Grahame Anderson

What is it that makes a phrase so different. I’m talking about Internet Marketing or should I say Online Marketing or perhaps Digital Marketing.

Ultimately each phrase carries its own weight and people gravitate towards the one that suits them. It doesn’t really matter what phrase you choose to use but what is important is that the people you choose to deliver these services have a clear understanding of what these services are and can deliver.

I am hearing more and more horror stories of companies spending £30k, £60k and even over £100k for essentially the promise of being Number 1 on Google.

Whilst that is a good position to be in Internet Marketing is not about being Number 1 in Google and as Google serves up different information to different local areas and also that people have more control of how they search via the browsers the truth is that there is no longer that Number 1 guarantee of everyone seeing the same result.

There have been thousands of “Digital Marketing” businesses setting up with a small set of phrases – Keywords. meta tags and optimisation with a promise of these number 1 positions. It is a totally flawed plan

Internet Marketing is a far deeper range of services based on traditional marketing campaign. Sure there are far better monitoring results and you can work to an audience faster than ever with the right online application, however the principles are very much the same and should be seen as such.

No business should be throwing away large sums of money on the promise of Google position and keywords. Anyone with half a webmasters brain can achieve these positions however it is usually done in such a way to deceive.

A solid Internet Marketing plan covers approximately 8 areas with keywords and meta tags being a very small part of the bigger plan. With the right Online Marketing Strategy in place there should be a set of tasks and deliverables in order that at monthly meetings clients can see the growth in qualified traffic, enquiries and overall position. All the other areas are key measurables which I will cover in future blogs.

I offer Free advice to any business thinking of investing their hard earned money into online marketing or advertising.

The best advice I can give is when you think you have found the right supplier ask for the following:

A case study or two of clients they have helped grow their online business
To view the monthly targets set in place and the outcomes
A summary of their experience in marketing
A copy of the ROI each client had
Client phone numbers to discuss how the project ran from beginning to end
If you don’t at least ask for this and spend £60k and get no results – don’t be surprised. You may be Number 1 in Google, however that doesn’t always translate into more business.

Like all services there are good and bad companies delivering to various levels. My final suggestion is please use a company with a solid track record. Each day we are all bombarded with emails telling us they can get us lots of traffic, No1 etc and they come with a gmail address. Do not reply or call these companies you will be left disappointed at the least and with no money with no results at the worst.