These are some basic but fundamental marketing strategies that any business must implement to increase traffic and ROI. These strategies helped online brands to establish credibility and achieve targeted exposure in 2009 and will continue to do so in 2010.

“Businesses want to make sure every penny goes to something that produces results,” said Dave Bascom, chief executive of SEO.com. “For that reason, more and more money is being allocated to Internet marketing because it’s measurable and has proven to increase ROI.”

There are a wide variety of Internet marketing methods, the most effective being the ones that establish credibility, trust and directly target a demographic.

“Credibility is the most important,” said Ash Buckles, SEO.com’s director of search engine optimization. “When people are watching their money closely, they will only buy from companies and Web sites that they trust.”

Credibility, Buckles said, depends on how well a site is architected, how many other sites and networks link back to your site, how much social media and buzz surrounds a domain, how often a site goes down, how unique a site’s content is and how fast a site loads.

The Top 10 Internet Marketing Strategies of 2009:

1.   Organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Web sites in the top of the search results are viewed as the leaders of their industry, and more than 80 percent of Web users click on the first listings. . I

2.   Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn – Social media marketing engages customers on a personal level, and can rapidly create buzz around a product, brand or business. In 2008, Pubcon search conference spent $75,000 to marketing their conference. In 2009, Pubcon saved that money and used strictly social media advertising with great success.

3.   Keyword Research – Everything revolves around discovering what words and phrases your customers are searching for online.

4.   Video Marketing – This is becoming more important both on-site and off-site. Videos help convert Web site visitors into sales. In the universal search results, people tend to click on links with videos more than those without – even if the video link is ranked lower.

5.   Online Public Relations – This builds credibility online, in the mainstream media and for potential customers. Online public relations can help create a lot of buzz about your site through bloggers and industry sites, and can boost organic SEO.

6.   Link Building – A key element in search engine optimization. Search engines like “popular sites.” From the search engine’s point of view, a credible and popular site will have a lot of links pointing to it.

7.   Blogging – Blogs provide additional site content (which search engines love), graphics and other viral content to disseminate information and tie in with social media. Blogs can build your credibility by establishing your site as the hub for industry information.

8.   Conversion Web Design – A good Web design will keep visitors on your site and sell them products or services. In the end, it all comes down to a site that makes money.

9.   Paid Search Marketing – Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is an extremely targeted strategy with measurable, immediate results. This enables a more efficient spending of marketing dollars.

10.   Email Marketing – Nurture relationships and retain existing customers. It’s much easier to keep old customers than to get new ones. Send good offers and valuable information that’s customized to their needs.

“To have success on the Internet, you need a combination of all these strategies to drive traffic to your site, establish credibility of your brand and convert traffic into sales,” Bascom said.

Social media can spread out your brand presence far and quickly. Handle with care

1. It’s affordable 

You don’t need the large marketing budgets the big brands have, a social media marketer can help you get started with a social media presence. There are hundreds of social media sites, choose the ones that match your audience and your brand best. Social media is about developing personal relationships so even with professional help the main cost could easily be your time. You know how much your time costs so be efficient or it will end up costing you more than you think. 

2. It’s viral

With the right content your blog posts have the potential to spread out your brand awareness quickly and far, but be careful with what you put out. It can benefit you but it can also hurt your brand.

3. Improves your brand reputation

Putting out quality and focused content will help you establish your brand as an authority in your field. Make sure your content supports your brand position. Be consistent, provide value and avoid writing self-serving content, which can damage the brand reputation you are trying to build.

4. Increases traffic to you website which generates more leads and new business

A social media presence that is well integrated and consistent will generate links and improve your search engine rankings. Prospects will find you before they find your competitors. To generate conversion make sure your website and landing pages are optimized and deliver what your prospects expect. Be aware that although traffic is great never do anything that generates traffic but can damage your brand. Brand is always first.

5. Helps your brand establish a strong connection with your audience

The interactive aspect of Social Media is personal by nature, so the relationships you create can be deeper and last longer than with any other media. To maintain those relationships make sure your brand comes across authentic and transparent. 

6. Connects you with leaders in your field

With Social Media you’ll have the opportunity to interact and network with leaders in your field. Comment on their posts and tweets and participate in their social media conversations. Support them when they ask for support and they’ll support you when you need them.

7. Builds credibility

What others say about you is key to your brand credibility and success. Use Social Media to create a positive perception about your brand. Your clients and prospects will believe what others say about your brand more than anything you can say about it yourself. Track constantly what others say about you in blogs, to make sure you can respond quickly to any potentially damaging comment. I use Google Blog Search in my iGoogle page to keep an eye on what’s been said in blogs about me.

Looking forward to your comments and additions to this list.

Best.
Javier/ JRDG