Huntsville Web Design & Online Marketing by NMT

If you answered by saying getting my site ranked number one, you are not alone.
I would be willing to bet that most of us would answer it the same way. Is that wrong?
No, but I think people need to look at the bigger picture.
You want traffic, the more traffic you have the better your chances are at gaining a customer. While being ranked number one will generate traffic, the main thing you should look at is follow through.

What is follow through?
Basically it is the percentage of your traffic that went to another page on your site. If you had 100 hits and only 2% went to another page then you have a problem. That means that 98 people probably went to another site. You need to find out why and correct it.

I like to make things simple, so look at it this way. You have a store and 100 people walk in and then immediately walk out.  The stats show 100 people came in, but what have you gained? Absolutely nothing.
Why do you think people ask if they can help you find something, they do not want you to leave.

SEO is not just about getting your site ranked high, it is about getting people to your site and keeping them there.

We get asked all the time for web entrepreneurial tips and resources. We hear it so often that it seems we should include a section in our newsletter called "Web Entrepreneurial Tips and Resources". Soooooo, we will, be on the look out for them!

Of course there are jillions (technical term for a bunch) of resources on the web, some free and some not so free - some accurate and some not so accurate, where one can research and understand "what's going on". Well as promised to a few folks at lunch today, here is the site I think should be at the very top of your favorites list/bookmarks (how's that for being browser agnostic) - http://www.clickz.com/.

Are you taking advantage of the internet's FREE marketing potential? There are likely vibrant community forums (with large national readerships) for the interest your business serves. Those communities are made up of lively participants WHO YOU NEED AS YOUR CUSTOMERS.

What better way to let them know about your products / website than to post a bit about it on that forum? Well ... here's where a bit of ingenuity comes in:

If you heard how great a business is from the business owner (think: used car salesman in plaid pants yelling into badly-produced local commercial) - you will will likely pay little attention.

However, if you hear from a satisfied customer who posts on the forum you are reading often, well that's another story.

Tips for Guerilla Marketing via Forum sites:

NEVER sign up and post about your site immediately if you want to be believable. Most sites indicate how many posts you have made as a member so ... again with the credibility factor ... if it looks like you are a first time poster and you post a glorious post about your business and include a link to your site - few folks will bite. DO join the group, browse the forum and make some posts about things you know/care about. Then - make your move. Seems like a lot of work, I know but it's marketing via 3rd party testimonial which is powerful stuff. Plus, if you're on a high-traffic forum, you may get 1000s of hits from that one post.

DO use a different name and email address that username "jimswidgetworld" and email jim@jimsbigwidgetworld.com - Common sense, sure, but we see it all the time and it's inneffective and insulting.

OK, now you're off to search google for "insert industry name here - forum" - SJ

OK, here's the boiled-down skinny on having folks link to your site:

One of the best ways (and FREE) to rise in search engine results is to have folks with high site ranks linking to you. It's like they're vouching for you saying "oh yeah, him ... he's with me."

But ... link exchanging has been around since the beginning of the internet and folks are TIRED TIRED TIRED of being nagged about "adding my link." However, if done right, personally and for pertinent reasons - exchanging links could be what helps you float to the top of Google search rankings.

Here's another video by Sage at WebMarketingWatch.com - he talks through some of these things in plain, and sometimes a tad sarchastic, language. Enjoy, but we take no responsibility for his attitude :) - SJ

Here's a youtube video that talks a bit about the FREE marketing you can leverage for your company. Warning: the guy in the video is either a Ben Stein fan or is about to fall asleep. At any rate, if you're a first timer to Flickr, this is an informative video for brainstorming how you can use Flickr (or other social networking sites for that matter) to promote your business / products for free.