Internet Marketing - Online Marketing Tools, Tips, and Strategies [Page 4]

Use these Internet marketing ideas ethically

Use your best judgment with these suggestions. Whether they're "right" or "wrong" will usually depend on the manner in which you implement them.

1. Go to Amazon.com and buy a book or product that is related to your business. Then, after a couple weeks, post a review of the book and indirectly mention your website or service in the text. *Important: since high quality reviews show more frequently, it's important to be fair and objective at all times.
2. Spy on competitors by being their customer. Test the registration and purchase process on your competitors' websites, and keep an eye out for information that will be valuable to your own Internet marketing, such as:
   1. Any "Where did you hear about us?" questionnaires. If they provide a list of media choose from, check to see if they're still advertising in those places. If you can determine how long they've been advertising there, that will be a good indication of whether the medium has been successful for them.
   2. Any upsell or "add-on" attempts. You might just find that your competitors are making profits by offering services that you didn't expect. A fair amount of "free" sites survive by charging for "enhanced" or "deluxe" services that you wouldn't realize without participating (e.g. MySpace charges for "removing ads") . Often sites are generating revenue in a manner that might not have been intuitive. Master marketer Craig Newmark (craigslist.com) appears to be a god of generosity to most of his visitors, while he rakes in millions by charging companies for employment ads.

Increase conversions with credibility

It's very difficult for consumers to know who's real and trustworthy in the online world. Yes, you know that you're a solid business, but how do your first time visitors perceive you? These Internet marketing tips should help with turning those visitors into buyers.

1. Maintain a professional looking website that includes a privacy policy, contact form, and preferably your address or phone number.
2. Install live chat on your site. There's nothing more comforting than a "We're Online" message or a "Click to chat with us" button to show prospects that you're an active website with active customer service. Live chat also allows you to answer a client's questions immediately, reducing the risk that you'll lose them to a competitor before responding to their email. For non-technical types, there's no shortage of fee-based chat widgets like LivePerson.com. I personally use LiveZilla.net, which is free and highly customizable. However, if I where adding chat to an extremely high traffic website, I might prefer a paid solution, so as to keep the processing overhead off of my server.
    
   
3. Business seals increase conversions by building customer trust and projecting legitimacy. Check out BBB Online, Trust Guard, TRUSTe, and HonesteOnline to find a seal that works for you. There are many others that are very cheap and have very low requirements. Webmasters use them for one reason -- for the Internet marketing value of projecting an image that will promote sales. Heck, even displaying a cheap Godaddy SSL certificate can help increase your conversions.
    
             
    
   *These are only sample seals. Actual seals would include a live link for verification.