Most businesses are not realising their full potential online. They could get more sales, generate more leads, and engage with more people. The good news is that if you think you are not getting what you think is possible from your online marketing, there are several cost effective strategies that you can employ that will get results. Here are our top seven.

1. Build Your Email List

Email marketing has been around for as long as there has been email, but it remains one of the most effective forms of marketing. This is not about sending “buy me now” emails to people who have no idea who you are – that is spam. Instead it is about capturing the email address of people who interact with your businesses, and then devising an email marketing strategy to communicate with them, convert them into leads, and ultimately get them to make a purchase.

2. Use Social Media

Social media platforms are highly effective marketing tools when used correctly. They can help you reach a wide audience at a low cost. They can help you create loyalty to your brand, brand awareness and they also bring more customers to your website.

3. Consider PPC

PPC, or pay per click, is an effective tool if you want immediate results. With PPC you can set up your campaign, target your audience with pinpoint accuracy, set the budget you want to spend, and within hours you will have traffic visiting your website.

4. Start Content Marketing

Content marketing usually takes the form of a blog on your website. The principle behind content marketing is that you create content that is genuinely helpful, interesting or entertaining to users. It should not have a sales message, which means a blog that describes all the great products that are available during your sale at the weekend doesn’t count. Content market is good for SEO so will help you get more traffic to your website, and it improves the reputation of your brand. Content is king!

5. Improve Your Website’s SEO

Speaking of SEO, improving it is a good way to get better results from online marketing. When your website is SEO optimised you should appear higher in search results, which will generate more traffic. Some things that you should look at include the metadata on your website, keywords, site speed, and inbound links.

6. Increase Your Visibility In Google Places Search

If you want customers who are near to your location searching for your services to find you, you should submit your business to google places. This makes it easy for people to find your phone number and address, and ensures they visit your premises, and not the location of one of your competitors.

7. Optimise Your Landing Pages

The landing page is the page on your website that your visitor first sees. For example, it is the page they see when they click on a PPC ad, or a link in an email you have sent them, or a link in a social media post. Making the landing page as good as possible therefore makes sense – you don’t want to go to all the trouble (and sometimes expense) of getting a visitor to click onto your website, only to lose them at the landing page.

Adopting these online marketing strategies will help you get a better return on your website investment.