It’s called tracking, and it is one of the most important elements of a successful online marketing campaign.

Tracking campaigns online involves several elements.

• Being aware of the various methods being used to promote the business and business website
• Separating these marketing methods into different categories (for instance, ‘video’, ‘web 2.0′, ‘articles’)
• Setting up tracking software on your website(s) (we recommend several of these in our marketing online course)
• Including tracking codes in every hyperlink (web address) placed on the web
• Periodically reviewing statistics and making adjustments as necessary

Once you have data, you can start to see which marketing methods are working well for you.  For example, you may notice that every time you place a video on YouTube, you get 100 new visitors to your website, but none of them make a purchase.  On the other hand, every time you upload an article to a certain article directory, you only get 5 visitors, but at least one of them makes a purchase.  In this case, you would know to focus your marketing efforts on articles, and not videos.

Tracking can get even more detailed and can show you exactly which type of article or video makes you sales.  We discuss the 80/20 principle in depth in the Marketing Online Course.  Sign up for more information now by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” above and filling out your name and email in the form.

Email marketing involves gathering your potential customers’ email address and then sending them periodical emails.  Initially, this requires the setting up of a squeeze page, which is a web page that collects information.  However, many companies get this wrong.  People need to have a good reason for sharing their information with you; that is why including a “bribe” of some sort – or a bonus – is so important.  For someone to share their email address with you, you need to give them something in return that has a much greater value to them.

Once potential clients sign up for your email list, it’s important to follow up with them appropriately.  Many businesses make the mistake of constantly selling to their list.  People are quick to mark messages as “spam” and unsubscribe from a list that does not give them value.  People also do not like getting bombarded with messages.  For most businesses, one email weekly or bi-monthly is sufficient.

However, when done right, email marketing can build a list of raving fans who will buy almost anything you offer them.

When setting up your email marketing autoresponder (a program that manages your list for you), it is important to know the right ratio of sales messages to value messages.  How many messages with pure value and information should you send out before asking your potential customers to buy?

This information is discussed in detail in the Marketing Online Course.  Sign up by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” above and then filling out your name and email.

PayPerClick is a very powerful search engine marketing technique in that it allows you to get a large amount of traffic to your website very quickly; however, many business owners spend much more than is necessary with this form of marketing (to the tune of 100′s, sometimes 1000′s of dollars wasted).

Common mistakes that are made with PPC campaigns include:

• Paying too much for every click to your site
• Not having a system in place (a funnel) to capture visitors’ information if a sale is not immediately made
• Not tracking properly (so you don’t know which keywords are bringing in the sales)
• Not figuring out your return on investment (ROI)

With paid click marketing, it is essential to create a sales flow that is congruent.  There should not be a disconnect from the time your potential customer types a search into Google and until the time he lands on your website.  Whatever the person is searching for when they click on your ad is what they should find.  Otherwise, you will have a lot of wasted clicks.

Finally, be sure to track your clicks, conversions and sales carefully, and put a system into place that allows you to gather information about your website visitors before they leave.  If they do not buy right away, they may buy from you later, but only if you follow up with them.

For more information about Advertising with PayPerClick (PPC) without losing your shirt, click on “Marketing Online Course” above and fill out your name and email.

Google knows that people are always looking for the most current information and latest news online.  So when Google’s robots index (identify) a press release, Google places that it towards the top of search results.

Press releases are a great way to get lots of targeted traffic to your website fast – if you follow these simple rules:

• Draw attention using a strong headline
• Include all your contact information, but most importantly, include your website address
• Include an introduction, body and conclusion, as well as an overview of your company
• Upload your press release to several websites.  A good list can be found here: list of press release sites.

A good online marketing strategy includes regular press release submissions.  To learn more about marketing online for your business, sign up by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” above and filling in your name and email.

Blogging has several benefits.  For example, you can:

• keep your clients abreast of any news related to your market.
• provide limited time offers and discount coupons.
• begin to amass followers and fans who regularly log on to your site

Additionally, blog marketing is powerful due to the way the search engines work.  Google, for instance, is always looking for fresh, new content.  When you keep your business blog updated, Google pays attention to it.

Place a link from your blog to your business website to help your business rank in the search engines.

To discover more advanced business blogging strategies, be sure to sign up for more information by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” up top and filling in your name and email.

Nowadays, personal branding is the key to attracting new clients and customers.  People want to know that they are dealing with a real person, and that there is a face behind the facade of the business.  The keys to a successful personal branding strategy include:

• Putting yourself and your name out on the web
• Creating profiles for yourself in various social media websites like facebook and twitter
• Taking the time to communicate and connect with potential customers

Start to get comfortable talking about your experiences, and about what you enjoy doing.  People with similar backgrounds and interests will find you and get to know you.  This builds trust, and trust increases sales conversions.

Find out more about personal branding and how it can help your business grow.  Sign up now by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” at the top and filling out your name and email.

This type of marketing differs from the others in that it involves branding and connecting in a much bigger way.  Rather than just providing information, placing your company’s profile on facebook allows you to connect personally with your potential clients.  This increases your trust value, and allows people to get to know you and like you, thereby increasing your chances of making sales.

The power behind social media profiles is that they tend to show up on the first page of Google search.  When someone searches for your business name and finds your profile, you can ensure that they get true information about your company.  Additionally, sites like twitter help you keep in touch with your customer base to tell them of your latest offers and specials, as well as keeping them abreast of the latest company news.

Social networks also allow you to create a two-way conversation with your client base.  When your clients can connect with you directly, they get a better feeling about your company, and you get a better sense of what they are looking for.

Finally, social media marketing allows you to get people’s attention and take advantage of viral marketing by having other people spread the word about your business.

Many business owners make the mistake of not placing their business on any social media site.  This opens them up to negative reviews that may show up on the first page of Google instead.  Without a spokesperson from your company to take charge of conversations and customer feedback, comments about your products or services could potentially spiral out of control in the wrong direction.

It’s important to set up your company’s social profiles the right way.  For more information about social media marketing, be sure to sign up for our Marketing Online Course by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” above and filling out your name & email.

There are several ways to get your banners displayed on other sites.  Some of the ways are:

• Using Google’s Adwords to set up a content campaign with banners, and Paying Per Click (PPC)
• Using Google’s Adwords but paying per impressions (CPM)
• Buying Pay Per View (PPV) traffic on one of the many PPV networks
• Buying banner space directly from a webmaster or website owner

When using banners to advertise your website, note that it is important to get the ad placed on appropriate websites.  The better your ad matches the content of the website, the more likely people are to click through to your site.

Additionally, with banners, it is essential to test to see which types of banners (and placements) convert well for you.  Tracking and testing is discussed more in detail in the Marketing Online Course.  Sign up for more information by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” above and filling out your name & email.

The problem with most online marketing is that it does not go deep enough.  What that means is that business owners spend money on bringing traffic (potential customers) to their website, but they don’t do anything to keep those people coming back to their site.  If the person does not immediately make a purchase, they are lost forever.

Additionally, not having a sales funnel means that there is no way to contact a customer who has already made a purchase from you.  Instead of keeping your good customers, you are constantly spending money to look for more clients.

What are the elements of a good sales funnel?

1. Lead generation.  Lead generation means that you collect a potential client’s email address.
2. Email marketing. Keep in contact with the potential client and send him continued updates and useful information.
3. Make occasional offers that may interest your future customer.

Something else that is important to do is to maintain a list of prior customers.  These are people who know, like and trust you, and are more likely to buy high ticket items from you if offered.

To learn more about how to set up a sales funnel for your business, be sure to sign up by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” above and filling out your name & email.

One reason article marketing is so powerful is that articles are answers.  People use the internet to find information.  When someone types a search into Google, the search engine looks for websites that match the question they asked.  Using the right words in your articles can help people find you, your products and your services.

Another reason article marketing is the backbone of most online marketing campaigns is that articles work well as a preselling strategy.  You can educate your customer before introducing her to your products and services, thereby increasing the sales conversions on your business website.

The most powerful article marketing campaigns start with keyword research.

The basic steps for article marketing are:

1. Write an article
2. Select an appropriate, keyword-rich title
3. Compose a strong resource box (a resource box is your chance to bring people to your website and receive two important backlinks)
4. Add appropriate tags
5. Upload to article directories.

A good list of article directories can be found at article directories.

More advanced article marketing strategies are taught in the Marketing Online Course.  Sign up for access by clicking on “Marketing Online Course” above and filling out your  name & email.