4 Internet Marketing Mistakes You Might Be Making

February 24th, 2015 by Search Influence Alumni

There is nothing more frustrating than putting all your money and effort into your site’s content only to see a conflicting ROI. Many companies and businesses rely on Internet marketing to increase their profits, but some make simple and even unpredictable mistakes as they go about it. Feeling frustrated or annoyed with your results? You’re not alone.

WAIT! Don’t break your computer just yet—we’re here to point out some mistakes you might be making.

1.) Every part of your content concentrates on sales.

Everyone wants to make sales and increase profits. That’s the whole point of your Internet marketing campaign, right? But new users who visit your site may not purchase your product or service right away. Smart buyers want to research your product, learn more about your brand, see what you offer, and compare your prices to the prices of your competitors. Your potential customers likely won’t have the compulsion to commit to a purchase right away unless you are a well-known company like Amazon. Don’t try to sell your product outright; rather, tell a story with your content. Ease your customer in slowly to make them believe in what you are selling.

To do this, avoid making your content too product-specific. Let’s say you sell garden hoses, and garden hoses are all you know. You don’t want to talk about just garden hoses all the time; you’ll lose customer interest. And let’s face it—you can’t talk specifically about garden hoses non-stop while keeping your content interesting. So make sure you expand your content beyond your specific product. On certain pages of your site, spill expert gardening secrets, discuss ways to keep your lawn fresh, or start an FAQ section on popular gardening techniques. Always expand on your product and related topics to keep the customer engaged!

2.) You’re using social media sites…incorrectly.

One of the biggest components of any company’s campaign is the strategic use of social media. Coordinating posts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media platforms can take up exorbitant amounts of time and effort. Concentrating too much or too little on certain posts or topics can lead to fewer followers on a specific page, and no one wants to see multiple, random posts appear on their newsfeed every single day. Creating posts and utilizing social media should be a strategic and intelligent endeavor, not a disorganized, chaotic mess.

Plan ahead by understanding the goals of your social media strategy. Do you want to drive traffic to your site? Generate more sales? Enhance your email list? Work toward brand awareness? Know your brand and, most importantly, know your customers! You don’t need to use every social media outlet; just figure out which channels your customers use most. If you’re not sure which media sites your customers prefer, just ask! It’s important to learn as much as you can about your clients, their social activity, and how to appeal to them. Absorb yourself in the community’s conversation and interact with your clients. Marketing 101: customer service and knowledge is the number one driving component to any business.

3.) Your content is SEO-heavy.

SEO is essential to any marketing campaign. You want Google to find your specific keywords and phrases to generate more traffic. SEO helps human users know you exist within their area!

While all that is true, you do not want to write all of your content specifically for search engines. No one wants to read website content that has keywords stuffed into every sentence; content needs to be well-written and unique! When creating pages for your visitors, you want the writing to be memorable and easy to read. Once you start to write your content, all of the information you have about your product will flow out naturally, and the content will optimize itself: users will be more likely to share your content through social media, blogs, or websites when the writing is more natural. And if you want to give your content greater authority, be sure to link to other credible websites within your industry.

4.) You aren’t calling your clients to action.

You caught the fish, and now you have to reel them in.

It is a very common misunderstanding that if you drive traffic, you will automatically increase sales. Maybe your new customers aren’t making purchases, and even your old customers who have been following your site and posts since the beginning of time still aren’t biting. Personally, I have followed many company sites without ever buying their products. Why is that?

Creating an easily accessible path to your product is crucial. You want clients to have a simple conversion from viewing/visiting to buying. By embedding relevant calls to action within your text, you can ensure that content on your site gets potential customers deeply involved with your product. Every page for your products should have a link to sign up for your site, email list, or newsletter in three places: on the sidebar, below the article, and underneath the header.

Don’t leave your customers to ponder what to do after reading your page. Send them along the right path!

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