Five Big Online Marketing MistakesSource: iMedia ConnectionAuthor: Ian Lurie Portent Interactive's CEO discusses how to avoid common marketing mistakes while using a holistic approach to design, structure and buying. Online marketing seems easy enough: build a website, buy some keywords on Google, and then watch the world flock to your site to buy your products and/or services. Unfortunately, life is rarely that easy, and marketing on the internet is no exception.
Almost every mistake you can make on the web derives from the fundamental assumption that designing and building a website, marketing your product/service, and measuring the results are separate, compartmentalized activities. In fact, the opposite is true: one must approach online marketing with a holistic philosophy that recognizes the interrelatedness of, say, the structure of a website and its ability to rank highly in search results.
Ideally, your graphic designers, technology architects and coders, search engine optimization consultants, and media buyers should work together as a single organization, even if they are not from the same company. The failure to take such an approach can result in making one or more of the following Five Big Mistakes…
Mistake #1: Thinking That Keyword Advertising Is Everything Everyday I meet people who are pouring money into pay-per-click search and ignoring organic search. This is a costly mistake that only helps to line pockets of Google shareholders. Not that I have anything against the success of Google. To the contrary, Google has done more to shine a light on the power of internet marketing than anyone else.
No, my beef is with the advertisers who only care about being number one in ad words, when they should be more concerned with end results. The ingenious Google bidding model, in which advertisers compete against each other, ensures the highest cost per click for Google.
But people forget that a Top-Ten search result is just as powerful as an ad that costs $5. I know many people who are more inclined to click an organic search result because they think it has more credibility than a paid advertisement. Do you ever do that? I know I do.
Instead of focusing exclusively on keyword advertising, you have to strike a balance with organic search, eNewsletters, email, blogs, and all the other marketing vehicles available on the web today. Utilize the entire universe of options and you will lower your overall cost per click.
Other issues discussed:Mistake #2: Thinking Cool Design Equals Good Marketing
Mistake #3: Ignoring Measurement
Mistake #4: Ignoring Return on Investments
Mistake #5: Assuming that Meta-Tags Can Help With Search Engine Optimization
Read full article here... Ian Lurie is an Internet marketing professional in Seattle, Washington. His firm, Portent Interactive, has helped businesses generate value using the Internet since 1995. Ian is about to publish a book on Internet Marketing called Conversation Marketing. You can visit his blog at http://www.conversationmarketing.com.
Five Big Online Marketing Mistakes, PortentInteractive's CEO discusses how to avoid marketing mistakes
Jun 22 2006, 05:22 AM
