Is it Still Possible to Succeed in Online Marketing?

The quickest way to success in online marketing is getting customers to your website, and many attempt to do this via search engines.

What does it take to get a top-ranked website on Google?

Website ranking is based on complicated algorithms that change frequently, about the time that most website designers have finally figured them out.

Getting to the top of a search page takes time and special optimization techniques known as SEO.

Search engine optimization is a bit like feng shui; everybody has a basic idea of how to do it, but if the stakes are high, you should call in a professional.

On the other hand, if you’re going to pay a lot of money to get your site put at the top of the search page, why not just spring for a paid listing?  It’s a bit of a catch 22.

A Small Fish in a Large Ocean

To be frank, if you’re thinking of making a big splash in online marketing today, that ship has probably sailed.

There are so many websites promoting so many products that unless you can come up with a unique product or niche area of expertise, the small business entrepreneur can’t possibly hope to compete with the mammoth whales in the ocean of online marketing.

And it will take years for your site to work its way up the search engine ladder.

Build a Better Mousetrap

“Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.”  So said Ralph Waldo Emerson in the late 1800s and it still rings true today.

The way to succeed in online marketing is to offer something no one else can.

For the entrepreneur with a small fortune, this means seeking out inventors with new ideas for innovative new products and bringing them to market.

For the online marketer with no real collateral but wit and a bit of writing talent, it means offering up something less tangible; a sense of community.

Building a Community

With millions of places to go online to purchase a product, why should a potential customer come to yours?  Because they feel a sense of community, that’s why.

Through social networking, reaching out to friends and family, and to their friends and family, you can develop a loyal following that will purchase products from your site because they want to support you in your endeavors.

Add some well written content, refresh it on a regular basis and they will come back willingly, time and again.

Eventually you might even end up with a popular site, with thousands of visitors that don’t even know you, but come to read your witticisms, trade comments and ideas and hopefully purchase some of the unusual products you have made available to them there.

This is what it takes to become a successful online marketer.

There are no gimmicks, no free lunches, just talent, hard work, good friends and a bit of luck.

Getting Started with a Website

If you’re a rich whale, you can afford to hire a professional website developer, SEO consultant, and marketing experts to start up your site.  Then again, with that kind of money, you’re probably better off just putting it into some sort of investment fund.

For those of us starting up on a shoestring, we must be our own webmaster, SEO specialist and marketing analyst.

Fortunately, WordPress makes it easy to start up a website with very little investment.  Using novice-friendly Premium WordPress themes you can create a customized, highly functional, professional looking web page without having to pay a professional developer.

WordPress also offers basic SEO information and advice on their site for the novice marketer.

As for the marketing experts, that’s the community piece.

The best market niche is a hobby or interest that you enjoy, expertise and enthusiasm that you can leverage to appeal to like-minded individuals, whom you can bring into your community to share the fun – and hopefully, buy your products!

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net