Top 10 Internet Marketing Mistakes

May 4th, 2008 Tim White Posted in Blogging, Conversion Tracking, Google, Lead Capture Pages, Marketing Mistakes, Pay-Per-Click Marketing, Yahoo! |

There are dozens of mistakes you can make trying to promote your products or services online. Here are the top 10 that I have encountered with clients:

1. Doing it yourself to save money
2. Not having a clear vision about your goals
3. Having a website that’s confusing to the customer
4. Hiring the cheapest vendors
5. Being too conservative
6. Focusing only on Google
7. Not tracking your results
8. Not using email marketing
9. Not backing up your website or files
10. Choosing a long or confusing domain name

and one more bonus mistake…

11. Being unwilling to change

Lets take a closer look at each mistake…

1. Doing it yourself to save money

Let’s face it - we all want to save money and we also don’t want to pay too much for anything. The problem with the “do it yourself” approach to Internet marketing is that there’s no room for error. Whether it’s your domain name, website or logo design, Google ad campaign or follow-up system, you need to hit the mark every single time if you expect to be successful. You will make a lot more money faster by hiring an expert with many years of experience.

2. Not having a clear vision about your goals

If you haven’t developed a road map of your goals, how do you expect to get there? All great products or services start out as an idea, but that vision needs to be well thought out and written down. That’s not to say, however, that you need to spend all of your time writing a business plan before taking action. Strike a balance between the two.

3. Having a website that’s confusing to the customer

Customers have thousands of choices today and their attention spans are shorter than ever. You can have a great marketing plan that brings thousands of people to your website, but if you don’t make it easy for them to buy from you, you’re done. Google is a perfect example of this. Their main advertising program is so easy to sign up for, a 2nd grader can do it. (Quick note: The fact that Google’s ad program is easy to sign up for doesn’t mean that you should do it on your own. See mistake #1 above.)

4. Hiring the cheapest vendors (web designer, marketer, web hosting company, etc.)

We all want the best deal possible, but at the end of the day you get what you pay for. If you don’t care about quality, customer service or being able to understand the person on the other end of the phone, then buy the cheapest and be prepared for the worst. However, if you value your time and want great service, then find a vendor that offers value-priced products and services. A sign that you aren’t that serious about your venture is having a website that looks like your cousin designed. Find a professional who does outstanding work at a fair price.

5. Being too conservative

A lot of people are proud of the fact that they “only pay 25 cents” per click in their Google or Yahoo! campaigns. On the surface, that might sound great, but I would be much more impressed to hear how much you make per sale and what your volume is. By consulting with an Internet marketing expert, you might find that being more aggressive in your bidding along with making a few other changes significantly increases your net profits.

6. Focusing only on Google

Yes, Google is the 900 pound gorilla and accounts for roughly 60% of all online searches, however, there are many other great advertising sources that can provide a lower cost per sale or lead (Yahoo!, Adbrite, Craigslist, etc.).

7. Not tracking your results

How do you know how profitable you are if you aren’t tracking your results? Additionally, how do you know which program is giving you the best return on investment? Not tracking your cost per sale or lead is usually connected with spending too much as well.

8. Not maximizing email marketing

Permission marketing (aka email marketing) is one of the most overlooked opportunities for promoting your product or service. Even if you are currently doing permission marketing, it’s likely that your processes can be improved and provide much better results.

9. Not backing up your website or files

What happens when the website you spent $10,000 on suddenly disappears? Or what if the hard drive on your computer crashes? Get copies of everything and back up your computers daily.

10. Choosing a long or confusing domain name

What’s easier to remember: newsweathersports.com or CNN.com? Also, get the dot com version of your domain whenever possible unless you are a non-profit.

and one more bonus mistake…

11. Being unwilling to change

The most successful people always remain open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Sometimes even the slightest change can make a world of difference.

Feel free to contact us for a free, no-obligation Internet marketing consultation

Tim White is the founder of WhizClick and has been marketing online since 1994. He can be reached at tim@whizclick.com or 916.799.3999.