Internet Marketing Basics

Internet Marketing Basics
By Jacob Wissler, Jr.
Internet marketing begins with seven very basics facts. The purpose of this essay is to provide a review of those basics facts, which many people overlook:
1. Your domain name must be easy to spell and remember. A domain name should also contain your most important keywords. If you are a golf course in Houston, Texas the best domain name is not the name of your company. The correct domain name would be GolfHouston.com or perhaps HoustonGolf.com. If someone if looking for a place to golf in Houston, which two words would you expect them to type into Google?

2. The word welcome means nothing, because it is assumed that every customer is welcome. Most importantly, the word welcome takes up vital space in your title tag, which is the most important tag on your website. Search engines expect the title tag to define the site. Use this opportunity to state your product or service and location.

3. You must know who your customer is, and what he (or she) wants. This may seem easy, but many major companies have spent millions of dollars on research to discover they were wrong. In 1982 Cadillac did a large survey and found that 65% of their buyers selected a Cadillac for prestige, while only 27% bought the car because they felt it was a great vehicle. As a result of this survey, Cadillac spent less on ads that stressed quality, and began to issue special "Gold Cards" to identify Cadillac owners when they came in for service.

4. Make your company easy to find. Your telephone number should be on the Contact page. When a consumer is shopping, they want answers now, not an email tomorrow. Many consumers hate to fill out online forms. By providing a direct email link and a telephone number, you are making it easy for a potential customer to contact you, which will greatly increase the odds that someone will do business with you.

5. Unless you are Amazon.com or some other well known major company, do not expect new customers to do business entirely online. Many consumers want to have a chat with you and develop a comfort level before giving up their credit card number to a company they have never heard of. A website is a vital addition to a regular "brick and mortar" business, but few businesses have been able to survive with just a website. At the very least, you need an address and a telephone number, so a consumer can talk to someone.

6. You need a quality website. A website is an essential business tool. This is your image. The website is not the place to cut costs. The public will judge your company based upon what they see. If you want to be professional you must look professional.

7. Your website must be optimized for the search engines. What good is a website if no one can find it on the Internet? You do not need to "register" with search engines and you should never pay a company to "submit" your site, but you do need search engine optimization. This can be done by some top level web designers, but do not assume that a great artist is also great at search engine optimization. If your web designer lacks experience in this area, look for a search engine optimization firm in your community.
The Internet is the marketing tool of the future. In the 1970s people looked in the yellow pages; today they look on the Internet.
Jacob Wissler, Jr.
SEO Houston