Little City Advertising would love to help you setup, test and analyze your online marketing efforts. Even if we are not the right fit for your business, we at least want to help you by offering you some tips on effective marketing strategies online. These top 10 tips have been pulled together through our research, tests and human knowledge base.

1. Remember to write web pages with the customer in mind. We cannot stress this enough. While it is worth incorporating widely used keywords within your site, remember that your message to customers should not be distracted by junky content that tries to cram as many keywords into a body of text that doesn't read well. Recognition of keywords in your content, both by your customers and search engines will likely assure relevancy, but it is no substitute for clear content written By Humans For Humans.

2. Annoying ads are so 1999. All kidding aside, remember that in the long term, annoying pop-ups, aggravating sounds, and ads that interfere with navigating the web detract from the user experience. The better the internet is, the more a user will incorporate it into every facet of life. Remember that your business reputation means a lot to your customers, and blurring that reputation with shock/annoyance ads doesn't pay off as well as respectful marketing.

3. The only way to know is to test. There is a lot of gut instinct in business, but as direct marketers we appreciate the power of testing during the online marketing strategy development process. You may think a particular message is the most powerful, however, you may find through testing that there are more effective ways to engage your customers.

Testing is also recommended since it gives you progressively better returns on your investment (ROI). Each successive winning test lowers marketing costs, acquires more customers, and ultimately raises profitability. We have some clients that test every quarter with us. They know the value of beating their status quo metrics pays off for the foreseeable future. For example, imagine if we could lower customer acquisition costs from $25 a customer to $20. Every future customer you get under the new strategy would create $5 more profit for the company.

4. Content Is King. You have probably already heard this one, but it is worth repeating (over and over again if necessary). The internet has made more savvy customers out of all of us. We can compare multiple companies, prices, services and ultimately make a much more informed decision when it comes purchase time. Internet users demand useful, relevant information on business web sites. Our suggestion is make sure you give it to them, as much as you can muster.

5. Why hide price, why hide anything? If you have a web site, it is most likely the first impression (sometimes unfortunately the last as well) you will get to make to your potential customers. Sites that do not include at least some sense of pricing will most likely be dropped from a customers consideration set. Not all customers browsing your site will make the effort to call and check on pricing. Even if half call which is high, you have just lost 50% of your audience because of something that you disclose anyway in the first minute or two of the phone conversation or in the store.

We understand some business pricing can be complex. However, we strongly suggest you give your site's browsers at least some idea of pricing so that they can see if there is a fit. Also, pricing specials on the web are a great opportunity to test for potentially profitable offer strategies.

6. Search Engine Optimization doesn't happen overnight. Building a web site can be time-consuming, but it is important that you remember to make it as useful and navigable as you can, both for users and search engines. Here are 5 things you may be able to do on your own to optimize your site.

• Write effective titles of pages. Don't miss out on this easy one. If your site shows up in search, this will be the major factor in whether someone clicks on your site or not. Concise, Informative and Relevant.
  
  
• Make sure all pictures have alternate text. In the html, any picture will have a code snippet that looks something like this: <img alt="#" src="images/m_1.gif" width="172" height="19">. The # sign should be replaced with a description of what the image represents or describes.
  
  
• Place key information in the top 4 inches of your pages.
  
  
• Site Maps help search engines and users navigate your site. It is always a good idea to provide a site map.
  
• Where appropriate, always try to use links that have descriptive text. More on Web Marketing is a better link than Click here.

7. Walk in your customer's shoes and find your site. This is a practice we do all the time at Little City Advertising. If I were my own customer, what kind of terms or search would I do to find my site. Make a list of the words you search. Enlist your family and friends to do the same, you would be surprised what terms are used. Take note of how your competition shows up in these same searches.

8. You can find a cost per ad cost that fits your budget. While the number 1 sponsor spot in search engines can be too expensive for you to make a profit, there are other methods for lowering your cost per click. If your business needs to acquire customers for cheaper than the CPC for the #1 spot allows, there are strategies to bring your acquisition costs down. The trade-off of course is volume.

9. Add some utility to your site. You will hear this one again and again as well. If you sell eggs for instance, make sure you have some content that will educate or help your customer on your market. Tips for proper egg storage, differences in eggs across varieties or even something as simple as how to spot a rotten egg will engage, inform, or at least humor your customers. Giving customers more useful content on the web is a long-term strategy for success.

10. Get to know how your customers use your web site. Do you know how long the average customer stays on your site? How about which page most customers click onto after landing on your site? Do you know where your inbound traffic comes from? All of these questions are important to understanding how you are meeting your customers needs. There are software solutions out there that are inexpensive (Google has one for free) that will put you in touch with consumer behavior on your site. The more you know, the better decisions you can make about improving the experience for the future.

We hope at least some of these tips help you maximize your web presence. If we can help with anything, including additional free advice, don't hesitate to get in touch.