Online marketing has evolved from a basic website just marginally better than a newspaper advertisement, into a sophisticated and exciting vehicle for engaging customers and increasing revenue.
Is it possible to get online marketing wrong? Most certainly, and if that happens, the business will not only have wasted time and money; it could just be the difference between thriving and surviving. Want to know which online marketing mistakes are most common, and yet easily avoided? Read on…
Common Online Marketing Mistakes
Not defining the purpose of the website
Many businesses, especially small operators, create “one-size-fits-all” websites just to say they have a website! By not defining what the website is supposed to achieve, the business ends up with an on-line version of a traditional advertisement. Questions need to be asked and decisions made before just slapping together any website.
Stuffing Keywords
Going back years ago, the more keywords you had on a site, the better the search rankings would be. In today’s times, Google’s formula is much more complex due to people trying to find the easy way around the formula. Stuffing keywords into a supposed article used to be the thing to do but it generally let visitors with mumbo jumbo that made no sense. Point blank – the only way to create strategic material is to provide readers with quality content that is valuable and relevant to the information that is being sought.
Changing URL’s without Redirects
Many times, we’ve seen rankings lost overnight and business owners left wondering what happened. Changing your URL’s without providing instructions to Google about new or removed pages is a massive mistake – and very common. Make sure to use 301 Redirects. If you don’t know what that means, don’t try to do it yourself. It’s very simple, but mistakes are way too costly.
Content with no Value
In addition to avoiding fake keywords in your content, you also want to be sure you are not providing low-quality content of any kind on your site. If you are just writing words to add content, you are going to lose out. You need to create quality articles that prove your credibility and improve your reputation. People come to websites to learn solutions to their problems so you need to provide the information they are seeking out. Consistent writing and content will bring return visitors and increase sales.
Leaving the Website Unchanged for Months
People typically visit the same websites over time, and look for new content and graphics. By neglecting this, the business is not attractive to customers – like a retail outlet that needs a coat of paint.
Not Monitoring Visitor Behavior
Websites need to be monitored to provide statistics such as the number of visitors to the site, how long they are staying, which pages they are reading, and a host of other information that is easily obtainable from the web host. This information helps to improve the website and target the marketing resources.
Treating your Visitors Poorly
What’s the difference between an online customer and one who walks into a shop? None – both are buying a product or service and should be treated equally well. Auto responders (computer programs that automatically send acknowledgement emails to customers) are just one tool available to make an on-line customer feel important to the business.
These are just some of the mistakes of online marketing that can tarnish reputations and spoil customer relationships. There are many others. What must be recognised is that once a business goes on-line, that website is the brand and face of the business, and to neglect will have dire consequences for business survival.
