SEO and improved Search Engine Ranking is a vital part of your website construction, and your marketing strategy. However, you must understand that the success and profitability of your online marketing campaigns will not come from simply having great Search Engine Rankings.

They will help to increase traffic and spur sales as a result, but over all your goals must be wider than just rankings.

Successful Marketing Strategies

There are many different avenues to Search Engine Marketing. Each one will yield a different type of potential client or customer. If you are a B2B business and you are marketing yourself through a site such as LinkedIn, you will be attracting a different type of prospect than you will when targeting a site such as Facebook. This doesn’t mean that you should just ignore both and simply concentrate on rankings. In doing so you would miss out on many great business opportunities.

Just as you market your business Offline through various advertising mediums, such as print ads, direct mail, TV, and Radio, you must be proactive in marketing and branding your business online through a variety of search engine techniques, email marketing as well as gaining a presence in the Social Media realm. Maximizing those efforts is the way to go.

Many companies out there believe that SEO and Search Engine Rankings are something it takes a computer programmer to do. The reality to this is you actually need to be a Serious Marketer to conduct search engine optimization the right way. It is not simply about “all that technical stuff”.

Look at it this way. If you want a newspaper or magazine to do a write-up about your business or your brand, the most effective way to achieve this would be to present your information to the editor of that particular publication, and let the professional take it from there. That editor is going to know the best way to get that information into print and help it to create Optimum results for your business.

This is where an Online Marketing Consultant can help your offline business. They fit that role of “the Editor”. The focus of an Online Marketing Consultant will be to help you achieve good Search Engine Ranking, set up and maintain your Search Engine Optimization, as well as helping you to create effective marketing strategies that are highly targeted for each individual marketing medium it is being placed into.

A good Online Marketing Consultant will know that it is all about applying more Marketing to your SEO rather than applying more SEO to your marketing. Things change quickly online, and people will invariably respond differently to various mediums. Branding your business online is the name of the game. It is all about perceived value. If a prospect visits your website one day and is not ready to buy, they may see your Facebook Fan Page the next day. This simple act can trigger that person to pick up the phone and call. Having multiple contact points for your target audience is the key to your business success online.

As you can see, there is an almost overwhelming number of marketing avenues available to you online. Utilizing a focused marketing strategy, and increasing your “perceived value” is what will ultimately drive your Search Engine Rankings. Not the other way around.

- Steve Harlow
(252) 268-2202

Google Mobile Search is how a large and rapidly growing segment of consumers are searching for Products, Price Comparisons, and Product Reviews. More importantly for you the local business owner, this is also where your potential customers are looking for YOU!!

Check out this quick video, and see just how fast and simple it is for today’s shopper to do searches on the run, and find everything they need.

This is THE consumer trend of today. With Smart Phone technology advancing rapidly, it’s time for you to get into the arena. In order to stay ahead of the competition, you need to be positioning yourself and be among the first to embrace and market to this new technology. Those who act NOW while it is fresh and new, will reap the greatest rewards. Those who take the “wait and see” attitude, will find themselves quickly shut out, and spending a fortune to play “Catch Up”.

Steve Harlow
Brick N Mortar Solutions
252-268-2202

Let’s face it… We are currently living in a world that very, very, few of us have ever experienced. With the state of the economy today, the last folks to experience anything like this would be our Great-great grandparents at the very least. Back during the Great Depression. While we may currently only be in a Recession, it has carried us to the brink, and there we stand. Teetering on the threshold of survival or utter failure. It’s time to get creative!

In order for ANY business to survive today, they simply MUST face facts, and embrace technology. The technology of the Internet Marketing Age. In these uncertain, and ever-changing times, those who reject this change, will unfortunately go the way of the Dinosaur, the Neanderthal, and the DoDo Bird. Extinction is inevitable.

Take a 5 minute walk down the Main Street of Anycity, USA. Do you have enough hours in your day to count the number of people you encounter, with a cell phone plastered to their ear?

Consumers now have more media choices than ever. They also find ways to Block marketing messages and selectively control how they receive your advertising. Consumers today are empowered. They are seeking out relevant business information when they need it or, more importantly, when they are ready to buy. Offline media continues to decrease in popularity. Mobile searches continue to grow, as more consumers have access to mobile devices with Internet browsers and applications (Blackberries, IPhones and Droids).

“As search continues to advance with technology and interactivity, consumers expect more relevance in their searches. Among all local searchers, more consumers than last year expect the businesses in their local search results to be within a closer proximity of their physical location. In 2008, 36 percent of searchers were looking for businesses within six to 15 miles of their home or place of work. According to 2009 results, 42 percent of users want a business within that same distance.” (source tmp directional marketing)

Another huge factor affecting consumer decisions today is Social Media. Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are today’s social gathering spots. They have basically become the online versions of the Corner Store, the Local Barbershop, the Local Coffee Shop, the Office Water cooler. The place where folks gather to chat on a regular basis and most importantly , share their day-to-day experiences in the world. Today’s consumers value endorsements and recommendations from fellow shoppers. The convenience and accessibility of the Internet makes researching products and services more efficient. In the past 3 years, consumer-generated ratings and reviews have continued to increase in importance among consumers looking to make purchase decisions.

So as you can see, the market is speaking out as to what it wants. It wants easy, convenient, and specific information about products and services. We live in a society of instant gratification. This is what the Offline business owner MUST supply, or be left at the side of the road. Is your business fully positioned to supply this demand? Is it growing, changing, and flowing with today’s trends?

The Internet has become a primary source of local business information among consumers. Traditional media and fast growing mobile solutions are each relevant in today’s search landscape. Businesses must integrate cross-platform strategies, allocating marketing dollars to the distribution of different media channels. Today’s consumer uses a variety of sources to obtain local business information, sometimes several sources for single purchase decisions. As both innovative and traditional sources continue competing for consumer search traffic, businesses need to develop a complete search presence. Diversify your search marketing to help consumers find you, regardless of how they’re searching.

Do YOU need a Brick N Mortar Solution?

- Steve Harlow