Online marketing is something that should never be done just one way. The Internet provides multiple ways for a company to gain exposure as well as new clients. Here are a few things business owners can do to increase their online presence.
Allow Guest Blogging
Blogs can get boring if the blog posts are written by the same person. A blog full of posts written in the same style doesn’t really offer much variety to the readers. Allowing guest bloggers is an easy way to get fresh, quality content for a site/blog while generating a buzz by people looking for a place to post their articles. Allowing guest blogging will also give a website owner the opportunity to connect with other site owners about writing posts on the other person’s blog.
Update: This is something that should be done with caution. Guest bloggers should add to the value of your site by providing well-written articles related to your site. Just having people come on to post links to their site for the sake of content is not what I’m talking about!
Diversify Links
A diverse link profile is a very important element to have. A lot of SEOs will try to receive links only from sites that offer “dofollow” (normal) links. To the search engines, this looks unnatural. Having links that are nofollow along with normal links helps with having a diverse link portfolio. It also helps to have a link portfolio that contains links from a variety of sources. Receiving the same type of comments, or comments from the same site/blog, can end up hurting your site in the long run when search engines deem those links as unnatural.
Diversify The Keywords
When creating links between pages, or even from other sites, don’t always use the same keyword. Not everyone uses the same word to find the product/service a business offers. Also, search engines view websites that receive links using the same keyword as unnatural.
Get Customers Involved With The Marketing
We talked before about using social media to interact more with customers. There is another reason for using social media with a business; it’s easy for other people to do the marketing for the business! Posting viral content, or tips related to the business, on the business’ Facebook and Twitter pages is a great way. Customers will find these posts entertaining and useful, and will share them with their friends.
Get Listed
Online business listings are a top source for citations and exposure. One reason to be listed with a listing website is that a lot of consumers use these type of sites to find businesses in their area. Some people even use these type of sites instead of search engines. Not having a business listed would mean missing out on potential customers.
Share What You Know
Post articles based on personal experience in a business’ field
Articles based on personal experience in a particular field are good ways to generate content that shows how much experience a business owner has, as well as describing what the business offers when compared to competitors.
Offer assistance in forums or “Q & A” websites
Answering questions online is an easy method for getting people to associate a business as an expert within its industry.
