Web Marketing 2010: Four Helpful Tools to Keep Your Site Up to Date

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In a way, online marketing is a bit like running on a treadmill – the more effort you put in, the faster your competitors seem to be moving along with you. You shouldn’t let this ever-changing nature of the Internet stop you from competing, however. While it might seem tough to get ahead, running in place is better than falling behind the competition.

Of course, the competition represents only one part of your business you need to keep an eye on. Just as important is keeping a healthy bottom line. As the economy has gone sour over the last couple of years, lots of business owners and marketers have decided to cut back on their web investments. Some did this as a matter of planning; for others, it was a stark necessity. As things continue to pick up, however, you’re going to want to be sure you’re doing all you need to do in order to bring in new sales and customers. Here are four things to consider adding to your business site, if you haven’t already:

1. Links to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and so on.

Social networking isn’t just a newer way to find customers – it’s a different way of interacting with them altogether. But you’re not going to enjoy any of the benefits (like stronger relationships, bigger account values, and increased referrals) if no one ever finds your profile. That’s why it’s so important that you place links to your information at these sites on your home page, and possibly other places. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find you.

Another reason to take this step, like many on this list, is because visitors expect it. They’ve become accustomed to communicating with friends, colleagues, and vendors in social networking formats, and so if you aren’t there, they might wonder whether your business is staying up with new ideas and processes.

2. Video.

The recent increase in availability of high-speed Internet service, not to mention the lowering prices, has meant that online videos have become more cost-effective than they were just a few years ago. While video used to chew up too much bandwidth to effectively convey even the simplest of marketing messages, these days cell phones, netbooks, and other low-end computers can process longer clips easily.

The uses for video on your business site are almost endless. Besides creating sales materials, you can also release instructional pieces that show your customers how to use and maintain your products, introductory clips that draw visitors deeper into your site, and even “viral” sketches that spread your brand quickly from one user to another.

3. A blog.

There aren’t many companies or self-employed professionals who haven’t at least tried blogging, and for good reason: blogs allow you to communicate with your customers informally while helping your search engine optimization efforts at the same time. To get the most out of yours, though, you need to do more than make the occasional post. Instead, make sure visitors can find it easily, and then post fresh content at least a few times a month. Blogging might not be new, but it’s still growing; you can’t afford to miss out on the benefits it can bring your business.

4. A newsletter or free giveaway.

Unless you work for an enormous company with nearly unlimited resources (and maybe even then), getting people to your site is probably expensive and time-consuming. Because of that, it’s imperative that your visitors not leave quickly.

By using blogs, video, and social media, you should be able to hold more of their attention than you have in the past. But don’t stop there – make it easy to follow up with them later. Studies have repeatedly shown that it usually takes several contacts to make the first sale to a new customer, and yet many marketers give up after the first try. Whether it’s a free e-book, special report, newsletter, or other promotion, make sure you’re not letting traffic slip away without gathering a bit of information; you work too hard at finding people not to come any closer to a buying relationship.

In web marketing, or any marketing for that matter, there aren’t many “must try” strategies; what works for one company might not make much sense for another. You should try putting these four into play on your website, though. None of them is difficult or expensive, and they can keep you from falling behind the competition as buyers come back to the market.