Most of us aren’t Internet marketing experts and in order to successfully promote our business, we need to call in professionals who work for Internet marketing companies to get the kind of results we’re hoping for. Internet marketing is a broad term that covers all kinds of advertising or marketing campaigns that use e-mail or the Internet to push e-commerce sales. The most common types of Internet marketing are web marketing, e-mail marketing, and social media marketing. A combination of these campaigns can yield incredible results for your business, so don’t hesitate to get Internet marketing help if you’re looking for better sales figures and more exposure for your business. They can assist with suggestions about improved web design, SEO campaigns, develop a social media marketing strategy, and work on content marketing among other things.
Why Web Design Matters
Appearances count. In a recent survey, almost 95% of people said web design was responsible for making them not trust or reject a website. Additionally, almost 50% of people said that web design was the top factor they used when deciding how credible a business was. You want your website to look professional, organized, and easy to navigate.
According to MarketProfs, in 2005, people using a search engine would spend just under two seconds (on average) looking at the listings, but in 2014, it was barely over one second. Currently, users spend about 50 milliseconds (0.05 seconds) to make a judgment about your website, so it’s crucial to make a good impression immediately. You want the consumer to stay and really see what you have to offer. If your website looks sloppy or like it was done with an outdated program, users are likely to move on.
If you’re a local business, consider adding reviews to your site. According to the Search Engine Journal in 2015, almost 90% of consumers check out reviews to see the quality of a local business and over 70% of consumers say that finding positive reviewers makes them more likely to trust the business in question.
Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Optimized
About half of people who own a smartphone will use their phone as their main way to access the Internet. The chances are high that if your website is not mobile-friendly, those browsing on their phones will get frustrated after a very short amount of time and navigate away to another competitor’s website who does have a mobile-friendly site.
You may also give off the impression that you’re not up to date with the times or that you simply don’t care — both of which you want to avoid at all costs. If you’re a local business, being mobile-optimized is even more important. The majority of Internet searches for local businesses are done on phones, as people tend to “search on the go.”
Content Is King
An Internet marketing company will also likely help you focus on SEO (search engine optimization), which helps your placement in search engine results. According to Business2Community, about 60% of organic clicks will go to the top three search results — and many users will rarely scroll past the first page of results. If you want to be noticed, you need good SEO.
Local SEO is also growing increasingly important — the Search Engine Journal (2015) reports that the interest in the “near me” search has gone up 34 times since 2011 and has almost doubled since just 2014!
One of the best ways to improve SEO is to increase your content. According to recent research, focused content marketing can provide around 40% of an increase in your revenue. You want useful and relevant content that will engage the customer — whether that means blog posts or increased social media interaction — and that contains keywords to help your SEO ranking. An Internet marketing company may help you run a targeted SEO campaign to give your SEO a boost in the beginning and teach you ways to maintain it.
With the right assistance and support from an Internet marketing firm, you can build an effective and lucrative web presence to improve your sales and overall reach.