Many people are daunted by effective custom web design, site optimization, internet marketing, seo, etc. How can you blame them? There are so many so called “experts” out there spouting off the latest internet tripe. With just a little research, you soon discover that these experts are usually hawking some business opportunity or selling software. So, we’re going to divest the entire process of it’s mysticism and make it as plain as possible.

Here’s what you’ll need to market your business effectively on the internet. The first thing you’ll need is a great website. This is not the area where you want to play it cheap. Do not design your own website! Unless you’re a graphic designer, you’re probably not as artistic as you think that you are. Hire a good web design company. Think about it. The first contact that many prospective customers may have with your business are you marketing materials such as your web site. A well designed web site should educate, instill confidence and trust in potential customers and above all is A SALES OR CLOSING TOOL. This can not be emphasized enough. It should not merely be a pretty online brochure. It’s purpose to either directly or indirectly close business for you. Period.

 Make sure you check around on the internet and observe your competitors websites before deciding on the design of your site. A good design company will help you with this. Study the design elements and features of the most successful companies in your industry. Do searches to determine which of their sites get top rankings in the search engines. Also, look for opportunities to innovate to make your website even better than theirs. Make it clear what you want from your website to your web design company.

After your site is constructed, the next thing that you need is for your site to be optimized. Site optimization consists of selecting the right keywords and then imbedding those meta keywords and phrases in the pages and links of your site, installing site maps, doing link exchanges, installing robots and analytics, tying in blogs and article directories, posting articles, and more. This makes your website search engine friendly and helps to get you higher rankings in the search results. Make sure your design company is experienced at this. Some designers are just so eager to get the business that they’ll claim to know more than what they actually do. Do not bypass the site optimization step and just try to submit your site to the search engines. All that will happen is that no one will ever be able to find it.

The last component is actually internet marketing or promoting your site. One popular way is submitting your optimized website to the search engines. There are literally thousands to choose from. However, the majority of searches are done through: Google, Yahoo, AOL and MSN. A study conducted by Berrier Associates shows that of people who spend five or more hours a week online, they average an astounding 71% of their time searching for information. Other research shows that the most common method of finding a website is through search engines. Google powers over 70% of all searches and is the trendsetter for algorithm creation. Therefore, search engine marketing is of paramount importance.

Some search engines are free and others you pay for. A good SEO company can advise on which search engines work best for you. 

By applying just these simple strategies, you will be well on your way to getting good results from your internet marketing.