Today’s small business has so much competition that to not have an active and thriving online marketing campaign is just suicide.
Business today is done greatly online. Even for brick and mortar stores, they have to have an online presence or their competitors will gain the edge over them and that means losses in trade and profit. It can be due to a number o f issues but usually ignorance, fear, incompetence, lead to not utilizing tools that could greatly improve business. It’s not always a matter of budget either. Putting up a website is easy. A small business can get free templates and so on to put up their basic business data with some graphics, copy, and even video. It’s a start but there’s more to it down the line. Just having a website isn’t enough. If you want to compete with the big boys or even the other small business owners, you’ll have to ramp things up a bit and that could cost some extra time and money, but with some studying and simple yet sound application based on real SEO and online marketing strategies that pay off in the short and long term.
First of all is looking at the competition to see what they have. You may find that a competitor with a big shot website might not rank as high as a competitor that’s a smaller business. It’s due to several factors and that is knowing what to do with what you have. Real smart online marketers do three things smartly. They study, they test, they apply. That’s all there is to the basic logic involved. To dismiss these fundamentals is to cut one’s throat in the game of online business.
The small business has to strategize to make every penny count. Studying up on SEO, online marketing and the techniques and technologies involved. This will save tons of time and money and make it so that when hiring help, you’ll be able to speak the language of both practices and not foul upon the application of such. Remember, SEO and online marketing are highly specialized sciences now. The power of the software involved and the sharp-eyed quickness it takes to spot trends and jump on them. An industry like plumbing has certain keywords that all plumbing sites have. It’s the proprietary and cultural catch phrases that can be the difference between success and failure. Let’s say you’re marketing the new ‘Lemon Wrench’ invented by some famous plumber named Lemon. He just put out this first product with his name on it and you’re trying to get people to sell it. You’ll need to look at what the public is asking in regard to it. You’ll have to do the digging to see how others are marketing it and most of all, how you can incorporate the name with your shop, location, and more. If you’re slow on the draw, then the competition will get those choice keywords to market. They’ll have the best copy that contains the keywords that the search engines are looking for. If you dominate here, you’ll see your results high in the SERPs and that means a position of power and note.
This is just one example. If you have your own brand product like a new dog leash, then you want to take advantage of it and minimize others who aren’t selling for you.
Remember, just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you can’t make an impact. A small business is just as powerful a potential windfall online as a big one, it all depends on how much time you’re willing to devote to it and apply just the right online marketing and SEO skills let others know you’re a business to be reckoned with despite your size.
