Top 10 Online Marketing Tips

Whether your company does business online or maintains a brick and mortar presence alone, you cannot afford to ignore the power of the web and social media. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have changed the landscape forever, and learning how to harness these popular Web 2.0 technologies can change your business for the better.
No matter what the nature of your business, consider harnessing these powerful online marketing tips, and watch your business grow.
- Increase the awareness of your brand in a fun way by posting funny videos on your website, and cross-posting them on sites like YouTube. Funny, topical and satirical videos tend to work the best, so check out current events for things you can lampoon. Chances are you will find more than enough material.
- Join discussion groups and forums related to your area of expertise, but limit yourself to what you can handle. In order for this strategy to be effective, you need to be an active participant in those forums and discussions, not just an advertiser. Providing real value to forum visitors will get you a lot more business than simply posting promotional material about your products and your website.
- Use sites like Twitter to offer special discounts to your followers. This will encourage others to join your Twitter feed, and help to build brand loyalty as well.
- Post special offers on your Facebook page as well. Creating a professional Facebook page with links to your own website is a great way to build awareness around your company. Avoid excessive advertising or promotion, since Facebook users will see through that strategy.
- Use search engine optimization techniques throughout your website, not just on your website content. Optimize your meta tags, title tags, sitemap and other web page elements so search engines (and customers) can easily find you. Populate your site with relatable content visitors will find useful and interesting, and update your pages often.
- Focus on your niche and grow your social media presence from there. Do not try to be all things to all people. Instead focus on what you do best and build your brand awareness around it. Finding a small and underserved niche is a great way to succeed online. You will face less competition, and you will have a bigger presence as well.
- Start a social bookmarking campaign to raise brand awareness and help others find you. Use the power of your social media sites, from Facebook and Twitter to YouTube and various discussion groups, to encourage others to talk about you and your company.
- Look for niches in your keywords as well. Try to find keywords that are not as highly saturated or competitive. You will get more for your advertising dollar, and you will be able to more accurately target people who are actively looking for what you have to sell.
- Quality counts when it comes to ads. Whether you focus on video ads, banner ads or simple text ads, make sure they are engaging and interesting. You have mere seconds to capture the attention of a potential customer, so make your ad content count.
- Create a blog to keep your customers informed about your company and what it is up to. Make sure you keep your blog up to date, and include links on your blog to your main website, your YouTube channel, your Facebook page and your Twitter feed.