What is your internet marketing strategy? Do you have one or know where you are planning to go with your marketing plan? If you are like most people, the internet is somewhat mysterious. You want people to come to your website but you don’t know how you can get them there. Your internet marketing goal is most likely just to get as much traffic as possible to your website with the hope that someone will purchase your product. A goal is not a strategy.

This type of goal, while valid, may end up putting you in the poor house with regard to your internet marketing budget. If you are planning on spending time or money in your internet marketing plan, you will want to get a good return on investment. And in order to do that, you have to have a strategy.

Your website content, including video content and any data relating to your site should be optimized. This will give you a higher ranking in the search engines than if your site did not contain strategically placed keywords. Making your website SEO friendly by doing a web analysis of the site now should be first on your list when it comes to internet marketing strategy.

Second on the list should be to take advantage of free content plugs. This means using press releases, articles and even blogs as a way to market your website using SEO content. This will not only draw attention to your website, but can raise the rankings in the search engines. You should be able to take advantage of all of the free ways to market your site, including submitting links and even social networks.

Do not rely on email ads and pay per click ads, although they can get you started in your online business. They are only good for the short term goal. While they should be part of your internet marketing strategy, they should not be solely responsible for driving traffic to your website. You need to make use of the ways to spread SEO content around the internet and also make sure your own site is SEO rich as part of your internet marketing strategy to fulfill your internet marketing goals.

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies. Reach him at 267-626-9094 or rick@dinkuminteractive.com.

During the program I took many questions that ranged from several neophytes to quite a few that had some knowledge and had thought about their online strategy. One question that provoked quite a bit of discussion from someone who had done some basic research themselves but had hit a wall – the question “If I want only sell locally what should I use for my keyword, philadelphia or Phila.”

Unfortunately I had to tell them the answer was not that easy or necessarily consistent. It depends on what you are selling and how the buyers of your product or service refer to possible suppliers in your industry.

In other words do buyers – for example – of online marketing services search under Philadelphia online marketing or do they use Phila online marketing? Only research will tell and the research will only tell which one is searched more often not necessarily which one will send more buyers to your site.

It is amazing how many times folks try to view their online strategy with the same eyes and perspective as their more traditional marketing efforts. Frustration can occur quickly as you learn just how little you are in charge of the outcome.

While doing a project for Eastern University for their nonprofit program – how do you spell nonprofit or non-profit or non profit. Once again it does not matter how you spell it it only matters how the people who are going to sign up for your program are going to spell it. Will you know from the start NO

Test, monitor, test, monitor – not really all that different from traditional in that sense most folks do not understand this yet and expect changes and results too quickly.

Be patient monitor and run with it – by the way if you would like to join me for another program I am speaking the end of February here for the Center City Proprietors Association – a good organization if you want to do business in Philadelphia.

Rick Simmons is a principal at Dinkum Interactive, a firm specializing in online marketing solutions for small and medium sized businesses around the globe. With more than 25 years of experience in advertising and marketing, Simmons has spent the last four years focused on search engine optimization, and other Internet marketing strategies. Reach him at 267-626-9094 or rick@dinkuminteractive.com.

The web equivalent of the old Buddhist mystery is; If a web site is uploaded will anyone see it? Many forget that one the indelible rules of the old school is; you are either talking to a target market or you are not talking at all. In spite of how much noise you are making with text links ads, pay per click and ad word programs. The power of a consistent, high quality site with fresh content is the beginning. Opening conversations the people, seeing your site as the source for their solution, well that is where the money lies.

Talking to yourself: We get jazzed about our product/service. We see the nuances, the power and the possibilities. All important facts and passion is critical to success but, that is not communication with someone who will buy. Look outside in… Who are your current clients? What is their demographics (age, race, gender, income level, position in the company, etc)? Dose that fit who you want as a client? Then you can decide how best to speak to those specific people.

Talking to everyone: Guess what, everyone is not your market. Large, massive really, are parts of the world population are outside your target market and will never, ever buy from you and that is OK. Even inside your market there are significant numbers of people who will, as surprising as it may seem to you, say no to your product or service. Once you embrace that fact you are free to focus your content on those with the highest likelihood to buy.

Talking to your competition: The chances are your competition doesn’t have it as together as you think they do. Many folks model their outreach on what they think their competition is doing and that is just goofy. It is the marketing equivalent of keeping up with the Joneses, only the Jones family is losing market share.

Talking to the right people: The best way to think of your web marketing in the context of first your industry…what you sell, then your market (as in who you need to talk to, right clients). Here it is good to be ruthless and very specific with who is on the island and who is off.

Once you have that laid out and defined, then you can begin the process of serious marketing, SEO and web development and, of course, starting those critical conversations with the right cleint.