Internet marketing for SMEs

Internet marketing makes any website very effective. A finished website cannot be made known to the public without marketing. The only way to make your products and services known is to put them out using online marketing.

A website is a virtual storefront. Therefore, much thought needs to be put into it so as to attract customers and keep them coming back for more.

In evaluating a website as a webmaster or administrator, these are a few questions that can assist you to put up a good internet marketing strategy:

Where do your eyes go first in a few seconds on a website?

Do you know right away the purpose of the website?

Is there a piece of information in one sentence straight to the point why someone should do business with you?

Can you easily find the benefits of the products and services?

Is there a call to action to buy now, start a free trial, learn more and so on?

Aare your colours coordinating, is your font easy to read and not disturbing?

Do the menu items clearly tell you where they will take you, is there an easy way to contact your business?

Can you find out more about the company, owner(s), employee(s) and its source, do you feel personally connected to the website and want to return?

Is the writing corporate or conversational,  is there a webform to your advantage, is there multimedia, and finally are there links to social media?

Think carefully through these as you answer and implement them.

Once you detect the areas in need of improvement on the website, develop a strategy to begin implementation. Develop this gradually. The first thing to look at can be generating traffic to the website. The most serious point is to spend time building website content. Content will sell you on any platform. Setup Search Engine Optimization (by keywords, inbound links and local search listings), and you can do paid advertisement such as online ads. Again, create social media avenues by using social networking sites.  Also, publish articles and stories on news websites like www.ghanabusinessnews.com because they will market you only if they are news-centered websites. You can also add video marketing by posting your videos.

List building is an important aspect of internet and web marketing. Create a contact management to help you do a better organization. Introduce webforms with short details such as full name and email address by using incentives such as free advice, ebook and reduction price quote to hook visitors. Refer friends to what you are marketing. Promote your email marketing but avoid spam words. There should be consistency coupled with quality content. This will make every visitor take you serious and follow up on whatever you do.

By Joshua Anquandah

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