| If you have been struggling along with your internet business, or if you just wish you were doing better, then it's time to look at how you can improve your internet marketing strategy. You are actually off to a good start because you are already looking for information on how to do just that. Why does that matter? It shows that you are willing to admit that things could be better, and that puts you far ahead of anybody who would rather try to fix their problems by ignoring them. Not you. You are ready to take action.
You most likely created some sort of marketing strategy as you were starting your business, but that doesn't mean you should keep using it as is if it isn't working as well as you would like. You don't have to be married to any type of business plan if it isn't working. That being said, as you start improving your strategy, you should also include mechanism for making changes without having to scrap the entire strategy.
The first thing you need to do to improve your internet marketing strategy is to figure out exactly where you are right now. This is not the time to make assumptions. You have to gather as much solid data as you can and be willing to look at it with complete honesty. If you are not able to gather enough meaningful data, then you have just discovered one way that you can make your marketing strategy better.
If you look carefully at your data you should be able to see some weak spots. Perhaps you aren't getting enough traffic to your website, or maybe the traffic you are getting isn't converting very well. On the other hand, maybe you are getting plenty of visitors that seem to convert, but then they abandon your shopping cart half-way through the purchasing process.
Once you discover your weak spots it's time to make some changes. The trick, however, is not to just make changes, but to also have a way of tracking those changes. The reason this is important is that you need to know exactly which changes generate which results. If a change doesn't work, then get rid of it. If a change does work, then keep it and use it as the new "control" for your next comparison.
Over time, all of these little improvements will add up to positive results. The most successful online businesses are constantly testing and tracking, and then making new changes. However, you have to be careful to not make too many changes at any one time. If you do too many, then you can't be sure which changes led to your results. Make one or two changes at a time to make your tracking easier.
It will take an investment of time and resources to improve your internet marketing strategy, but it will be worthwhile once you see the positive impact on your bottom line. |