WEB MEDIA SCHOOL session - 63 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF INTERNET MARKETING
1. Understand that technology should help you achieve your business and personal goals. It is merely a tool to move you forward with your vision: a "means to an end" to HELP and enable you, rather than being an end in itself, Accept that the vast majority of www. users have great difficulty learning new computer procedures.
2. Don't take the competition for granted...and don't "knock" them.! The convergence of computer, media, entertainment and communications means TV/computer/music center is not far away.The net is a world wide market-place where even the "little guys" can take on the big corporations around the world.
3. Consolidate your business by focusing on what you do best. Don't try to be "all things" to your customer, nor try to offer too many products. Concentrate on perfecting and marketing your "best sellers" in your CORE business activities. (remember the "80-20 rule" - 20% of your activities produces 80% of your results/profit and vice versa!).
4. Honour your parents, your teachers and your communities and especially your family. Parents want their children to be safe on line, so supervise them closely. Teach them responsibility in internet usage.
5. Do not send spam (sending masses of unsolicited e-mail)
6. Do not launch your product before the market is ready for it. Test the market first by doing a survey. Ask yourself: Is there a NEED for your particular product? In what way is it distinctive (and superior) to the competition (world-wide, remember!)? Have all 100% of your systems in place to market it.
7. Take the business of internet marketing seriously. The world online population is in the order of 150-200 million at present and increasing daily. So the competition is "pretty stiff"
8. Have an effective web presence. Your site should explain immediately what the visitor will get for their time online. Make sure your site loads quickly, because people soon get tired of waiting in today's fast/instant (coffee) world. ... All of ours do!
9. Always remember MARKETING YOUR PRODUCT EFFECTIVELY is the key to the success of your business. Don't forget to use traditional methods of marketing to promote your business, as in advertising (radio, news-papers, brochures, and the most effective of all, word of mouth in your local community). The two strategies (both on-line and off-line), I believe, work best together in your marketing plan. Even if you have the greatest product in the world, you will never sell anything if you don't tell people about it.
10. Use the Internet to build a better world. The net is the most cost-efficient INSTANTANEOUS, EXCITING and effective way of marketing· so exploit the AMAZING POWER of the internet to reach hundreds of thousands of people and perhaps even millions around the world. Use your creative energies and imagination to the fullest, by thinking of new ideas of how to market your particular products.
Craig Lock ... clock@surf4nix.com
Web marketing has one thing in common with other advertising: no matter how good the ad, it won't build your business unless a lot of people see it.. Web marketing as two separate components: First, is the creation of a site and second, is marketing it. Building a site requires creativity, design skills and an understanding of color, images and popular trends.. The following are 10 suggestions for marketing your Web site:
1. Title. This is the first of three critical items that are coded in the "Head" of every Web page. It is the first thing a search engine sees at the top of your page. Use 3-8 words that describe what you do and flag your site for the search engines.
2. Meta Tag Keywords. The second item in the "Head" of your page should be a hidden Meta tag with 15-25 words to help people find you. These are words people are likely to enter in a search request. An accountant might have a string like: "Accounting, bookkeeping, records, taxes,"
3. Meta Tag: Description. The third item in the "Head" is a hidden sentence that describes both your page and your site. Make a vibrant, use as many of your Keywords as possible, and make it accurate. This is a one-sentence description of who you are, what you do and why people should visit your page. You've got 15-20 words. Use them!
4. Visible Title. This is the first thing people will see at the top of your page. You want to invite people: be accurate and brief. While a beautiful logo or banner may look nice at the top of your page, remember that 3-5 powerful words will download faster. The words in your title will also connect with search engines in a way that your logo can't.
5. First words on page. The first few seconds while a page is downloading are critical, and a short statement of what you do will download faster than most images. First impressions count! Search engines can catalog a brief but exciting description of your business, but they won't catalog your pretty picture!
6. Have multiple pages, each with their own marketing system. A simple way to increase the "hits" on your site is to increase the number of entrance paths. Rather than have one long page, divide it into three pages, each with its own title, meta tag, and description! If your pages are all linked within one site, you vastly increase the opportunities for people to find you.
7. Submit to search tools repeatedly. Search engines constantly update and expand their databases. Resubmit your site at least once a month. Using the Web to draw business is an ongoing project,8. Include your Web URL on your advertising. This seems obvious, but lots of people forget. Have your site on your business card, brochures, all of your advertising! If people are interested, want more information or are just curious, make it easy for them to check you out. Display your URL on everything!
9. Exchange links. One of the best ways to increase traffic and target specific audiences, is to trade links with other sites that attract a similar audience. I recommend that you have a page dedicated to "Favorite Links," sites whose owners have agreed to put a link to your site on their page.
10. Have something of value that changes often. Give your visitors something they can learn, do or enjoy each time they visit. Let them sign up for your newsletter, post a "Joke of the Day" or a daily quote. It doesn't have to relate directly to your business. People love parenting tips, humor, inspiration or practical tips for better living (Remember Martha Stewart?). Give them a reason to come back!
By Dr Philip E. Humbert, www.philiphumbert.com
One of the biggest mistakes I've seen is Web site copy that's written with *just* the search engines in mind -and a strong marketing message is nowhere to be found. Savvy search engine optimization writing satisfies two very demanding masters - the search engines and your prospects. If you write your copy *exclusively* for the search engines, and your text reads like a laundry list of keyphrases, you'll lose your customers the moment they hit your site. To be successful in search engine optimization, you must not only be able to achieve high ranking for your clients, but you must also be able to develop Web pages that will retain a viewer's interest when they reach the site.In all of our efforts to write well for the robots, we must remember to also write well for the human brain. Remember that the human brain likes the appropriate use of colour. The human brain likes text broken down into manageable chunks or clusters that are easy to read and absorb. With practice, you can build pages that are content rich and compelling to read. You can create projects that are pleasing to look at and still score exceptionally well.
You must also deliver value to your visitor and compel them to take action. Although this has more to do with getting action from your visitors than traffic-building itself, I think it is still an important issue or error that is far too easily overlooked. Building traffic is wonderful, but don't forget to make the most of the traffic you already have by giving visitors a "non-threatening reason to act now."
The fact is that every page on your Web site that ranks well for any reason is acting as a "doorway" to your Web site. Many people mistakenly believe that everyone will arrive at their site through the home page. Do a focused search on Google, AltaVista, or another major engine, and you'll almost always find matches that are not home pages.
Don't go after generic keywords. Generic words are not how the average person really queries a search engine. I have found a user will type in a generic or single word like "animals," then realize what they asked for was too broad in scope. They have to narrow it down, like "animal pictures," "baby animal pictures," and the list goes on. If you can just focus on very specific key phrases, you will have more success in the long term, hold a position longer, have less competition for focused phrases, and find that users will stay on the site longer because your site answered their questions. Here are just two keyword phrase possibilities that you might consider for a lawyer who only handles appeals: appeals lawyer - appellate attorney
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