One of the biggest problems with marketing during the holidays is how to stand out from everyone else that is also doing more marketing at this time. This is what the Gatekeeper Express Marketing system is all about. It works with Google Places and the map section that appears on local searches.

You have probably seen many searches that result in 20 or more Red Push Pins appearing on the map for this type of search. Imagine if you could color your Push Pin blue instead of red. That would make it stand out among the crowd and attract loads of attention.

This is exactly what the Gatekeeper Express System does and more. It will get your Places ad to show in more searches and at higher rankings than ever before. It is a great low priced marketing system that work fantastic to draw local business. This is just another example of how I-MKTG.com helps you get your Share of the Web!

-Mark Dare

1. Use A Local Address
It’s one of the most distinguishing factors that help small businesses rank higher than their national competitors. It encourages the engines to rank you according to your local area, so that customers can find you when and where they are looking. Tip: Use a street address, NOT a P.O. box number.

2. Use Local Words In Your Website Content
When visitors search for a particular product or service, they will want to find it by location. Mention your city, neighborhood or county name strategically throughout your content. It can be used in titles, sub-headlines, anchor text, blogs, online newsletters and all social media mentions. Tip: Don’t forget to include your zip code.

3. Get Google Reviews
Positive reviews for your business are a must to help you soar above the competition. Visitors want to know that buying from you is a good experience. So they rely heavily on the opinions of others to make a decision. Give those previous customers a call and ask them to give you a review through Google. Tip: Increase your chances of getting them to actually write the review in exchange for one in return.

4. Keep The Copy Fresh & Engaging
When and what you share online is extremely relevant to your rankings. Search engines are looking for content that is updated frequently and that is relevant to your industry. Tip: Weekly (not bi-monthly) blog postings are the most effective way to accomplish this.

5. Invite Visitors To Contribute
Online community involvement accomplishes two things: it lowers your bounce rate and inspires people to share with others. Encourage and entice visitors to comment on your blog, critique your articles and add their own ideas. Tip: Make it fun. Ask for ideas about a new product design or video contributions to an upcoming ad campaign.

This new “model” refers to small businesses discovering that their prospective customers are actually looking for them. All they have to do is place their ad in the places that they are looking. As it turns out, these places are much cheaper than nearly all other forms of advertising as well.

Ten years ago, it was easy to find a service or product using the phone book or Yellow Pages.  However, most businesses have found this medium to be less effective now.

So where are people looking today for products and services to purchase? Nearly everyone goes to the Internet to find these things. But, specifically, they use a search engine to find things on the Internet.  By far the most popular search engine is Google.

The biggest problem many small businesses have: how do they get on the 1^st page in order for their customers to find them?

This is where I-MKTG.com comes in. We can get you on Google’s 1^st page in as many as 4 places. We can do this very quickly and in most cases much cheaper than you might think. We can do this quickly and efficiently because we are a Google Certified Partner. We have 4 Google trained and certified individuals on staff.

So whether it is getting on Google’s 1^st page in Google Places, Organic, Pay Per Click or in the images sections, I-MKTG.com can get you in front of the people who are looking for you!

-Mark Dare

1. Your URL (uniform source locater) name doesn’t make sense, is too long or doesn’t match your business.  Which is better?  www.milkeggssugarcream.com OR  www.makeicecream.com.

If you make ice-cream and ice-cream-related products, obviously the second URL is the better choice.  Don’t confuse your visitors and potential buyers with a poor URL choice.  Keep it simple: the less characters, the better.  Consider an acroynmn (www.janetssecondhandclothes.com  VS www.jshc.com)

2. You have poor navigation.

Nothing is more frustrating to a visitor than not being able to find what they are looking for.  Clearly label and organize your landing pages and make sure that each section is accessible from every page (thus, eliminating the need for the “back” button).

Place the links to each page at the top or side of your site.  If the pages are long, use a navigation bar or drop-down option.

Place contact information on every page, either listed at the top or bottom.  Use a bigger and bolder font.

 3. Your design doesn’t match, is unattractive or nonexistent.

 Invest good money and time in the graphic elements of your site.  From pictures to icons, your visual appeal is what serves as the background for the content.  It’s what CATCHES the eye and leads them to associating a look and theme with what you do.

Suit your target audience.  If children are your target, then use animals, bright colors and cartoons accordingly.  If not, animation and graphics may not be necessary.

4. You think that if you build it, they will come.

You have to have a marketing plan to get the right people to see your website.  This is the most important part of your website.  This should be planned during the development of your website so that the site sells properly based on the message you want to convey to all the visitors from every direction of your site.

5. Your website takes longer than 3-6 seconds to load. 

Today’s online visitor has the attention span of a gnat: less than 4 seconds.  Which means that you have to attract and keep a visitor’s attention in less time than it takes to enter search terms into Google.

Don’t use distracting flash introductions unless you give the visitor the option to skip over it.

Scale down your multimedia elements.  Do you really need that loud and colorful “buy now” flag on the home page?

Keep it simple.  With online promotion and advertising, less is more.

These 5 mistakes and many others are easily avoidable by simply doing 2 things:

 1.     Using a good, reputable hosting company.

2.     Using a good, reputable website development company that can create a professional site with all these things built into it.