Online Marketing Primer for Small Business Owners

Small business owners in any industry can understand online marketing and how to benefit from building a presence online using this online marketing primer. Everything I've read about creating an online presence during the past four years has not changed and all the "experts" end up saying the same thing. You need quality content, quality back links, and participation in social networks to build a consistent online presence.

Website

Your website is a foundation for your online business presence. Here are questions to use in evaluating your website:

Is it clearly targeted for your specific audience?

If local business is needed, does it effectively use local content to attract local clients or customers?

I rewrote several pages for a property management company in Southern California's San Gabriel Valley and I added several paragraphs to strengthen the local content. The result was more local keywords, including zip codes and local intersections, were used to find the site in Google.

Quality Content - Article Marketing

Businesses exist to make a profit for the business owner and solve a problem for the customer. Does your content on your site clearly show the benefits you offer to clients and customers?

Now expand that content beyond your website and market your knowledge using articles. "The purpose [of article marketing] is to establish credibility and drive traffic back to your Website," writes Ron Jones on Search Engine Watch, January 2010, in an article titled "Article Markeing 101."

Write a title using keywords and keyword phrases search engines will find. Use the Google adwords keyword tool and enter in a phrase and then variations on that keyword phrase will show up.

Let's say you make gift baskets and want to build a local audience. A title example might be "Gift baskets to market your business in [city or region]" or "How to use gift baskets to improve customer relations."

The first sentence should contain the keyword phrase and then repeat it again in the first two paragraphs.

I wrote about five articles for the property management company that included renting in specific cities like Pasadena, California and the benefits of renting compared to home ownership. The articles linked back to the property management's main site.

Quality Backlinks - Links from other sites to your site

A variety of backlinks will eventually boost traffic to your site. Quality backlinks can include links within an article that link back to your site. Yahoo! Associated Content is one site. Remember, provide quality information first and then have the backlink toward the middle or end of the article.

Post articles to:

• Article directory sites like Ezinearticles.com (one of the most widely used) and choose a few others but do not choose too many
• Industry-related sites or an association site
• Forums
• Comment on related blogs and sites. Participate once or twice a week for several weeks.
• Local newspaper sites or other local sites
• Trade links on your website or blog with another company or individual
• Suppliers - your suppliers have websites
• Social Media

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn (for businesses) along with Digg, Stumbleupon and more provide excellent opportunities to have conversations.

Remember, the idea is having conversations. Direct links to your site or your articles should not comprise more than 20% of your online social activity. People want to have a conversation just like in real life.

Think about walking into a chamber of commerce mixer. You don't immediately start talking about your business only - you ask questions and ask about others.

I suggest writing up specific Tweets ahead of time to organize what you want to say. Your tweets and Facebook postings should relate to the information in your articles.

I did this for a client who's an accountant. I wrote up thirty tweets for her, mixing between inspirational quotes, informational tweets, and links to her articles and blog.

Companies

• Hubspot - Hubspot provides software to help companies organize their online presence from one place - or Hub. Hubspot assists in developing landing pages and other platforms where users will request a useful freebie like a report and leave their information.

• PR Web - PR Web

PR Web, a Vocus company, sends out online press releases for companies. Vocus, the partner company, specializes in web-based marketing or "cloud marketing" for businesses.

These outlets are great. But for the busy small business owner, you may need a writer who can interview, develop great content, and put your knowledge in front of others. Many of us business writers exist to boost your online presence.