By Chris Lude
President of Ripple Applications
Failed Internet Marketing Strategies
If your website fails to generate leads, then you’re not alone, because for most small businesses, a lack of website traffic results in no ranking by search engines. And without search engine recognition, a website cannot begin to generate new traffic from internet searches.
When there is no traffic to your website, you’ll find it difficult to justify investing in a new design. But without a nice design, the few visitors who may somehow happen upon your website won’t waste a second look. And this is the typical quandary faced by small service providers who dabble in internet marketing.
Ripple Applications specializes in providing affordable effective internet marketing solutions for small businesses. Our website templates for cleaning industries are professional, flexible and affordable. They include no tricks, just smart value at prices suitable for small businesses.
Create a Website Worth Visiting
Most often the first step in patching up failed internet marketing is to get a new website, because if you have a waste of e-space website which isn’t worth visiting, advertising it is going to be a waste of money and time. So begin by taking a critical look at your website and buffing it up. Keep improving it until it is the sort site you are proud to show to friends, neighbors, and customers.
A pleasant design is important, but for your website to really convert prospects to customers, it’s also going to have to include sufficient information to interest prospects in your services. So your website should include a sizeable amount of information about your company and services.
And a website must also be built to facilitate visits by search engines, so that it can be ranked in search engine results under keywords which relate to your industry and service area. Once you have a professional website, you’re ready to begin your two-stage campaign: marketing your website, so your website can market your business.
Getting Traffic to Your Website
In the beginning you’ll be getting no help from search engines for traffic, so every extra visit helps. Armed with the confidence that your website represents your most convincing sales pitch, you’ll be ready to rally other advertising resources to promote your website. For example, put your website address on every form of promotional material, including your letterhead, vehicle lettering, business cards and even y
our equipment.
All of that is certain to help, but it’s unlikely to be enough, because most successful internet marketing strategies include web-based advertising. Web-based advertising comes in different forms, but the ads we’re talking about are those shown by Google and Overture to internet users when they search on the internet for your type of service.
Some small businesses find that managing banner ad campaigns can be difficult to setup and tedious to manage. For those having no interest in such things, Ripple can setup the campaigns for $250, and manage them thereafter ($50 per week) or hand them over to you to maintain.
For most businesses, especially those whose service area includes a major metro area, banner ads generally offer one of the most cost-effective means of gaining new prospects.
Refining Your Web-based Marketing
Once your website begins making your phone ring, you’ll have the confidence to begin refining your internet marketing strategies in ways which fit the needs of your business. The possibilities are endless . . .
For companies with multiple service regions across a major metro area, a logical way to expand a productive web-based marketing plan is to add additional websites to target customers in outlaying cities. Other companies offering multiple services might better appeal to prospects if they tailor their websites to the interests of distinct types of customers. For them, it may be advantageous to create one website which appeals to business customers and another which appeals to home owners, for example.
In terms of the banner ads and online advertising, the possibilities continue to expand. And finally, that is the really great thing about internet marketing–there is no minimum advertising period, minimum print runs, or any other form of commitment. You’re free to change anything, anytime, on a dime. There is no other form of advertising more agile than advertising on the web. And for small businesses, being agile can represent a significant competitive advantage over franchise service providers and other large companies.