There are numerous different ways to promote your business online, some that may not be mentioned in this post, but we are going to examine 7 that are absolute musts if you’re serious about your online business and presence. If your business is mastering these 7 forms of promoting your business online it’s a good chance that your website is experiencing good traffic and the cash register is experiencing an increase in sales.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization

There is not a more qualified lead then one coming from a search engine. Search Engines have one goal in mind and that is to deliver its end users the most relevant result according to what they have typed into the search engine. It’s a crazy reality to come to terms with but, almost THE ENTIRE population of North America uses the internet. According to Internet Stat’s World and it’s latest release as to how many people are using the Internet? It’s an astonishing 305 Million people PLUS that utilize the Internet. In addition to just how many people use the internet it also prompts the questions of how often do you use the internet? What do you use the Internet for? I’m sure just by doing that little exercise you’ll find your own answers very educating. Therefore, it’s a must that you have your business showing for the terms your customers are typing in the search engines

SEO to promote your business online

Sponsored Campaigns

Most of us hate Ads. There is only one thing more annoying than a used car salesman and that is Advertisements. I think the only time it is actually cool or when you really want to watch an advertisement is during the Superbowl. It seems that the data or the stat’s that are coming out about how search engine user like Sponsored ad’s is saying the same thing. According to one source Organic Traffic out clicks PPC by 85% and according to an opposite sources such as Wordstream, who deal mainly in making PPC campaign software, seem to think the numbers are skewed the opposite way. Nevertheless, after taking all of the different sources involved whether a SEO based journal or Pay Per Click Newsletter the number averages to about 3 to 1 where search users will click on organic listing over Sponsored ads. Whether it’s 50/50 or 20/80 there is still business to be had running sponsored campaigns and part of your Internet Marketing needs to focus on it.

Regardless, when we are talking about pure percentages and what the stat’s say where isn’t there a place to put up an ad these days? It seems that every other day an new website has a platform similar to AdWords were you can run your text or display ads on.

Sponsered campaigns to promote your business online

Social Media

I don’t want to beat a dead horse on this post but, stat’s and data are the only things that matter when it comes to determining 7 ways to promote your business online. According to Alexa’s Top 500 websites 4 out of the top 5 are search engines and #2 is a Social Media website. As we move further down that list we’ll notice that 3 out of the. top 15 are Social Media sites. Including the likes of Facebook #2, Twitter #8 and Linkedin #15. It goes to show that people are utilizing social sites to keep in contact with other friends, family, etc. It’s also a very popular area to get news and learn things. Social Media gives a couple of opportunities to do a couple of things when promoting your business online. Mainly, it give you the opportunity to build NEW Audience. With the shear masses that are using Social Media the likeliness of you reaching outside of your existing customer base is very likely if you implement the right strategies. We have a great post named “7 Ways to Use Social Media for Lead Generation” that highlight this specific point of getting more audience from Social Media. In addition to having an audience it give you a direct contact to start INFLUENCING your direct audience. One of the best things about promoting your business through social media is exactly this your have a direct line to your audience

Email Marketing

Like Social Media your email list is always something you should be trying to grow. Email marketing gives you the ability to educate your audience in different manners. Maybe you want to have news about your company, teach customers how to do something or offer a special on an item they like. Whatever, the scenario may be Emailing your audience is a definate to promoting your business online. Think about it, when you get a letter from the US Post Office and it’s from someone you’re familiar with are you more or less likely to open it? Well, the same thing applies to Email Marketing. If your audience is receiving email from you it’s likely they want to get the information you intent to send them. Your promotions have a high likeliness of being read. Nevertheless, don’t just send your audience sales propositions. Try and mix it up. With the right emailing software you have the ability to segregate your list into many different sub categories to provide them with the right mailings.

Local Business Listings/Maps

A strong representation within the different areas you can put a business listing is always a good idea when promoting your business online. It’s also, good to have your business name, address, phone number and services in as many places as you can. A lot of search engines look for your business name, address, phone number and services at other sites to validate that is really a business. Plus, the more times search engines find your business on trusted sites such as yelp, dexknows or citypages the more validity you can get. Search Engines call these listings “citations” and they can be very powerful for when they are deciding between listing your business or your competitors. For more information about how to improve your local search post penguin 2015 we encourage you to visit that link.Local Business Listings Google Maps

Video Submissions

Video is a very powerful way to get your message across. More importantly if you code/set up your video properly it can go viral or be picked up by the search engines. This section could be incorporated with social media and SEO but, separately it assists both in a couple of different ways. Firstly, Video for your website can assure or confirm why a customer should choose products/services over your competition so, it’s always a good idea to have video improve the conversion rates of your landing pages. Secondly, we have all typed our keywords into the search engine and have seen a video come up and wonder why it was outranking your page. There is no secret that Google likes to mix their SERP’s to give Video results as well.

Forums/QA’s

Lastly, forums and Question & Answer sites give you an opportunity to showcase your expertise while making new connections and potentially earning valuable links to your website. These forums have every variety of topic to speak about. If you are offering a niche type offer or even a very broad topic it’s still a good area to talk about what’s happening in your industry. Always consider these area’s when you have a specific item to discuss. It will give you a nice niche audience and really set you apart from your competition.