A Checklist Of 18 Online Marketing Tactics

It’s a tough world out there and small businesses need all the help they can get.  One of the biggest expenses startups and small businesses encounter includes marketing.  That’s why we created a checklist of 18 online marketing tactics to quickly guide companies to internet marketing success.  This checklist is a great tool for you to download and use while optimizing your digital marketing throughout the next year.

1. Mobile Friendly/Responsive Website – Google recently announced the addition of mobile friendly functionality to their algorithm.  This creates increasing importance to have a website that responds to all types of devices and helps sustain its search engine ranking on Google.
2. Add a Blog – New content on a website helps search engines rank the website for new keywords.  The more blog posts you create, the better chance you have to get your website in front of more consumer searches.
3. Utilize Google Analytics – To know where you are and where you want to go, you need the ability to track your online presence.  Google Analytics, or any type of website analytics, is a must to move forward with a better sense of what’s happening on your website.
4. Know Your Popular Search Terms – Knowing what people are searching for to find your product or service is key to all digital marketing.  These popular keywords can be used in your website copy, blog posts, SEO, social media and more.
5. Optimize Local Search Engines – Attaining as many entries on the first page of search engine rankings is one key component to search engine optimization (SEO).  You need to optimize local search engines like Hot Frog, local.com, City Search, Yelp and more to help you gain additional first page rankings.
6. Find Industry Related Online Partners – A great way to gain a better online presence is through building links back to your website. Find industry associations, marketing partners and organizations that will allow you to add information about your website on their website, with a link back to yours.
7. Guest Blogging – Find organizations and websites that allow industry related content written from outside their company.  Perform a quick search using the search term “local blogs” + “City, State” to find organizations looking for content providers. (ie: local blogs St. Louis, MO) The more content you can get on these websites, the better chance you have of getting found online.
8. Start Tweeting – Google and Twitter recently announced an agreement to index tweets posted on Twitter.  This means everything you post on Twitter has a chance to filter into Google’s search engine rankings.  Make sure you add your popular search terms into your tweets going forward.
9. Use Facebook Call-To-Actions – Facebook now allows you to add a call-to-action button on your business Facebook page.  Add calls-to-action like “contact us,” “book now,” “shop now,” and “sign up.”
10. Optimize Google My Business Page – Google My Business is a local search engine page and social media platform by Google.  Since this is a Google product, this platform is heavily weighted on Google rankings.  If you don’t have a Google My Business page, search for it and follow the instructions to create one now.
11. Set Up Bing Places For Businesses – Just like Google, Bing has its own business page to help organizations get found more easily locally.
12. Utilize Facebook Local Awareness – Organizations can now advertise to individuals in a geographic area around a company.  Anyone who is 1, 3, 5 or more miles from the organization will receive their ad when browsing Facebook.
13. Hashtag It Up – Most social media sites allow you to use a hashtag (#) to propel your message to a larger audience.  Knowing your popular search terms allows you to use hashtags, combined with the search terms, in every post.
14. Use Different Types Of Online Advertising – Online advertising is an economical way to target consumers when first starting a business.  Use a plethora of online ads to brand yourself, stay top of mind and drive individuals to your website.
15. Maximize Your Targeting – Don’t limit yourself when performing online advertising.  Target individuals based on their geography, age range, gender, income level, keywords they search for and more.
16. Promote Your Business Using Search Ads – Search ads are ads found at the top of search engines. Search ads are a great way for startups and small organizations to own the top of search engines.  Get your message in front of your target market even if your website doesn’t rank on the first page.
17. Brand Yourself With Display Ads – Display ads, sometimes called banner ads, help organizations brand themselves utilizing graphics, logos, business colors and more.  These ads are great for grabbing your target market’s attention with your own branding.
18. Test Out Your Ads – You don’t know what will work online unless you test your advertising.  Test independent variables between two, three or four sets of ads to see which one creates the best engagement.