For entrepreneurs marketing an Internet business, understanding and implementing the basics of search engine optimization, as well as general marketing strategies, is an essential part of creating a successful online presence and a positive balance in your company’s bank account.

The ultimate goal of any marketing effort, SEO based or not, is to widen your reach and increase your audience. If your company’s name isn’t the first one potential clients think of when they need the service you provide, it’s your competition who will get their business. So, how do you make sure that doesn’t happen?

Last week we began a two-part series on the do’s and don’ts of small business SEO, offering a list of 5 do’s for successful Internet marketing strategy. This week we offer the don’ts:

1. Don’t Spam. Not now, not ever. Spam includes bombarding customers and potential clients with unsolicited emails and materials, as well as inundating unrelated blogs, guest books and the like with links to your site.
2. Don’t procrastinate on implementing SEO efforts. No matter whether you’re launching a brand new site or upgrading an existing one, it’s never too soon to think SEO. Early on, develop a process to manage, monitor and upgrade your SEO efforts and stay up to date on current Internet marketing practices. Keep in close touch with the needs and wants of your client base so that you can focus your SEO efforts on what matters the most.
3. Don’t let an SEO company fully take the reins. In many cases, hiring a professional SEO company to manage your marketing is your best bet in maximizing the potential of your SEO efforts. However, don’t assign the task and consider it “handled.” Participate in the process and stay in close contact with your SEO advisors. They may know Internet marketing, but you know your clients. It is your job to make sure their needs and interests are kept at the forefront of every strategy implemented.
4. Don’t over-Flash. By now you are well acquainted with the search engine robots commonly known as spiders. Spiders are the ones in charge of assessing your site’s content and reporting it back to the search engines to establish your ranking in the results. If your website is completely designed in Flash or Java, the spiders won’t be able to read it and all the keyword research in the world won’t help you.
5. Don’t forget the importance of keywords. If you use overly general or inappropriate keywords, your site will be incorrectly assessed by robots and placed in the wrong search engine results lists. Also, remember to use keywords with an emphasis on buying over research-based ones. For example, “plumber” implies as search for someone to do plumbing tasks, “plumbing” implies more of a do-it-yourself search. (For more on this, see our post Target Potential Clients Using Keywords)

In an industry as complex and individualized as search engine optimization, there are literally thousands of specific strategies and practices to maximize your marketing efforts. Hopefully this list of don’ts, as well as last week’s list of do’s will get you started on the right path to your Internet business’ ultimate success.

Marketing an Internet business requires some tricky maneuvering. It’s important to understand and implement the basics of search engine optimization while understanding that creating a successful online presence is more than using the right keywords and creating spider-friendly websites.

The purpose of any Internet marketing strategy is to increase your online visibility while augmenting your company’s bank accounts. Your website needs to be at the top of search engine results as well as relevant and useful to your target market. So, how do you make sure that when potential clients search for the service you provide, that it’s your company they go to first?

Presenting part one of a two-part series on the dos and don’ts of small business marketing. Part one we offer a list of 5 Internet marketing do’s that will increase your online visibility and keep your company and services at the forefront of potential customers’ minds.

1. Expand your expertise. As an entrepreneur, you have to be well versed on much more than your products and area of expertise. In order to run and maintain a successful business, you need to understand the Internet’s marketing strategies and systems. We’re not suggesting that you have to be an SEO expert per se, but you should learn enough to give yourself a competitive edge. You can start by reading our post Why Search Engine Optimization is Vital to Your Success

2. Build a better website. Start by taking an objective look at your website in comparison with your top competition’s websites. How does yours rank? If you’re not within the top two or three, it’s time for an upgrade. Try viewing your site through your customer’s eyes. If you were in the market for your product or services, what would you expect to see on a website advertising them.

3. Cater to your clientele. Always keep your clients in mind when creating your website or developing marketing strategies. As you learn more about SEO techniques, it’s easy to get caught up in trying to follow all of the marketing gurus’ rules and tips. Be sure to write any and all content for your clients first before worrying about, for example, getting the right percentage of keywords in your text. It’s your clients who are going to be paying for your services, not search engine robots.

4. Remember the robots. Just because we promote keeping your customer first in mind when developing marketing strategies doesn’t mean you cater to them only. Keywords, meta tags, proper link names and so forth are all important elements in creating a spider-friendly site that gets pushed to the top of search engine results. Use web analysis software to learn how search engines view your pages, set goals for increased views, and watch your progress as you achieve them.

5. Prepare to persevere. You should realize that creating a marketing plan that gets results is not an overnight affair. One of the most important elements in any business’ marketing strategy is patience. It takes time to research and develop strategies that work well and once they’re up and running, you’re still responsible for keeping them current and relevant for an ever changing market. Your customers will grow and develop over time and so should your business.

Now that you know what to do, go out there and do it. Also, be sure to check back for part two … what not to do.