Internet Marketing

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As the demand for internet marketing services continues to increase, so too does the number of unqualified service providers. The internet is overflowing with internet marketing “experts” who spread misinformation, confusing those who are interested in building a profitable online presence for their business.

Here are the 7 most common internet marketing myths I come across.

1. Internet marketing is expensive—You don’t have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to start building a profitable online presence. There are several inexpensive things you can do right now to immediately grow your online presence and to attract targeted traffic to your website.

2. You need a flashy website to be successful—While a flashy website might make the designer pat himself on the back, these designs rarely lead to an increase in sales. Sure, a professional-looking design is important, but what really makes a quality design is one that adheres to web usability best practices, contains simple navigation, and is laid out cleanly.

3. Internet marketing isn’t good for B2B services—Over $650 billion was spent on online B2B transactions in the U.S. alone last year. Spending continues to grow in spite of the recession. If you offer services to businesses, a strong online presence is essential to your success.

4. High search engine rankings mean high sales volume—Getting decent search engine placement is only half of the battle. What you do with that traffic is what’s really important. Your landing pages need to be designed to maximize conversions. Otherwise, visitors will just click the “back” button on their browser as soon as they land on your site.

5. Social media is a waste of time—A growing number of companies are finally starting to see the light, realizing social media marketing isn’t just a passing fad. When done properly, social media marketing is an effective way to increase brand awareness, build links to your website, learn more about your target audience, and enhance your credibility with consumers.

6. Once I achieve good search rankings, I can stop trying—Wrong. Just because you have top search engine placement for your keywords doesn’t mean you can take your foot off the pedal. The search engines are constantly changing their algorithms and updating their results to provide their users with the most relevant results possible.

7. Quantity of traffic is all that matters—Traffic stats are what the snake oil internet marketing salesman almost always hide behind. They show clueless clients how they’ve exponentially increased the traffic to their site, convincing them that they’ve done their job. Here’s the thing: anyone with even the slightest knowledge of internet marketing can increase traffic to a website. That’s not what matters. What matters is the quality of the traffic you attract. What’s the point of tricking a bunch of people into viewing your website who have no interest in your products or services? Quality of traffic and conversion rates are far more important than quantity of traffic.

What other internet marketing myths have you heard? Share them in the comments.

Posted in:Internet Marketing

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10 Tips for Turning Skeptical Visitors into Customers

Post by Eric Brantner

If you shop online, you know the importance of being a skeptical consumer. Let’s face it: the Internet is overflowing with scams. More times than not, if something looks too good to be true, it is. That’s why you have to keep your guard up at all times when shopping online.

Of course, from a business’ perspective, this now innate sense of skepticism that consumers have is making it harder and harder to convert website visitors into customers. Thankfully, there are some steps you can take to eliminate skepticism when people view your website.

1. Facts are your friend — Consumers love hearing statistics about a product’s performance. It’s the reason Clorox “kills 99.9% of bacteria.” When your website visitors see actual statistics in your copy, it gives them a sense of comfort as they know exactly what to expect from your products or services. Always include any case studies you have on your website.

2. Offer live support — One reason consumers online are skeptical is because they don’t know you. Websites aren’t like bricks and mortar businesses where you can interact with the employees face to face. That’s why it’s your job to bridge that gap by connecting with website visitors on a personal level. Live chat support on your website adds a human element to your site as visitors can interact with you and ask any questions they might have. It also lets them know you’ll be there for them should they decide to buy your product and not like it.

3. Eliminate risk with guarantees — Skepticism boils down to the fear of losing something: money. Customers don’t want to feel like they are taking a gamble when they buy your products. That’s why you should offer a 100% money back guarantee. Keep your guarantee easy to understand and free of excessive restrictions. This way, your customer will always feel like they have an out should they not be satisfied with your product.

4. Compare your product to the competition — Another way to reduce skepticism is to show your website visitors that there are no other options better than what you have to offer. Compare your product’s performance and features to those of your competition. Make it clear to your readers exactly why your product will benefit them more than any other similar product. Again, case studies and statistics can come in handy here.

5. Take advantage of the “About Us” section — Okay, so most “About Us” pages suck. That doesn’t mean you should ditch the page altogether though. Remember earlier when I said one reason online consumers are so skeptical is because they don’t know who you are? That’s where the “About Us” page can help. Fill this page with information about your company and its employees. Include pictures of your headquarters and workers. This adds a personal touch to your site, helping consumers feel they know you a little better.

6. Include testimonials on your website — If a website visitor doesn’t want to take your word for it, let them hear what your satisfied customers have to say. Testimonials offer a seemingly non-biased perspective on your products and services. Numerous marketing studies have found that including testimonials on your website can increase the conversion rate many times over.

7. Answer frequently asked questions — When someone views your website, you want to make sure they have no question that’s left unanswered. See, if your visitor can’t find the information they’re looking for, they’ll automatically assume you’re hiding it for some shady reason. Include a FAQ section on your website where you answer any and every question anyone could possibly have about your products.

8. Incorporate video on your website — You know how they say “Seeing is believing?” You can sit there and tell your readers over and over how much your product will benefit them, but they’ll never fully believe it until they see it for themselves. Adding a video demonstration to your website builds that trust with your visitors, and it adds a personal touch as well.

9. Have a professional site design — Everyone knows you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but we all do it anyway. Look, if your site looks like it’s a Geocities page from the late 90s, no one will feel confident handing over their money to you. A clean, professional design goes a long way to adding legitimacy to your business online.

10. View your site through a skeptic’s eyes—Before you set your website live, look at it from the eyes of the consumer. Ask yourself “Is there anything that seems hard to believe? If I landed on this website, would I feel comfortable doing business with them” Don’t be biased; let your inner-skeptic run wild on your site.

What do you do to combat skepticism?

Posted in:Internet Marketing

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5 Elevator Pitches to Help Internet Marketers Explain What They Do

There are so many elements to marketing on the internet that I often find myself struggling to come up with a quick, easy to understand explanation of what it is I do. I fumble over what I think needs to be said and end up spending way to much time talking about SEO or SMM and, before you know it, I start getting technical – Doh! This can leave a bad impression, I’m sure. Shame, shame, shame.

I decided to jot down some examples of pitches – each with a different emphasis – to help prevent me from committing the same sin over and over. Interestingly enough, I noticed that as I wrote this post, I WAS STILL DOING IT! Delete, start over, delete, start over. Damn you brain!

Feel free to leave examples of the pitches you use in the comments.

Person A: “Good Morning. What floor?”
Person B: “5 please. Thank you. Another wonderful day of work.”

(Elevator doors close)

Person A: (sarcastically)”Yeah, tell me about it.”
Person B: “No seriously, I love what I do.”

Person A: (shocked)”Well what the hell do you do!”
Person B: (insert pitch)

Pitch 1 – SEO Emphasis Pitch:
I build search engine friendly websites for businesses and get them to rank well in search engines by creating quality content, optimizing the site for highly searched keyword phrases and increasing the amount of inbound links to the site.

Pitch 2 – Various Methods Pitch:
I help businesses and organizations use their website to get more leads, prospects or clients by making their website
more visible on the web through search engine optmization, pay per click advertising and social media marketing.

Pitch 3 – Usability Pitch:
I help websites generate more traffic and, once they have that traffic, I improve the design of the site to help turn those visitors into clients, prospects or leads.

Pitch 4 – Brand Building Pitch:
I help businesses and organizations develop and grow an online brand by leveraging the internet to establish that brand in their niche and help them become more visible to their ideal customers, clients or prospects.

Pitch 5 – All-In-One Pitch:
(takes a deep breath)
I build search engine friendly websites for businesses and organizations that will build their brand and increase their visibility across the web through search engine optimization, pay per click advertising and social media marketing; which in turn, increase the traffic to their site. I then improve the design of the website to turn as many visitors as possible into clients, prospects and leads.

(Elevator arrives at 5th floor and doors open)

Person A: (Beaming with delight) That’s amazing! I’ll take 3 of everything you offer!