Like any marketing, web marketing needs to be done proactively and consistently. Whether you’re advertising in a magazine, doing some PR or optimising your site, it’s an ongoing activity, not something that can be done as a one off and then forgotten about. Online marketing needs to be incorporated into the whole marketing mix, you can’t just rely on the search engines to build your business.

So, what should one’s expectations be when promoting a website?

Well, this depends on many factors, such as: how long the site has been around for, who is linking to the site, what resources are available to promote the site (time and money), how committed you are to achieving high rankings. The internet is highly competitive with more and more websites being launched every day – this is making it much harder to be seen and if you’re in a particularly competitive market, it’s those who spend the time and/or the money who are most likely to succeed. Even when you’re seen, is the message right? Is your website going to convince someone to contact you and not the next company that’s found?

What can a small business with limited funds do who’s keen to drive sales and enquiries through their website?

Commit time – the more time you can spend on promoting your site and adding fresh content regularly whether it be news, special offers or even starting a blog. Not forgetting those all important links, particularly if you’re a new site. Get found on appropriate industry websites, get some articles or news published on other sites, encourage people to link to you however you can.
Try things out – SEO isn’t the be all and end all, and let’s face it, with the frequency changes in rankings, it’s never been a good idea to rely solely on the search engines to deliver traffic. So try some pay per click ads, build up a list for a regular newsletter, be active on forums, write your own blog and post on other blogs, get into social networking. Even pay for a few well-placed links on targeted sites. There’s never been a better time to try things out with all the new, low-cost technology that’s available to the masses.
Be patient – don’t expect instant results because it just won’t happen. Be prepared to wait for your marketing efforts to pay off, whatever marketing you’re doing and keep repeating your message.
Don’t give up – as with anything, persistence generally pays off, so if you keep proactively marketing your business online, you’ll eventually be rewarded!