Your Marketing Strategy and SEO

James Peggie 

As on owner of an online business you should have a clear understanding of your markets. This understanding of your markets should always be determined before going into business. How you read your markets and present your products to your customers will determine how successful your business will be. Unfortunately many people start up an online business without researching their markets or having a marketing plan in place.

Traditional marketing theory states that your marketing goal is to deliver the right product at the right price and have it available in the right place. The correct promotion mix must be used to deliver your message to the right people (your target market). You should have all these concepts adapted into a marketing plan before you start up your operations.

A great deal of your online marketing effort should revolve around building your brand name. Whether your brand is your product or your service your aim should be to build trust. Trust and credibility are essential to establishing a relationship with customers. Often the trust that your brand conveys is the only thing that differentiates you from your competitors. Take a look at your site, and your brand, from your visitor’s point of view. Does it give you a sense of credibility? Remember that having high search engine rankings alone will not give your business any credibility.

The goal of marketing is to make sales. That is the only goal. In the field of Internet marketing it is easy to lose sight this very simple concept. There are so many distractions; high search engine rankings, site traffic, hits, etc.

Search Engine Optimization’s (SEO) goal is to give your business visibility within the search engines. However this visibility will not guarantee sales. Exposure alone does not result in sales. There must be a strong marketing campaign behind any visibility to help drive sales. Being top for a search term will mean nothing for your business if you do not make sales.

SEO can be viewed on as publicity for your company. Natural search engine listings can be viewed as editorial public relations placed alongside your paid search advertising listings which are part of an overall marketing direction. This publicity should be part of your marketing plan –but it should not BE your marketing plan. Your business should be focused on marketing – i.e. getting customers not visitors.

SEO alone does not sell your products or services. It may increase targeted visitors. However even targeted visitors do not guarantee sales. Only your marketing endeavors will bring sales - and increase your profits.

What can you do to help build your online business?

Remember that price alone does not bring sales. Value drives sales, and your value is determined by your brand. If you establish an important and unique brand value then customers will remember it and return to buy your products. Therefore build your brand.

Differentiate yourself from your competition. Customers will look at various sites offering similar products and try to ascertain the differences between one company and another. The differences could feature perceived value, customer service, experience, or website impression. You can look to dominate a specific area of expertise which will establish your unique brand value.

Make sure you site is focused on the customer and dedicated towards enhancing the customer experience. Many websites are built focusing on the company or its products. It is often the case that what a company thinks should be on a website is different that what its customers think should be there. Avoid building a site that is basically a brochure for your company.

What do you do to make your site customer focused? It should be quick to load and easy to navigate. It should have informational content that is relevant to your targeted customers and should be regularly updated. This content should focus on building levels of trust and credibility. Measure how people use your site and constantly look for ways to increase performance.

Successful websites are built on a philosophy of sound marketing strategy not search engine traffic. SEO should be a part of your total marketing strategy – not you’re only marketing strategy. Your website should be customer focused and you should constantly strive to offer your customers unique brand value which will set you apart from your competition.