Internet Marketing Reality Check
By Jeff Palmer, Sat Dec 10th

Internet Marketing Reality Check Author - Jeff Palmer October2004

There are thousands of web sites, books, CD-ROM's, cassettetapes and various other forms of communication devoted to thetopic of Internet marketing. The majority of these sites professto offer "secret strategies" and "killer tactics" which promiseto increase your chances of having success on the Internet. Ofcourse you must fork over your hard earned cash for thesewonderful pearls of wisdom. (Many of which turn out to benothing more than pyramid schemes and other scams)

With all of these so called experts lining up to take your moneyand fill your head with dreams of making easy millions you mayfind it difficult to filter out the facts from the fiction. Iwill take the unenviable role of fact giving, bubble burster andtell you flat out, "There are no secrets to successful Internetmarketing!"

Let me repeat myself, I said, "There are no secrets tosuccessfully Internet marketing"

Successful marketing, whether its online or off, requirescareful planning and a lot of hard work. And no amount ofmarketing will ever meet with success if the product beingmarketed is a bad one. This is especially true of web sites,which carry the remarkable distinction of the almighty backbutton. I know this from first hand experience with companiesthat have spent ridiculous amounts of money to market web siteswhich were basically unusable.

Now that your dreams of sailing around the ocean sippingmargaritas, while an Internet cash machine deposits six figuresums into your bank are thoroughly dashed, lets explore some ofthe common issues associated with true Internet marketingsuccess as well as a few of the many misconceptions.

The same principles that govern off-line marketing practicesapply to online marketing. Research, Planning, and Analysis.

Research:

Determine what makes your product or service stand out from thecrowd. What do you offer that the competition doesn't? How doyour prices compare to others in the market? What features ofyour product are one of a kind? All of this information willhelp in designing your web site to reflect a unique sellingproposal. A unique selling proposal answers the customer'squestion, "What's in it for me?" Gather all the informationpossible that answers this question and use it in planning yourweb site.

Planning: Develop a marketing strategy for your web site.

Are you selling merchandise online? Are you advertising aservice? Who are your customers? You must determine exactly whatit is that you want your website to accomplish. Example: If yourweb site is focused on making it easier for potential customersto learn about your services, focus your attention on offeringas much information about your services as possible. Pricecomparisons of your competition, directions to your businesslocation, contact information, testimonials, etc.,are a goodplace to start. Plan your web site around a central goal.

Analysis: So your web site is up and running, you have developeda marketing strategy and people are interested in your product.Now its time to figure our what is working and what isn't. Thisaspect of marketing your web site can be one of the mostdifficult to understand. This goes well beyond simply countingthe number of visitors to your site. It requires analyzing thehabits of those who travel to your site. Determining whatfeatures of your site compel visitors to purchase your products,what features turn visitors away. It is important to analyzeevery single feature of your web site, from the sales copy tothe navigation. You must understand how every feature of yourweb site supports or detracts from your marketing success.

Hopefully by now you realize that Internet

marketing requiresmore than just an out-of-the-box solution. There is no magicalformula to marketing online, and those who say otherwise shouldbe scrutinized. The incredible variety of businesses onlinerequire individual marketing strategies and plans. A real estateweb site should not be marketed the same way as one sellingcomic books. Any salesman would have a difficult time sellingdenture glue to a teen-ager, it just doesn't fit. And neither doone size fits all marketing plans. Target markets have to beconsidered. Planning, strategy and analysis must be carried outin order to achieve any kind of lasting success.

Make your web site usable and you will gain success!

Now, if you would like to send me a check for $30 for this"killer strategy" please feel free to do so. Otherwise, takethis bit of information and file it in the "criticallyimportant" category. By usable, I'm talking about such web siteconsiderations as working links, fast loading pages, limited useof images,animations and other "fluff" that will make most usershit the back button faster than you can blink a virtual eye.

Fact: Most Internet users will hit their back buttons if a webpage doesn't load in 20 seconds or less. Increasing the speed atwhich your web site loads greatly increases the likelihood thatit will ever be seen.

Submit your site to 100,000 search engines for just $29.95 !!!Beware of offers like this, the truth is there are only ahandful of search engines that most people use to find thingsonline. Concentrating your marketing efforts on these few searchengines is much more effective than having your site listed in amillion places that nobody will ever see Bear in mind that mostof these multiple search engine submittal sites are profitdriven, and the only one making a profit is them.

Fact: Google and Yahoo are currently the major players in thesearch engine game comprising 54% and 41% of all Internetsearches respectively.(Source: Comscore Media Metrix 05/04)There are several techniques to achieving higher rankings withthese two search engines none of which are secrets. Read myarticle on search engine optimization for more information aboutthis important topic.

Number 1 Ranking in Google! Guaranteed! I have seen many websites offering search engine ranking services, making claimslike the one above, The truth of the matter is that it isimpossible to guarantee a number one ranking with Google's freesearch engine submission. As I have stated previously there area number of strategies and steps that can be taken to optimizeyour web site for search engine placement and achieve thehighest rankings possible. Guaranteed results are a myth, it ispossible to have the highest ranking in Google for search termsthat aren't commonly used, but then, what's the point?

Fact: It is true that you can purchase advertising space usingthe Google service called AdWords. Advertisements appear in theright hand column of Google search pages.

Successful marketing of your business online requires time,effort and patience. There are no easy solutions. But, a fairamount of devotion and common sense can yield truly impressiveresults.

Jeff Palmer is an internet marketing consultant and web designerwith over 10 years of experience and is the process of writingwhat promises to be that definitive guide to online marketing.If you would like information about this upcoming book,including a sneek peek at finished chapters contact the authordirectly at greatempty@yahoo.com

About the author:Jeff Palmer is an internet marketing consultant and web designerwith over 10 years of experience and is the process of writingwhat promises to be that definitive guide to online marketing.If you would like information about this upcoming book,including a sneek peek at finished chapters contact the authordirectly at greatempty@yahoo.com