail list when someone visits your site.  It should be something valuable to be effective.

Then use that mailing list to send out short informational emails that aren’t just saying “buy my products.”  Make them interesting enough that people will look forward to receiving and opening them.  And send them regularly enough that people will recognize that it is from you.

Conclusion

Local networking was once the primary way to market your business, but with online marketing, the volume of potential customers has grown immensely.  Internet marketing techniques will equip you with the necessary skills to help you stand out from the competition and boost your sales.