Getting to the Top of the List

Because of the way society is changing due to the Internet and social media, if you are running a business, having only a web site does not cut it anymore. Way back in the “old” days of the Internet, having a web site was considered forward thinking and a great advertising move. Potential customers could find your business on line and learn whether or not you had what they were looking for, could find where you were, located and maybe even the price of the items they wanted.

Having a Web Site is a Necessity

Currently, having a web site is a necessity for any business that hopes to have a chance at being successful. However, simply having a web site alone is not enough. Your web site is just one of several million out there, all vying for the same customers you are. Internet presence and marketing is a method of presenting a web site to the public, pulling in traffic, and then turning lookers into buyers. This process blends the development and design of a web site, pay per click marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), reputation management, link sharing, directory listings, blogging, social media, and other opportunities for creating a long-term confident existence for a company or organization on the Internet and in search engines.

Creating a Web Presence

To maintain an Internet presence and create brand recognition, there are many avenues that businesses need to utilize. Social media outlets such as Facebook, Google Maps, Flickr, Pinterest, Youtube, Twitter and mobile apps offer excellent opportunities for creating brand recognition and a strong web presence.

First, you must start with a dynamic web site design. You want a design that invites the visitor to stay a while and explore. A busy home page full of information and flashing windows are bound to scare customers away by overloading them with information, or making the information they want hard to find among all the ‘noise.’ Your home page should provide general information, but you want your visitor to click on a button or two to get details on what they are looking for. However, your site needs to be easy to navigate and buttons leading to more information should be easy to find.

Web sight design and development needs to provide a brand that is visually appealing by utilizing site layout, image placement and logos. Creating a consistent color format helps create brand recognition.

Having a Plan

In the midst of creating a web site, goals need to be set that will identify your online approach. When this is established and put into motion, there is an ongoing process of assessing results and perfecting procedures so that goals are reached. In addition, presence management is looking for ways to cut costs by taking advantage of organic (word of mouth) activity, rather than paid ads.

An Internet presence and marketing strategy will roughly incorporate search engine placement, monitoring conversations about the brand, and examining a brand’s web presence overall.

Start With SEO

Search engine optimization or SEO is the most basic way to get traffic to your web site. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, AOL, Lycos and Bing use a ‘spider,’ or ‘crawler’ to locate pertinent web sites when a person presents a query. The crawler searches the Internet collecting information on web sites and depositing the information into a database. Using the information, the search engine ranks web sites.

Much of the information collected is based on keywords. These are words that are related to your web site and the product or services you offer. For instance, if you sell hardware, keywords would be hammer, screwdriver, nails, drills, construction, building and so forth. Basically, the more keywords you use in your web site and marketing, the more times your site will turn up in search engine rankings.

Keyword Use

The ways keywords are used also play a role. If you place too many on your site or marketing, search engines will ignore you because they consider your site as having been “stuffed.”

Several methods to increase search engine optimization include:

Using keywords in the name of your web site domain
Linking strategically – having links to and from other sites that are related to your business, but not in competition with.
Using keywords in page titles, image descriptions and headings
Title tags – this is what appears at the top of your search engine listing.
Meta tags – descriptions of what your web site or articles are about.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_presence_management

http://www.internet-presence-marketing.com/

http://www.jeffbullas.com/2011/07/29/7-ways-to-market-on-facebook-organically/

http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/title_tag/

http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/m/

Published by Axiom International Marketing