Here are easy small business marketing tips that a startup who is just beginning to market his small business can follow. A work at home mom who wants to know what to do attract more visitors to her website can use these marketing tips in her spare time with wonderful results.
Hello, my name is Alexandria Marx and I am a copy writer and internet marketer by trade. I’ve tried and tested these easy small business marketing tips for over a decade. I’ve condensed them into simple, easy-to-understand bite size tips so YOU can put one or all of them into action today.
After 20 years conducting small business marketing for myself, as well as over a hundred clients, it’s easy to see that it is no different than what I did as a kid. I did what a lot of kids do. On a hot summer day, I convinced my folks to let me sell lemonade in the front yard of our home. We lived on the corner. That meant neighbors driving by on two streets. I set up my stand so passersby and cars driving down either street would easily see it. I made ice cold lemonade, put a big bucket of ice in easy view, got some glasses (no paper cups for me), and made an awesome sign. That, in a nutshell, is small business marketing.
It worked then, and it works now. After applying these 7 tips, you are going to feel empowered and confident.
Marketing Mindset
How you think as a seller is an important part of connecting with your customers. Your thinking paves the path for your ability to get in step with your customer. When you think like your customer, you get a picture of what your ideal customer needs to know to be persuaded to act on your offer.
This small change in your own thinking can result in a major shift in how you word your offers and how much more you are able to sell.
Tip 1. Web Traffic
You Want to Attract Visitors
When you operate with the mindset that everything you do in your sales process is done to help your customers achieve what they need, then any action that you take must be done with the intent of empowering (encouraging) your customer to move closer to a purchase. Anything else is wasted energy.
Let’s dig into Internet Marketing by reviewing the key outcome to Internet Marketing success. Traffic!
When you boil down the process of making money with a small business on the Internet, there are only two components:
A. Irresistible offers on your website
B. Thousands of visitors
First, you prepare your website pages so that when a visitor lands on your site, your words and images are so irresistible that the visitor wants to own whatever you’re selling.
Second, you do what’s needed to attract as many visitors to your website as possible.
In a nutshell, small business marketing means web traffic. and there are two types of web traffic.
1) Free Traffic
2) Paid Traffic
Free traffic refers to the actions you take that do not require an investment on your part to persuade people to visit your site. This generally starts with search engine optimization (SEO).
There are other steps you can take that don’t cause you to put out your hard earned cash, but SEO is the first and important. SEO can result in 100s of visitors. More about SEO in a minute.
Paid traffic refers to the choices you make that do cost you money, to attract people to visit your site. Typically, this refers to paid advertising where — for example — you pay a bid price every time a visitor clicks a link and lands on your site.
Although, paid advertising is one of many choices you have to attract visitors to your site, it is the most popular.
Clearly, one of these choices takes time and effort on your part, and the other takes money – although some of each is needed for success.
If you have a big marketing budget, you want to know the steps and strategies, but perhaps outsource Internet marketing services.
If you are on a limited budget, you want to learn the basics, and do it yourself.
Tip 2: Search Engine Found Listing
Free Non Sponsored vs Paid Sponsored Ad Listings
You probably already noticed that there are two areas in the search engine found list. Of the easy small business marketing tips, this is one most people already know, but it’s worth explaining.
What is the search engine found list?
It’s simply one or more web pages. Each page lists website URL link, the website Title (of the page) and a brief description.
When a web searcher (you and me) enter a keyword into the search engine field and press enter, the search engine goes to work. It all happens in seconds. They comb through their index of sites, and return a page(s) with site recommendations.
YOU, with you being the web searcher, can then glance through the “found list” page, read the brief descriptions, click a link and land on the page you chose.
Most of the time, the found listing is made up of more than one page. Often hundreds even thousands of pages. The first few pages are the most important, because most web searchers don’t go beyond the first few pages to find what they are looking for and click to that site.
If your website is ranked 897, on page 90 for example, it is likely that no one will ever find your site in the found listing.
In order for your website to be indexed by a search engine, Google for example, your site must either be in the free area or non-sponsored area; or the paid ad or sponsored area.
You want your site listed in the free list!
The search engine sponsored listing only displays paid ads. SEO is about getting your site listed in the free section of the page, so that when someone clicks your link, there is no cost to you.
Tip 3. Keywords
Attract Web Traffic with Keywords that Point to Your Website
First things first! Keywords are one of the most important tips in the list of easy small business marketing tips.
You need to know what keywords that best suit your site are, and you need to use your keywords to attract web traffic to your site.
Focus on keywords that work best for you. Make sure the keywords you choose are ones that web searchers actually use.
Tip 4. How to Use Keywords
Optimize Keywords on Your Pages to Attract Free Traffic from Search Engines
Before you start your small business marketing, you want your web page ready to sell; and you want your web pages embedded with keywords.
Once your web pages are ready to sell to visitors, you want to prepare your pages to be indexed by search engines.
You’ve probably already heard about search engine optimization (SEO).
Search engine optimization refers to any practice related to the end goal of improving your website position in the free, non-paid, non-sponsored search engine found list.
When you optimize your web pages, you add keywords. Simple, except that there is a way to add keywords that won’t get your web page banned as spam. Ouch!
Optimization doesn’t mean loading the page with every key word you ever thought had anything to do with your business. There is a strategy involved in order to get indexed above the top 100 listing, let alone on the first page of the search engine found listing.
Keyword Density
It is important to have the right keywords and keyword density on your website pages. If the keyword density is too low, you won’t get good ranking, and if it’s too high, your site might be accused of keyword stuffing, in which case search engines penalize your site, even though it might have been unintentional.
Keyword density means the number of times you have the same keyword on the page. In other words, more than 50 times use of the same keyword on a page with 500 total words on it, is not a good idea.
Web pages with a balanced amount of keywords are ranked at the top of the search engine found list. These sites attract thousands of visitors, as well as, thousands of orders for your business.
You want to include keywords in all your Internet marketing activities and web promotions.
But that’s not all of it.
Yes, you also need to do more than add a few keywords to the body content of each of your web pages, and that includes meta tags on each page.
Meta tags help search engines know about your web page: That’s why it is essential that you add keywords to the meta tags on your web pages, as well as put keywords in your alt images and page names, too.
Tip 5. Search Engine Optimization
Here’s How to Optimize Your Web Pages
Here are the places on your web page where you need to put a keyword in order to attract visitors from search engines without paying for the click:
Title > This is the line of text that appears in the top of the browser bar when you view a website. This line of text needs to include up to three keywords
Meta description > This is a brief description not shown to the viewing public, but captured by search engines in order to consider the value of your site to web searchers. This description needs to include the same keywords used in your title.
Meta keywords > These are the words and phrases not shown to the viewing public, but used by search engines in order to consider the value of your site to web searchers. Enter at least five keywords or key word phrases per web page. Keep keywords to no more than nine per page of about 500 words (on the web page).
Headline > This is the main line of text on your web page. It is usually bold and a bit larger font than the text in the body of the page. The headline needs to include at least one of the keywords used in your title, and no more than the three used in your title. Keep your headline limited to between five and eleven words.
First sentence > This is the first sentence in the body of the page beginning just after the headline. This sentence needs to include at least one keyword used in your title. Try to start the sentence with an action verb, but do not use this strategy on every page.
Pictures and images > These are the pictures and images associated with the web page that serve to capture interest, demonstrate, and draw attention to the message on your web page. One image or picture (not all of them) should contain one keyword as part of the alternative text. If you have large pictures or images, be sure to slice them and add alternate description to each image and sliced image part.
Text > The text refers to the words that are the main copy on your web page. Your body copy needs to include all your keywords and key word phrases scattered in complete sentences throughout your web page. All variations of the keyword count, such as “web services, website services, and web site services” will be counted as 3 web, 2 site and 3 services. Do not pepper your page with more than five to seven of each key word or key word phrases.
Links > Links refer to the hyperlinks shown visitors to navigate your site and place orders. Create Internet links that contain at least one key word and connect with a page on your site. Create an outbound link to another domain, not your site, with link text that is one of your keywords.
Tip 6. Search Engine Marketing
Search Engine Marketing Goes Hand in Hand with SEO
Search engine marketing (SEM) is the process of notifying each search engine that your site is ready for visitors.
Anybody can own a web site. Anybody can up sell their own products and services to their target audience. Anyone can try to promote their web site with a low cost. But there are not many web sites that have a truly successful web site with traffic all day. What these individuals or companies lack is the most essential factor of success — small business marketing that really works.
The SEM process invites search engines to visit your web pages, index your site, and add your site’s link to the search engine found listings when someone searches using one of your keywords. Success results in your site description and link being displayed in the found listing.
SEM is like knocking on the door of each of the major search engines and saying “Hi there, my site is ready for another visit. Won’t you come on over and see what we have to offer your web searchers?”
Tip 7. Link Popularity
How Many Sites Link to Your Site?
Your website’s link popularity is as important or even more important than any other task you do. You can see how some people never get a top ranking, because they believe all they need is a search engine optimized website. Not true. You also need to prove to search engines that your site is popular.
Once you have your web pages optimized with keywords, and you have submitted your site information to each of the search engines you feel is best, then you are ready for the final step in this menu of easy small business marketing tips.
Link Popularity
Search engine optimization is the first step in getting a top ranking. The other half of the coin is link popularity. With a good outcome in both areas, your site is guaranteed a top search engine ranking and thousands of visitors who are qualified to buy.