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The internet is one of the greatest advantages a small business has today. It provides a more level playing field when competing with larger businesses that have more marketing and advertising resources. For a smaller investment of time and money, an entrepreneur can get much the same results online as their bigger counterparts. This article will explore a four-step process that anyone can use to create a system for making money online. The system will work for big business, small business, and even an entrepreneur selling his or her products or skills. Step #1 – The Website Before beginning the process of altering your website into one that generates revenue, you must have one. If you already have a website, you have to get it ready for your promotional campaigns. Note: when discussing how your website makes you money, we don’t necessarily mean an online store. Your website may not be a place to accept payment at all. It can be a critical step in the process of selling. There are several things a website must do in order to be prepared. First, your site must actually be properly implemented in both planning and construction. It should be fast-loading, easy to navigate and clear in intent and presentation. When visitors land on your homepage, they should be able to immediately determine who you are, what you’re about and what value they’ll get out of being there. Secondly, optimize your site for search engine traffic and crawling. You’re probably familiar with the term SEO, this is what it’s all about. The website’s important elements must be tweaked for maximum searchability. The page content must also be keyword rich while simultaneously being reader friendly. This is critical. The fact of the matter is, there is little point in driving qualified traffic to your website if when it arrives the pages are filled with ineffective information. SEO is a vital cog in your online marketing wheel and must not be neglected. We’re fond of saying that SEO is not the entire pie, but it’s certainly an important slice. The third element in this step is to ensure that your website offers value. This goes beyond the obvious promotion of your product or service. The site can and should present additional relevant information, video and articles on the product or service. Interactive features can also be added that gives the visitor methods for connecting with you whether they are ready to buy or not. You can offer a newsletter, free offers, links to resources and so forth. Present them with a variety of options for tying into your company and for you to build an email list. Step #2 –Off-site Accounts Once the website is ready, you must now venture into the larger cyber world. nowadays, a growing business can’t just build a website and stop. The days of thinking that if you build it, they will come are well behind us. You must extend your reach. There are many options here, so in order to avoid confusion, we’ll make it simple. For beginners, it is wise to choose three or four primary off-site venues to cut your teeth on. What you choose will vary depending on your category of business. A good start might be a Facebook page, A LinkedIn account, a YouTube channel and a blog. These four alone will give you a solid foundation, and certainly give you or your internet marketer plenty to manage. When setting these accounts up, keep several things in mind. First, make sure that they present both business and personal information. People connect emotionally with individuals as opposed to companies. Present yourself as the face of XYZ inc. Second, each of these accounts should have a working link or links back to your primary website, and to each other. This is so very important. See to it that all profile and contact information is accurate and up to date. These accounts will be used to promote yourself, post updates, new information, third-party information and communicate with your network of fans, customers and friends. Don’t forget that once constructed and optimized , your website has clear links back to these accounts as well. Step #3 – Content marketing This is where you or your marketer will publish content on the internet that will link back to your website. Content marketing is a very powerful technique because it provides quality back links that help your search rankings and drives traffic. Publishing content also requires SEO to be effective. Keep in mind that if something can be searched, it will be and therefore it must be optimized. A brief list of some effective content marketing strategies: Articles: write and publish informational articles that relate to what your business does. Create at least three or four versions of each so that they can be published on several article directories. This increases the amount of searchable content online while keeping it unique. Blogging: Post frequently on your blog. Remember to be diligent about responding quickly to comments and other posts. Videos: Make use of the YouTube channel. Compose a number of how to or educational videos about you, your business and what you do that presents real value to the viewer. Link these back to your website for search ranking and traffic generation. Post free ads: There are many free advertising websites. Make use of them and put up ads to your website, blogs, articles and anything else you’ve posted online. Guest blog: Write posts or comments on others’ blogs. This is an effective way of increasing your internet exposure and create more relevant links. PPC’s: Feel free to try a little pay per click advertising. Even for a small amount of money, you can drive quality traffic to your sites, your blogs or wherever you want. Step #4 – Get involved and Cross-link Before we go on, allow us to make a quick but important point. When you are promoting yourself, be mindful to maintain a balance between blatant self-promotion and independent relevant information. You can’t just go for the hard sell. Build a reputation of authority for yourself and your business. It’s during the process of interacting and linking that you will actively participate on the web to promote yourself and your information. This is where you post on your Facebook, interact with the community on YouTube, create connections on LinkedIn and write for your blog. As mentioned, go about this conscientiously. Use an 80/20 rule, or use something close such as 70/30. This means that for the most part, your posts and information is not directly pushing your products and services. Save that for the twenty or thirty percent. An effective technique for interaction is to join one or two discussion forums that relate to what you do. After a brief trial period, they will let you post links and even create a profile with a link back to your websites. This is a wonderful opportunity to network and build a community because you can easily become a resource for other users. Make use of all you have created including your website, your social media, your YouTube, your blogs, your forums and link each of these to each other as well as your website. This is how you build a huge network of relevant websites with yours, and greatly enhance your search rankings, website traffic and conversion rates. In each of the steps discussed, there is certainly a lot more information that can be learned. However, by using this simple step by step process, you can create a successful system for yourself, your website and your company. It will entail some effort and certainly will require an investment of time and possibly money. In the long-term, the positive benefits you will receive will be more than worth it. Most of the strategies explored herein build upon themselves and generate ever-increasing results on their own. In time, your carefully structured and managed systems will send a steady flow of visitors and income into your coffers. Find out more about how to make your company profitable online. Visit our website to learn how you can improve your search results, website traffic and increase profits. We can show you the way, either one on one or by giving you access to our website and blog visit our website today! To keep up with current SEO, internet marketing and business trends, come and be a part of our growing blog community. We offer a constant stream of useful content for you to improve the marketability and profitability of your business. We also welcome your input and questions. Please come and be a part of our growing community
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