Is your internet marketing efforts paying off? Internet marketers are always scrambling to find the next big thing that is going to make them a quick buck. They are often in such a rush to make a quick buck that they make really dumb mistakes, and miss out on really obvious marketing techniques.
This article starts with six things that Internet marketers should do because they are simple and effective ways of Internet marketing.
Following those tips are six mistakes that Internet marketers make because they are too busy trying to make a quick buck. The six mistakes are things that you should never do, because they never work in making you more money.
What to do and what not to do in internet marketing
1. Do use images to sell online
People keep forgetting that images are the things that sell online. It is not text, offers and clever videos that sell online. Images are the biggest decision making affected for online users. This is why jeweler websites spend thousands of dollars getting their photo images correct.
People do not use enough images because they take too long to load for most people. They are also annoying to optimize for multiple browsers and operating systems. They have a drag effect on a web pages loading time, which negatively affects the websites search engine results ranking.
It is your job to fix all of these problems and to place salable images on your website, and on your online adverts too.
2. Do compress your images on your website
You can compress images on your website so that they load quicker. The images on your website can be made to appear smaller so that you can host a lot more images on your websites pages than you would otherwise be able to do.
3. Do embed images that can be seen larger by clicking on them
Make it so that your images start off a smaller size, but may be clicked upon so that the user may get a closer look at the image. The online user will click on images that interest him or her. This will open up larger versions of your pictures, which hopefully will be salable enough to convince the user to purchase your item.
4. Do offer suggested products at the bottom of your page
This is overlooked by so many people and yet works so well (See eBay and Amazons product pages).
At the very bottom of every page, instead of putting a mini sitemap, you should have four or five boxes. Within these boxes are suggested products and their prices. The products should be related to the page that is being viewed.
For example; if your current page is selling Smartphones then the suggested-items boxes should hold phone cases, phone chargers and alternative devices.
5. Do use the more difficult keywords on your affiliate adverts
Some strings of keywords are very difficult to integrate into the text of your website because they are not grammatically correct.
People do not type queries into search engines that make grammatical sense, and these strings of words cannot be put into a website’s content without damaging the grammatical value of the content.
If you cannot optimize your eCommerce site for these keywords then make them the focus of your affiliate adverts. That way you will not miss out on segments of your customer base that use awkward phrasing in search engines.
6. Do put website usability above saleability and SEO
It is better to have a website that is easy to use, than it is to have one that is 99% Search Engine Optimized (SEO’ed) and salable.
The marketing value of your website will always drop to zero if the website is difficult to use. It is your job to make sure there is a little resistance as possible between the point where the user enters your site, and the point where the user makes a purchase and pays.
Once you have streamlined the process between entering the website and making the sale, you can then start search-engine optimizing your website and increasing the saleability of the content.
7. Do not have ‘auto-start’ videos
They are the biggest cause of a high bounce rate, with the possible exception of website that take too long to render (come up after being clicked).
Only a very, very bored online user is going to watch an auto-start video. Anyone who has any self-respect and values his or her time will click to close the web page with the video on. There is no such thing as a video that is so attractive that 3 seconds of footage will gain the attention of the user (outside of inaccurate marketing books).
8. Do not have a ‘pop-up’
These are the pop ups that appear when a user clicks on a link to a page. A pop up will appear which a person has to click to close. They are annoying and will deter enough people away from your site to warrant their removal.
If people are going to buy your product or sign up to your newsletter then they will do it when they have seen the content of your website. They are not going to sign up to anything before they even know what is on your website.
9. Do not have an advert run prior to allowing access to the website
This is where a user is directed to a web page that runs an advert. Normally the advert will tell the user when they will be redirected to the original content, and usually give them a countdown timer.
There are very few people who will tolerate being forced to watch an advert prior to being allowed to see a website. People are going to click to close the tab or click “Back” on the browser. People invest money in ‘popup blockers’ and things such as TIVO on their TV sets, so that they can avoid adverts, so why would they want to watch an advert prior to seeing your website?
10. Do not fill your website full of affiliate adverts
People do this in the vein hope of gaining a few clicks and getting some money as a result. Moderate to heavy Internet users are going to see this as a sign that the website has very little real-world value, and will simply click to close the webpage/tab/window or click “Back” on the browser.
11. Do not create desirable titles for your pages and then not give the information they promise
This is a trick people use to get more traffic to their website. They are laboring under the illusion that people will look at their website but then be bowled over by the great marketing on the page and buy something or click something–this technique never works.
It is the same as you walking into a bicycle repair shop and the shop actually selling cheesy nibbles. The cheesy nibbles may taste great, the sales person may be friendly and good looking, and the offers may be fantastic, but you are not going to buy because you walked in to get your bike fixed.
12. Do not create lists that are hosted on numerous pages
People do this so that the user is exposed to more web pages and therefore exposed to more affiliate adverts. There are very few people who have the patience to read the pages. Most people will look at the first two or three on the list and then go back to the search engine to find a better website.
Your thoughts please
Well those are some of the do’s and don’ts of internet marketing, but please do share with me your thoughts and reactions on the list above. Do you agree with any of them or disagree? Do you have your own internet marketing do’s and don’ts to add to the list? Leave me a comment below.
About the Author
My name is Sonia Jackson. I represent the UK web-site Royal Essays. We’ll help you to solve all problems with writing different essays and research papers according to the rules in the UK.
