If you have an online business, you need to be a master of online marketing.
The top ten do's and don'ts when it comes to online marketing are listed below, in no particular order.
You might try to keep these in mind when you're making decisions about how to sell your Internet business.
Do's 1.
) Create a blog.
No matter what you're selling, people will feel better about buying from you if they know and can relate to you as a person.
And a blog is a great way to express yourself, to share your thoughts, dreams and ideals.
Don't worry if you're not William Faulkner; just type out your honest feelings in clear, concise sentences and your personality will shine through.
(You can also set up ads on a blog once you get a lot of site visitors.
) 2.
) Make sure all your content is relevant.
Make your product or service descriptions as short as possible without skimping on important details.
3.
) Maintain a positive, optimistic tone.
Don't whine about your in-laws on your blog.
Don't badmouth the competition in your product descriptions.
Create a happy atmosphere-without going overboard or being phony, of course-and people will enjoy checking in on you and your site.
4.
) Utilize as many of the marketing tools available to you as you can.
These include timelines, wikis, press releases, informational articles and social media updates.
And stay abreast of the latest technological developments so you can have the most cutting edge site available.
5.
) Take advantage of pay-per-click ads, Google AdSense and affiliate programs.
You might be surprised, in fact, how much advertising revenue your site can generate.
Don'ts 6.
) Don't collect the email addresses of your visitors unless they specifically grant you permission to do so.
(Permission can be granted through opt-in or log-in pages.
) 7.
) Don't overload your site.
Too many decorations, colors (especially colors that clash with one another) and frills can hurt the eyes and drive a visitor away before she or he takes the time to even read anything.
And too many ads on your site can make a visitor wonder if you offer anything good at all, or if you've set up a site just to collect advertising dollars.
8.
) Don't make promises you can't deliver on, and don't make grand claims you can't back up.
It's enough to say you make and sell delicious bagels.
You don't need to say your bagels are the best in the world and that President and Mrs.
Obama eat them every morning.
9.
) Don't spam.
Repeat: don't spam.
And be judicious when sending out mass emails of any kind.
Too many mass emails and you simply make a nuisance out of yourself and turn off your customers.
10.
)And finally, don't give up.
It can be difficult to break through the cluttered marketplace, of course, but if you're tenacious and persistent, and offer good products or services, you'll have some measure of success in the end.