Whether you have a team of dedicated but small-time marketing folks or it’s really just your nephew and his free copy of Microsoft publisher, we’re betting internet marketing services can benefit your small business. Nowadays, over 90% of internet forays begin with a search engine like Google and Bing, and most people totally ignore paid advertising. We live in a world where people don’t want to be “sold to.” Instead, they would rather find organic links that speak to their interest via key word searches and personal taste. That means that you as a small business owner have to focus your attention on attracting inbound leads. A good internet marketing services firm can help you do this, primarily in these three key areas:
1. Branding
Branding your business is a lot more complicated than picking the right colors for your flyers and calling it a day. In fact, there’s an entire sub-branch of color science and predictive models that describe which shades of gray versus black attract the most page views! (We’re not kidding). There’s similar research and development theory out there on every part of your brand, from your slogan, to perception, to messaging, to the name of your business. Just, imagine an entire season of Mad Men had a baby with the Information Age. Fortunately, any internet marketing services you seek out will have some knowledge of best branding practices. And if you already have a “strong” brand, they can work with you to make it even stronger.
2. SEO Strategy
SEO, or search engine optimization, is a set of practices and principles aimed at working with the algorithms in search engines to help bring your website closer to the top of the search returns. This is extremely important for your business, since most people don’t scroll past the first page of search results, especially when they’re shopping. When you shop around for internet marketing services, make sure to ask what experience the company has in SEO. Inquire particularly as to whether or not they create content with targeted keyword densities that sounds organic and is informative (you remember, to attract those inbound leads).
3. Web Development
Of course, branding and SEO are totally useless nowadays if you don’t have a strong web presence. This means, essentially, a website that works where you can buy stuff as well as a presence on popular social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. We’re betting you’ve dipped your toes into the social media at least, but online shopping is the standard now, so even if you have a thriving storefront, you could be missing out on new consumers and cutting into your brand loyalty if your website isn’t up and running. Thus, an internet marketing services company should be able to help you develop and run your website on both the front and back end, and teach you how to maintain it.