Is your website getting a failing grade in Search Engine Marketing? Are you brand-spanking new to marketing your website online and haven’t got a clue what the differences are between Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

A Review Of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) And Search Engine Optimizaton (SEO)

Take a deep breath and we’ll tackle this together.

What Is Search Engine Marketing (SEM)?

SEM is a rather broad term to generalize all paid and non-paid efforts you make to increase the search engine rank, or, online visibility of your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs). So, things like Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising and other forms of online advertising can be classified as SEM. The desired result of Search Engine Marketing is to drive higher-volumes of traffic to your website. Like all other forms of marketing, the more eyeballs seeing your products and services, the more people you can convert to sales.

What Is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization is a more specific term used to describe the more technical aspects of optimizing your website’s code, structure, content and organization to: 1) closely match the keywords and content that search engine end-users would expect to use to find your site or similar websites, and, 2) optimize specific elements (referred to as signals) of your website that search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing use to rank websites.

I know… the above definition of Search Engine Optimization is a bit general. Let me break things down a bit further for you. The complex business of SEO can be rather simply explained as having two components, onsite and offsite optimization.

Onsite SEO

Onsite Search Engine Optimization refers to the use of appropriate search engine keywords in the code and content of your website to boost your ranking in search engine results pages. Onsite SEO tactics include known factors search engines use to determine the relevance of your website, such as: use of search engine keywords in page headlines, directories and file names; inclusion of META tags (Google uses these in rare situations, but other search engines still rely on them); internal linking of web pages and use of anchor text (the text in links used to describe what the link is about); page load times and a host of other techniques.

Offsite SEO

A subset of Search Engine Marketing and brother to onsite SEO, offsite Search Engine Optimization specifically refers to search engine optimization techniques that use third-party websites to improve the relevance and rank of your website for your chosen search engine keywords. Offsite SEO includes things like link building (getting other websites to link to your website), use of anchor text in third-party links pointing to your website, building authority in your site by getting links that are thematically relevant (if you are a Las Vegas web designer, links to your website hold more weight if they are from other Las Vegas businesses and other web design related sites), and a host of other techniques.

To get the most from your website, you need to work with a competent Las Vegas internet marketing firm to help you:

1. Identify relevant search engine keywords to describe your site, company, products and services.
2. Review keywords your competitors are using, assess online competition for your chosen keywords and find openings you can exploit in Search Engine Marketing.
3. Execute onsite and offsite Search Engine Optimization.

Keep in mind, Search Engine Marketing needs to be viewed as an ongoing activity. To get your website ranked number one in Google takes time and a sustained effort to beat your competition.

We want to hear from you! Do you need help with marketing your website online? What did you think of the above primer on Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimization? Leave us a comment, below!

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Marketers are screaming at the top of their lungs that print media is down for the count and that social media is the new champ. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Blogs are the new big thing that will change the world!

Is social media marketing effective? Are we doing social media marketing right?

Is Social Media Marketing Worthwhile?

To tackle the first question, is the mad dash to slap up a Facebook page and cobble together a Twitter account, not to mention the mind-numbing hours of typing responses and hoarding followers, worth it? My answer is yes and no. Great answer, huh? Social media makes sense for a lot of businesses, especially in regards to providing enhanced customer service.

For example, cable company Comcast uses Twitter to provide help with making sure customers can find information easily, as well as respond to issues directly to customers. And from personal experience, when I was purchasing a set of four new Hankook ultra high-performance summer tires for my car the other month, I noticed two prominent online tire dealers (Tire Rack and Discount Tire) had knowledgeable staff posting answers to very specific questions in third-party racing and car-lover forums. The tire dealers’ guidance on proper tire sizes, tweaks, tire reviews, install questions and comments were not only helpful, but appeared to be quite effective in attracting new business from their target audience. So in that regard, social media is great.

Is Social Media Marketing Effective?

Now, on to the second question – are we, social media marketers and businesses, doing it right? Do we really understand social media and how consumers interact with it? My response – I don’t think so. In some situations, like the two mentioned above, social media makes perfect sense. But, it appears to me that many companies focus on using social media in one (rarely two) of three ways: 1) brand building and awareness, 2) as a new form of mass distribution for the same old generic marketing messages, and, 3) as a more direct form of customer service. I see serious problems with the implementation of the first two.

Can social media be effective in building brands and creating awareness? Absolutely! However, I’m seeing a lot of companies taking the approach, “everyone else is doing it, so just throw something up and hope it sticks.” For example, while surfing through Twitter for followers a few months ago, I noticed a few large software companies (uhh, hem, Intuit and Peach Tree to name two) that appear to have told half of their staff to setup a Twitter account and get to work talking to potential customers.

That’s great that those companies are seeing the potential in social media, but blindly forcing your staff to be active on Twitter isn’t the key to generating new business. In my case, it is more than a little awkward trying to find common ground between myself (the owner of small business and user of small business accounting software) and the junior manager of software engineering for such and such department who has three-quarters of his followers as fellow engineers at the software company he works for. That’s an online party I just don’t fit into and may make other prospective customers frighteningly uncomfortable.

What We’re Missing In Social Media Marketing

In my view, the real big money payback for companies using social media is in forging truly one-to-one marketing relationships with prospects and customers. Instead of hoarding Twitter followers like the next big famine is here, or tirelessly building your Facebook fan page empire, think about your target market and the message you are sending, and ultimately, what you want to say to that audience. Pick and choose your followers. It means nothing if you have 100,000 Twitter followers if 90% of them are not in your market, or are racing to cultivate as many followers as possible, too.

There’s an enormous and powerful opportunity here for companies and marketers to directly impact sales by using social media as a lead in to other forms of personalized marketing. Use social media to really reach out to your customers and prospects. Think of it as a two-way street. Don’t simply broadcast the same old, tired marketing messages.

Talk to your prospects. Try like crazy to use social media marketing as the entrance to a closed-loop, one-to-one marketing system. Follow up with new contacts by integrating personalized URLs, custom webinars and individualized direct mail using variable data printing (VDP). It’s a great way to keep your marketing conversation going, while slowly bringing in other marketing touch points.

Talk to us! What are your thoughts on social media marketing? Did you find this article on how to use social media marketing helpful? Leave us a comment!

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Confused about Twitter etiquette and how to use Twitter in your small business marketing? You’ve come to the right place! When using Twitter as part of your social media marketing, use common sense. Twitter etiquette isn’t rocket science.

10 Rules Of Twitter Etiquette For Small Business Marketing.

What is appropriate Twitter etiquette? If you’re confused, stop and think: is what you’re doing something you’d do to another person face-to-face? Twitter is not a no-holds barred forum for you to strut your ego and slap everyone in the face to promote your website. Use common sense Twitter etiquette when using Twitter.

Twitter Etiquette

Below are ten rules of Twitter etiquette to not be a jerk while using Twitter for social media marketing. Think of these rules of Twitter etiquette as a primer on how to use Twitter for promoting your small business using social media marketing.

1. Follow And Ye Should Be Followed
If a Twitter user follows you, and they’re a legitimate business, or a real person and not a spam spewing robot, follow them back! That’s common courtesy folks and great Twitter etiquette.

2. Spammers Can Go To Hell
A lot of small business owners are using Twitter as part of their social media marketing… that’s a good thing! But, if you are spamming everyone and anyone with endless Tweets, @User and direct messages, other Twitter users will be quick to give you the boot! Spamming will kill your social media marketing and is atrocious Twitter etiquette.

3. Say Please And Thank You
Be gracious towards others when using Twitter. If someone ReTweeted your Twitter post or sent you a comment, respond. Say thank you! It works in the real world and is even more important to Twitter etiquette. That person took a moment of their valuable time to help you.

4. Be The Real You
Everyone loves money! But taking pictures of yourself with “bling bling” and claiming your Twitter strategy will lead to overnight millions makes you look pathetic. This is not how to use Twitter to build your social media marketing. Be personal, genuine and sincere when using Twitter.

5. Give To Others
Networking rock stars are always giving you something valuable. They’re the first one calling you with new contacts and resources to help you achieve bigger and better things. They’re selfless! So be selfless back when using Twitter and in your social media marketing.

6. Twitter Is For Networking
I already touched on this in the opening paragraphs on how to use Twitter, but using Twitter as your personal broadcast system for hawking garbage is poor Twitter etiquette. Twitter is a great social media marketing tool for forming business relationships and making your website successful. So be social!

7. Tweet Value
Provide insight, advice, a new perspective, resources or helpful information in your Tweets. It’s not only good Twitter etiquette, but will help promote your business in social media marketing. No one cares that you’re sitting on the back porch eating a pork chop shaped like Jesus.

8. Be Inspiring
There’s a big difference between those who actually are inspiring and exude leadership and those who simply talk a lot. If you’re using Twitter to constantly post inspiring quotes from famous people, it tells me a) you have nothing of your own to say, and, b) you aren’t taking action on your own to be inspiring.

9. Using Twitter To Create A Clone Army
Don’t follow me on Twitter and then attempt to follow me again, and again, and again with twenty of your other automated Twitter accounts. This is definitely not how to use Twitter. Using Twitter with multiple accounts for spamming is ridiculous! Your clones aren’t fooling anyone and it’s a perfect example of crappy Twitter etiquette.

10. Don’t Just Sit There, Say Something
Filling out your Twitter profile is key to social media marketing and good Twitter etiquette. If you’re too lazy to write 140 characters about who you are, I’m too lazy to visit your website and read your Tweets to learn about who you are. Common sense Twitter etiquette people!

Talk to us! Did you find this article about Twitter etiquette helpful and informative? Are you new to using Twitter for social media marketing? Have questions? We’d love to hear from you. Thank you for reading!

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1. Is Social Media Marketing Missing The Boat?

Using keywords in your small business website content is mission critical! Even if you’re a small business owner running your website by yourself, you need to be using keywords in your website and blog content. If you aren’t using keywords, and cling to the hope that your website’s search engine rankings will magically improve – you might as well put on cement shoes and jump in the Mississippi river.

Be proactive about using search engine keywords! The following six tips will help you optimize your website content and improve your small business search engine rankings.

1. Don’t simply use one or two search engine keywords.

Spend a few extra minutes before writing, or after your outline is complete, and research four or five additional search engine keywords that are related to the theme of your content, and, that dovetail nicely with the overall content of your website. Using keywords related to your main one or two words and phrases will broaden your results in search engine rankings.

2. Pay attention to keyword density in your website content.

You want to strike a balance between having a high enough density to boost your search engine rankings, while not overloading your copy. If your website content is too keyword-dense, search engines may devalue your page and human readers will find your writing unnatural. Depending on the type of your website, a good goal is to shoot for 2.5% to 7% search engine keyword density.

3. Regularly review how you are using keywords and what search engine keywords you are using.

Much like the search engine rankings for certain words change over time to add new websites and drop old websites, keywords also ebb and flow. It is a good idea to evaluate your website copy every few months and update old, poor performing search engine keywords.

4. Make sure you are using keywords where they are valued the most by search engines.

Use your keywords in page titles, the HTML title tags, ALT tags, META tags, image tags, and throughout your website copy in the H tags and bolded, where appropriate. In addition, whenever possible, use keywords at the beginning of a page title, as these positions are given more weight when calculating search engine rankings.

5. Use search engine keywords in article summaries, author biographies and content excerpts and internal hyperlinks on your website.

Some search engines use this information directly or combined with other web page details when creating results in search engine rankings. Using keywords in theses places are good for search engines and for human visitors.

6. When linking to your website from other sites, make sure you are using keywords in your link’s anchor text.

Anchor text is the text that describes or names the link. Also include search engine keywords in the sentences around the hyperlink. More advanced search engines, like Google, use proximity of search engine keywords to links when determining relevance and page value in search engine rankings.

Sending out an SOS! Give us a sign, dear loyal reader. Leave us a message in the comments section below. Let us know what you liked, didn’t like or have questions about. We’d like to know what you think about our article on how to use keywords to improve search engine rankings. Thank you for reading!

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Online article marketing is all about syndication! The goal of articles marketing is to attract lots of eyeballs and lots of backlinks to your small business website. Over time, the result of a steady and continuous articles marketing campaign is to drive traffic to your website and climb the ladder of search engine rank.

What Is Online Article Marketing?

What Is Online Article Marketing?

Online article marketing is simply taking content you’ve written about your products, services, and business and syndicating that content on other websites. Just about anything can be used in articles marketing, including how-to-information, research you’ve conducted, product reviews, white papers you’ve written and more. As long as your articles marketing content isn’t overtly sales oriented, it can be used quite effectively to promote your business online.

Benefits Of Online Article Marketing

Online Article Marketing Improves Website Traffic

Over time, online article marketing will build traffic to your website. As your content is syndicated further online, more and more people will be exposed to your small business marketing. Some readers of your syndicated content will find value and decide to visit your small business website for more information. Some won’t make it back to your website. But that’s okay! Just like in any other type of marketing, online article marketing is a numbers game. The more people you expose to your marketing message, the more opportunity you have to convert new customers.

Online Article Marketing Boosts Search Engine Rank

Online article marketing has an enormous positive impact on search engine rank. Besides exposing large numbers of potential customers to your business, online article marketing builds valuable backlinks to your small business website. Backlinks are links from other websites pointing back to your website. So every time your articles marketing content is syndicated online, the links in your author biography and article lead back to your small business website. Each link, when optimized for search engines using keywords in the anchor text, will increase search engine rank.

Online Article Marketing Positions You As An Authority

Think of online article marketing as the new age, younger cousin version of public relations. Articles marketing is an opportunity for you to present your industry knowledge and expertise to a wide audience. Simply writing content that provides advice, insider information, industry news, and best practices will enhance your overall credibility. There is one caveat to building your credibility with articles marketing — you must provide quality website content. Don’t simply spam article directories and websites with shoddy, poorly-written content. It will reflect poorly on your business.

Online Article Marketing Is Mostly Free

I say mostly free because if you do it yourself, online small business marketing won’t cost you anything but time. And a lot of small business owners have more time than money, so the time investment is a beneficial trade off. But, to get the most bang for your efforts, you do need to be consistent with online article marketing. Create a schedule and stick to it! Cost can start to factor into the equation when you begin to expand your articles marketing. Once you reach your threshold and time becomes more valuable, look into hiring a professional SEM (Search Engine Marketing) firm to list your website in search engines and do the dirty work for you!

We’d like to hear from you! If you loved or loathed this article about online article marketing, leave us a comment below. Help us start up a discussion. We’d be more than happy to answer your questions and engage in civil debate. Thanks for reading!

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5. Using Keywords To Lay The Smackdown On Search Engine Rankings

It’s time to suit-up and grease the wheels of your small business website. First step, let’s look at your website stats to set benchmarks to increase website visitors. Without putting an ear to the ground and reading the tea leaves of your website stats, you can’t possibly know where your website is succeeding or failing. A comprehensive review of your website’s stats will paint a clear picture on what needs to be fine-tuned to improve the functionality, search engine ranking and effectiveness of your site.

The following key website stats will help you form a baseline for your small business website. Future site updates can then be compared against this benchmark to accurately gauge success, identify problem areas, trends, and ultimately increase website visitors.

Search Terms And Keywords

Search keyword reports are powerful tools for identifying exact words and terms visitors are plugging into search engines to find your small business website. Keyword website stats reports will help you fine-tune your website content, Meta and HTML Keyword Tags, and spot non-technical or unexpected terms visitors are using to find you.

Bounce Rate

Bounce rate gives you insight into the quality of website content on individual web pages of your site. Expressed in terms of a percent, bounce rate calculates how often a visitor lands on an individual page of your website and either: 1) leaves your website immediately, or 2) spends a brief amount of time on that page, but doesn’t continue to any other page of your small business website. The lower the bounce rate, the better that page of your website is at enticing visitors to check out other pages of your website. Ideally, you’ll want your bounce rate website stats in the 20% range, but 70% is not uncommon for generic landing pages.

Referring Websites And External Links

Is your online listing with the local chamber of commerce or business directory sending you visitors? Referral reports will identify what websites your visitors are coming from and how they got to you. With these referral website stats, you’ll be able to determine what other small business websites are linking to you and if online networking and advertising is producing results. Boost your efforts in areas that are working to increase website visitors.

Visitor Paths

Just like a roadmap, site path reports generate a turn-by-turn analysis on where visitors entered, what they viewed while on your small business website, and where they left. These websites stats are helpful in identifying valuable content, as well as improving your marketing to each stage of the buying process.

Most Visited Website Pages

What pages are most popular? Pretty much self-explanatory, these website stats compile individual page data to rank their popularity amongst site visitors. Upon close inspection, this information will help you adjust site navigation, reposition lesser-viewed content and products, and leverage your company’s specialization in niche markets.

Time On Site

Another fairly self-explanatory website stat, the amount of time a visitor spends on individual web pages, and on your website as a whole, is very important. You want to keep visitors on your small business website as long as possible. Use time statistics as a guide for improving content on individual pages, and as a yardstick to boosting your overall website’s conversion rates.

How To Use Website Stats

After spending some time reviewing your website stats, start looking deeper into problem areas. Use website stats and other traffic information to determine the effectiveness of your website content, and plot out where you can improve your website to increase website visitors. You’ll want to review how content is structured. Is it logical? Does it move the prospect one step forward towards giving you a call or buying your product? Is it in line with how your visitors are actually using your site (review your website stats Visitor Path reports discussed above)? Is site navigation simple to use?

Tell us what you think! We’d really like to hear your comments! Give us a piece of your mind and fire away with any questions you have about how to review your website stats. And be sure to check out some of our other great small business marketing articles. Thank you for reading!

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5. Search Engine Marketing And Search Engine Optimization – What Are SEM And SEO?

To most small business owners managing a website for the first time, getting listed in search engines and search engine ranking are confusing topics. This article isn’t meant to be a field manual of technical details to increase search engine rank, but rather, a light summer plate for those confused about search engine rank or just starting out.

Tips To Increase Search Engine Rank

What Is Search Engine Rank?

Search engine rank refers to the placement of your website in the search engine results pages (SERPs) for particular keyword search. Sorry, that sounds a heck of a lot more confusing than it actually is! In short, when someone goes to Google and types in a keyword, the resulting pages of matching websites is referred to as the search engine results pages. And the order of those pages is referred to as the search engine rank. So, when someone says, “hey, my website ranks number one in Google for such and such keyword,” it means their website is the first non-paid website listed on the search results pages for that keyword.

How Is Search Engine Rank Determined?

Search engines compute your website’s search engine rank using a variety of variables fed into proprietary algorithms. Most of the variables are a kept a secret to prevent people from gaming the system to increase search engine rank. But, a number of important key variables have been openly acknowledged by search engines, and are consistently used in internet marketing to improve organic (natural) rankings and increase search engine rank. A few examples of key variables to increase search engine rank include: site keywords and phrases, file naming, domain and web page naming, keyword density in the site’s content, website structure, traffic volume, and hyperlinks from other websites to your site. There are many other factors, but again, we’ll keep things simple for now.

How To Increase Search Engine Rank

Review Your Use Of Keywords And Phrases
First, check to make sure the keywords and phrases you are using on your website are used by people searching Google, Bing, Yahoo and the other search engines. Use Google Adwords Keyword Tool or Google Search-Based Keyword Tool to research the popularity of individual words and phrases and then use those keywords on appropriate pages of your website. Stocking your web content with keywords is a great way to increase search engine rank.

Review Your Website’s Traffic
Ask your web host for access to website’s statistics tracking software, log files, or ask your web designer to setup Google Analytics on your website. Once setup, review the words and phrases people are actually using to find your website, with the keyword list you’ve developed from the above step. If how you want people to find your website is out of sync with what people are actually using to find your website, then you’ve identified a big cause of poor rank. Work to bridge the gap in keyword use to increase search engine rank.

Review Links To And From Your Website
It’s a bit of a funky paradox… you need traffic to increase search engine rank, but in order to get traffic, you need a high search engine rank. That’s where the importance of linking to and from other websites comes into the equation. Search engines use links to your website to determine the content and quality of your website. The more links you have pointing to your website from related topics, the more valuable your website appears to the search engine — helping to increase search engine rank.

Create A Marketing Plan To Increase Search Engine Rank

Develop a long-term plan that defines what websites, online directories, social networking websites, communities, forums, and other places you should list your website with to increase search engine rank. In addition, identify what traffic goals you’re seeking, conversion rates, paid listings and pay-per-click search engine advertising (Google, Yahoo, Bing, AOL, Ask.com, etc.) you need to do. Then, work the plan. Planning your online marketing will set benchmarks for success, so that you’ll know where you’re succeeding and where you need to fine-tune things to increase search engine rank.

Kick your feet up and stay a bit! Leave us a comment, question, idea or concern about increasing search engine rank for your small business website. We’d love your feedback! And if you like what you’re reading, subscribe to our RSS feed or via e-mail. Thanks for reading!

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Getting listed in search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing and AOL is essential! But increasing search engine rank can be complex for small business owners. The purpose of this article is to provide an overview on getting listed in search engines. We’ll discuss the

Getting Listed In Search Engines Like Google, Yahoo, Bing And AOL

Why Are Search Engines So Important?

Plain and simple, if your company isn’t getting listed in search engines, you’re either losing business or not maximizing your opportunities. A study by search engine research firm comScore Media Metrix, reported Americans conducted 14.3 billion searches in May of 2009. Let’s repeat that again… 14.3 billion searches in only one month! Search engine usage statistics are staggering! If your small business isn’t getting listed in search engines, or if you’re asking yourself “do I need a small business website,” you’re signing your own death warrant.

The Basics Of Getting Listed In Search Engines

Today, human editors still review website submissions, but the majority of listings are generated and indexed via automated programs, commonly referred to as spiders, search bots and crawlers. In order of least to most-expensive, there are three options for getting listed in search engines and submitting your website for inclusion:

1. Let The Search Engine Find Your Website
The first and easiest method for getting listed in search engines is to let the engines’ web crawlers find and index your site for you. This option takes no effort (other than Keyword and site optimization), but your listing may not appear for a couple of weeks or more if you don’t do anything to promote your website online.

2. Manually Submit Your Website To Search Engines
A second option for getting listed in search engines is to manually submit your site to each search engine. Manually submitting your website to search engines has two benefits over automatic spidering. First, your website will be reviewed quicker — getting listed in search engines can take a couple of weeks or less via manual submission. Secondly, manual submission gives you a bit more control over how your site is listed. Most of the secondary search engines allow you to provide your own keywords, titles and website description — which can help you increase search engine rank.

3. Pay For Search Engine Review
Getting listed in search engines can be as simple as writing a check. Although paid review is becoming less common, a few search engines will manually review and list your site for a fee. Costs can range from $100 to $300, depending on the search engine. What’s the benefit from having someone review your website? Speed is one. After submitting your site, the review and listing is typically completed in seven to ten days. In addition, human reviewed websites generally achieve better inclusion in secondary communities, such as local and business directories.

What Search Engines Should I Submit My Website To

So who are the big players and where should you focus your attention for getting listed in search engines? Google holds the lion’s share of online searching, followed by Overture Networks, which is composed of Yahoo, AltaVista, AllTheWeb and Overture. Those two are musts for getting listed in search engines. However, don’t forget the other power players like Bing (Microsoft), AOL (America Online), and Ask (formerly Ask Jeeves). There are also thousands of small, niche-topic and local search engines you may want to consider.

Shout it out! If you liked, or even hated, this article on getting listed in search engines, shoot us a message in the comments section below. We’d love your help in starting up a lively discussion. Thanks for reading!

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5. How To Mine Your Business Assets And Repurpose For Greater Online Marketing Reach

If you’re like me, your business generates mountains of paperwork, digital documents, e-mails, marketing materials, contracts, research and other “stuff” that you file away every year. I’ve got a lateral filing cabinet full of documents, and hard drives crammed with thousands upon thousands of files. For many of us, we’ve adopted the approach of file and forget—not realizing the enormous marketing goldmine sitting dormant right in front of us.

It’s time to make those bits and bytes you’ve been filing away earn their keep. They’ve been getting free room and board for far too long!

So how can you mine your business assets and reuse them for marketing? It’s pretty easy, actually.

Start sifting through old e-mails to customers, client projects, research, proposals, hand-written notes—you name it. See what you can rewrite, polish up and repurpose for use in marketing your small business. Think about materials you’ve previously written, or research you’ve conducted, that you can repackage to help educate and inform customers, answer their questions, and showcase your experience and knowledge. Keep your eyes peeled! Opportunity is everywhere.

Okay, so you’ve found something you think might work. Now what?

Post It On Your Blog

Condense or rewrite your document and give it a second life as a blog post. Blogs are a great tool for generating traffic to your website, improving search engine penetration, increasing search engine rank and social networking. Often, businesses use blogs as an informal tool for educating prospects.

Create A Checklist

Draw out key points of the document and create a checklist for customers. You can then turn your checklist into a downloadable PDF for your website, to e-mail to prospects, or to print off and hand out in meetings and other business events.

Create A Video Presentation

Summarize the key points of your document and create a PowerPoint presentation. Convert the PowerPoint presentation into a video file, add some audio narration, and voila! You can use the video to promote your website online at popular video sharing websites, such as YouTube.com, or in CD and DVD presentations.

Create A Podcast

Record an audio narration of your document, or pull out key points and discuss those in a recording. Then, convert the audio file into MP3 format and upload them to popular file sharing websites, or on your own website, so that prospects can download them to their iPod and listen to you at their convenience.

Submit To Article Sharing Websites

But the fun doesn’t stop there! Significantly rewrite your document or blog post and add an author’s byline that promotes yourself and your business for use in online article marketing. Then submit your articles to online article websites and e-zines for even greater reach. This approach will help build credibility in you and your business, while also generating traffic to your website.

The Hard Work Has Already Been Done

The opportunities are virtually endless for repurposing business assets to promote and market your small business. Sift through your files. Think about old e-mails, sale letters, product information sheets, press releases and proposals. Even something like a printed brochure or postcard marketing from ten years ago can be reused. Most of the hard work has already been done. It’s simply a matter of rewriting old ideas and plugging a few holes.

Leave us a message after the beep! Beep! Tell us what you think about this article on marketing your small business online. What did you like? What didn’t you like? What questions do you have? Take a moment to leave us a comment. Thanks for reading!

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Absolutely, positively, yes! At the very least, you need to have a small business website so that customers, prospects, local businesses and organizations can quickly and easily find out more about you. It’s time to pull the gloves off, roll up your sleeves and ensure your business has a strong online presence. Even a sole proprietor working from home can’t ignore the benefits of a website any longer — even if you’re nervous about starting a website.

To Put Things Into Perspective, Think About It This Way…

What if you didn’t own a telephone? It’s a rather outrageous idea, but in all seriousness, what if you didn’t have a phone or cell phone? How would that impact your small business? Would your customers look at you differently? Would they think less of you for making their lives a nightmare—just to do business with you?

You’re darn right they would! And all silliness aside, the same can be said about not having a website for your small business.

But, I’m Doing Just Fine—Why Do I Need A Website?

Your business has done well over the years without a website. You’re continuing to grow at a comfortable rate. Your customers are happy and you’re happy. Why should you invest in a website?

Sadly, you’re failing to see past today. The train has already left the station—and you’re being left behind!

Internet usage continues to steam ahead, and people from all walks of life use the internet daily. In fact, a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that a staggering 73% of Americans are online. That’s over 147 million adults! It’s becoming painfully clear to many small businesses just how important of a marketing tool a small business website is.

And even more importantly, the study revealed that 60 million Americans routinely use the internet to research products and services before making a purchase. So if you think customers aren’t looking for your website (Who’s Visiting Your Small Business Website), or aren’t shocked to learn that you don’t have a website—you’re dead wrong!

Customers Expect To Find Your Business Online

You may be comfortable without a website for your business, but the opposite is rapidly becoming a reality for your customers. They’ve already adopted the web as a standard for conducting business with everyone and anyone. They expect you to have a website. And in most cases, you simply aren’t “real” to them if your business isn’t online.

The longer you shrug off putting up a website, the harder you’re going to have to run—just to catch up! You face the real possibility of dooming yourself to future failure.

Websites Are Proven Stimulants For Small Business Growth

Respected media research firm AC Nielson recently reported: small businesses that effectively used the internet to promote their products and services saw a stunning 51% jump in profits. And a whopping 58% of businesses reported increased growth and expansion because of the web. Proving that in today’s information-based economy, the web is a potent marketing tool and the benefits of a website are staggering.

Even if you don’t sell products directly from your website, you can’t afford to be left in the dark any longer. From kicking up new business and cutting costs, to reaching niche markets and branding your company’s image—a website can have an enormous and immediate impact on your bottom line. And if you already have a small business website, is it time for a website redesign?

Cat got your tongue? Tell us what you think about this article discussing the reasons why you need a small business website. Ask a question. Help us start a discussion. We’d love to hear from you! Thank you for reading!

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