The fact that 36% of small businesses are willing to pay for both publishing and analytics tools means that having a strong web presence is something that businesses looking to thrive in today’s marketplace are emphasizing. By 2016, American consumers alone will spend more than $320 billion online, according to Forrester Research, so investing in that area is certainly justified. One of the most common – and effective – programs that businesses will use to do so is optimize search engine techniques. Internet search engine optimization programs allow businesses to earn higher rankings on results page and boost their visibility, which can go a long way towards building a large, loyal customer base.
While some companies are lucky enough to be able to optimize search engine campaigns in house, others will find that they do not have either the resources or trained employees to do so. If that is the case, then hiring economical search engine optimization specialists can be a necessity. The algorithms used by Google depend on more than 200 different unique criteria, so it can be tough for anyone without experience to produce the content needed to improve rankings. Consequently, hiring a professional can be quite beneficial.
But though optimize search engine strategies can be helpful, SEO is hardly the only area businesses should focus on. Social media also plays a major role for web users and consumers, and every day, there are more than 250 million Tweets and 800 million Facebook statuses posted. This means that social media provides lots of opportunities for businesses looking to get in touch with new customers. However, like SEO, experts are often needed. In fact, a third of CEOs and owners want to spend fewer hours during their work week on SEO. The best way to do that is to partner with talented internet marketers who understand the ins and outs of social media.
Nowadays, more and more people are doing their shopping while on the go by using their smartphones and tablets. As a result, 88% of search marketers have used the words “significant” or “highly significant” when describing the importance of the growing mobile trend. This means that, in addition to online search engine optimization and social media, businesses will also have to spend some time optimizing their web presence for mobile use. While some will do so by building a responsive website, others will just create a mobile app. Either way can be effective.
Because every business is unique, and will have different needs and goals, there is not one specific internet marketing plan that will work for all of them. Because of that, before beginning, owners, managers, and marketers alike should take the time to do a bit of research and figure out which strategies will work best.