Dear Dan: The current slowdown seems like a good time to tune up our Internet marketing. What are some things we can do without spending much, if any, money? — Web Willing
Dear Web Willing: One of the best things about marketing online is easy access to business-building tools that cost little or nothing to use. When economic times get tough – like right now – and budgets tighten, these readily available tactics can have a real impact on your bottom line.
Jay Berkowitz, an Internet marketing pro and founder of the Ten Golden Rules of Internet Marketing, suggests these steps you can take to build business online with free or low-cost tools and tactics:
• Draw traffic to your Web site with free SEO tactics. Search-engine optimization (SEO) helps people find your Web site when they search online. To score high in search results, you need two things: the right words (or “keywords”) on your site, plus other sites that link to you, which Google considers a sign you are important. Berkowitz suggests you regularly write articles about your industry for your Web site. Use words and phrases that customers and prospects would likely search for.
• Eye the competition with competitive intelligence tools. Web-based services such as Spyfu.com and Compete.com offer free tools that can show you where your competitors are advertising on the Internet and how much they are spending. Spyfu lets you see which keywords your competitors are buying and which ones they are using most on their Web sites. You can even download their keywords and adwords. Many Spyfu tools are free.
• Raise your “social media” profile: More and more entrepreneurs are discovering the business-building power of social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. A presence on LinkedIn puts you into the pre-eminent business networking site on the Internet. And Facebook isn’t just for teens and college kids. It’s also a fast growing platform where business owners communicate with customers and prospects. You can even create a “fan page” for your business on Facebook, which is a great way to facilitate Web-based word-of-mouth about your products and services.
The Web site Work.com has multiple how-to guides that can help you understand and get the most out of Facebook and LinkedIn. •
Daniel Kehrer can be reached at editor@business.com.
