Why it is important to master all online marketing skills

If you want to be a successful online marketer there are certain skills that you need to acquire. Onsite SEO is a very good way of getting your online marketing campaign off to a good start, but this should not be the only element to master. Onsite SEO alone won’t get you very far at all.

But what if you work for an Online Marketing company and you have a designer, coder, copywriter, PPC expert and Social Media marketer on hand. Does this mean you should only limit yourself to one element of the online marketing process?

The truth is, in order to be a successful online marketer you can’t focus on one skill only, you need to develop and nurture all the necessary skills.

Web Design

All of us aren’t web designers, but you need to know what works on a website and what does not. What works for your product review site or blog and what works for your ecommerce site is definitely not the same thing. However, there are certain elements that need to be incorporated into every design:

• Effective use of Conversion elements
• Ease of navigation
• Web Optimized Imagery
• Thoughtful and effective user interface
• Effective display of your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

Having the knowledge of what works in web design can go a long way in distinguishing your site from all the ‘noise’ out there.

Content Creation

All your online marketing efforts rely on content. SEO, PPC, Social Media etc. Just writing for the sake of adding more content to your site or blog is useless. Creativity and originality is the key when creating content for your site. No one wants to read the same old story just with a different angle or a little extra icing on top. In this day and age where the latest information and breaking news are available in real time as it happens, you need to be the first to get the attention of the world in a unique and engaging way. A good idea is to stay up-to-date with all current news, events and developments in your field or industry. Use social media, RSS Feeds and Google Alerts to do so.

PPC

Setting up a PPC campaign is probably one of the quickest and easiest things you can do, but just setting up your PPC campaign and writing a few one liner ads won’t necessarily bring you those clicks and more importantly the conversions.

• Keywords – In depth analysis and research must be done to ensure that you use the correct keywords. Remember that long tail keywords are used by searchers that have already done their research and are ready to buy.
• Product/Service Specific landing pages – Point your ads to the page where the browser can find exactly what you are advertising in you ads.
• Budget bids – If your bid is too high you might run out of money after only a few clicks. If your bid is too low, your ad won’t be displayed.
• Your site – you can spend all the money you have on your PPC campaign, but if your site does not instill a sense of quality and trust in the user, you won’t get anywhere
• Know when to stop – PPC is extremely effective in generating traffic and sales when your site is still new and does not yet have any organic rankings in the Search Engines.

SEO

A recent user poll done by TopRankBlog, shows that SEO is still seen by many as the most valuable online marketing strategy to be used. SEO in itself is a multi faceted strategy that includes Onsite SEO and Offsite SEO or link acquisition. Onsite SEO is quick and easy. It’s getting the votes in the form of links or references to your site that is the backbreaker.

It used to be that building some unnatural links from blog comments, forums, directories and other “free for all” link sources would do quite a bit in getting your search engine rankings up there. With Google’s update of their ranking algorithm named “Google Caffeine”, the value of link sources have been re-evaluated big time. The most valuable link sources are those that are moderated like news publications and high authority editorial sites or authoritative industry blogs.

Research shows that Google’s new algorithm definitely devalues certain types of links. Links from comments, blog rolls, links pages, and footer links just to name a few, mean very little for your site.

Using your brilliant content, industry tools and resources to create something that people want to link to (link bait) is the way to go.

Social media

Social Media can play a huge roll in your online marketing campaign if you use it right. Social Media is NOT quick and easy to get into. It involves a lot of research and work on your part. If utilized effectively, your social media campaign can boost your site traffic to incredible heights.

A recently launched viral video campaign by Old Spice, crippled YouTube with the amount of traffic it generated.  Be creative and unique with your Social Media campaigns and you will reap the rewards.

As you can see Online Marketing consists of many elements that need to be utilized and catered to your specific needs. Online marketing is not a quick fix that will generate huge amounts of traffic straight away; it takes time, effort and oodles of creativity.