Internet Marketing Is Marketing!

Recently I was watching a video with an interview of Matt Cutts in which he makes some interesting remarks on the direction of Google and Internet Marketing, which I happen to agree with. It was almost eerie as it sounded like a playback of recent conversations I have had with others.

First and foremost search engines have clients they NEED to satisfy. They need to be able to answer their client’s demands almost immediately. Anything less would put them behind the competition. That’s why search engines want to deliver websites that have answers to the questions they are asking. They are geared towards answering those questions.

With that in mind, why is Internet Marketing geared towards Search Engine Marketing rather than people marketing? Search engines tell us to design sites for the optimum experience of real people, not the Search Engine spiders. That way when people land on a site the search engine serves the user; they get a great user experience and they answer their questions or solve the problem they had … AND will return to the particular search engine when a new problem occurs.

The best way to gear a site for the user experience is to split test different elements of a site. See what is converting traffic into sales. Maybe a particular button’s color is dull and needs to be pushed into a vibrant mode. The form layout on the site may not be on the optimal side.

Every single aspect of a site needs to be tested from A to Z, over and over. Find out what converts better. Then test that against another idea, and continue this … FOREVER.

If you are able to split test and raise your conversion rate from 1% to 2%, you double your leads. Now set a goal to get 4%, then 8%, then 10%, and so on.

Another big step is to get customer feedback. This is imperative. Getting a customer to tell you what they think about your site and the problems / issues they ran into is a godsend. They see your site from the customer’s perspective. Looking for what they want. Simply putting a feedback or additional comment section on pages on your site will foster an open dialog of communication with your audience.

Having content, whether it be images, videos, or simple articles about your topic on your site, and having your site update on a constant basis is going to give you repeat visitors.

It’s still true today that if a consumer sees an advertisement or company logo 7 times, they will trust that company. The more a visitor visits your site, they more likely they are going to become a customer/client. The best way to do that is to give them information. That’s the goal of the Internet; to satisfy the need for information. If you can do that on your website, you become an authority in your field, and the search engines see all of this. There is a reason Google created the split testing tool for Webmasters. They see your conversion, they see your time onsite, it’s scary to think about it, but they know more information on your site than they show you in Google Analytics. So it’s hard to believe they don’t factor in this data into ranking your site.

What Matt Cuts said is right; Internet Marketers need to see themselves as Marketers. They need to target their audience, and not simply the vehicle their audience is arriving in.

By: Christopher Cartre

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Optimum7.com is a Pay Per Click Management Company with primary focus on Small and Mid-Sized Enterprises (SME’s). Optimum7.com offers a rich consultative approach that our clients find refreshing. Internet Marketing Is Marketing!