For the small business owner who is new to business in general or new to marketing online, marketing to potential customers on the internet is no easy feat. Because it seems like such a huge place, it can seem to be very confusing to navigate. Small business consultants that are experienced in targeted online marketing can help you navigate the unknown jungle of cyberspace so that you can get found by your target customer and make sales.
Targeting Customers Online
Targeting your potential customers online isn’t easy. Those you want to target may not yet know about your brand so can only find you through an internet search. Because almost no one uses a telephone directory any longer to help them find products and services, buying the biggest ad, using creative ad copy, having a business name that begins with the letter “A”, or using bold colours won’t initially work. Some of those elements could work remarkably well for you once the client gets to your website but the first trick is actually getting them there in the first place.
Small business consultants that are focused on internet-based marketing techniques can help you determine how to go about getting the attention of people surfing the web looking for whatever it is that you sell. Through both paid and organic search engine marketing, you can get the attention of the right people who can be led to your site where you can begin to win them over.
The most common way people can find your business website is by searching for your product or service in search engines. If you sell computers, it isn’t enough to target the word “computers”. There are about a zillion other websites competing for some form of that word already. By narrowing down broad search terms to location specific and specialty specific terms, you can be shown to the right people. If you have a computer repair shoppe or a fine-dining establishment on the outskirts of Peterborough, you aren’t trying to get the attention of someone in New York City. The consultant can help you target the right search terms through tools and through experience.
After you determine which search terms to rank for, you need to start building a campaign for those terms. There are dozens of website attributes that search engines look at when determining how to rank you in their index pages. This indexing happens constantly so various things could impact where your site is placed. Activities you do both on and off your website could make a difference in being listed on page 4 of the results pages for your desired search terms and page 1. Considering how you do your own web surfing, you know that it is very rare for anyone to search past page 2 when searching for something. The idea is to be seen as relevant by search engines for targeted search phrases so that you can get the right traffic to your website.
Not all traffic is equal and a consultant can help you determine the best demographic to target. Then, once they arrive on your landing page, a mixture of traditional and new media marketing methods can be used to convert that visitor into a customer.
Targeted search engine campaigns contain many different elements that can help you succeed. Skilled small business consultants can help you focus on those individual elements in a method and with a timeline that suits your business and your goals. With the right expert advice to guide you through internet marketing, the internet suddenly won’t seem so vast any more.