ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

7 Deadly Sins of Small Business Web Marketing

Updated on January 12, 2013

Coming Ice Age for Small Business Dinosaurs

Ok, we've heard about how Walmart rolls into town and crushes the mom and pop Main Street USA small business.

You've survived that round. Now what? Get ready. Here comes small business extinction 2.0 -

Now you are not only competing with the neighborhood bully. Now you're fighting every Shanghai factory, every work at home mom (WAHM) operating off her kitchen table, every mobile road warrior laid off from corporate America, who can deliver your product or service faster, better or with less hassle.

These lean and mean velociraptors are hungry. They are crawling the web like so many Google spiders because, yes, Virginia, they are using Internet technology to their advantage - and to your detriment.


What Does Your Web Marketing Have in Common with the Dinosaur?

Don't Let Your Small Business Go the Way of the Dinosaur
Don't Let Your Small Business Go the Way of the Dinosaur

So, While You Were Sleeping..

..thinking tomorrow will be just another day of opening shop, guess what? It starts with that Friday night regular who suddenly doesn't come by to check out the latest new releases. Ever heard of Netflix? They have, and so have their friends on Facebook, sharing their latest favorite movies.

Sure, some things are hard to duplicate. Usually, these are the "full experience" businesses - the Starbucks type hangouts or the local beauty salon.

But make no mistake about it, why does Jim and Pam need to drive to your restaurant for a quick bite when that taco truck just pulled up to their office building, alerting them via Twitter that they have a 2 for 1 deal on Korean BBQ burritos today?

Now that I have your attention, here are 7 costly mistakes that your competition can't wait for you to make:

Sloth - Don't Use Being Overwhelmed as Excuse to Do Nothing

Too many times we use various versions of this small business lament as a convenient excuse to do nothing. As a minimum, there is really no reason why small businesses do not at least review their profile on Google Places, (formerly Google Business Center). It's free and infinitely more effective than, say, the Yellow Pages. Think about it - these are new potential ready-to-buy clients LOOKING for you.

Envy - Don't Throw Out Your Marketing Game Plan Just to Copy the Latest Web Fad

Focus on integrating organic search into your print, TV / radio spots or other traditional ads. I can't tell you how many times I've seen ads without a URL - we're talking wasted space. Sure, sometimes the graphic artist is going for a certain look & feel, but often there is no good excuse to simply include your web address. Work on these easy but effective fixes before investing in paid search.

Lust - Don't Fall for Flash (Literally)

In traditional marketing, we're told to "sell the sizzle, not the steak." While this has a ring of truth with both restaurants and websites, you've still got to provide Prime Grade A content, so visitors have a reason to stick around. Otherwise, you're likely to not show up anywhere near the top 5 pages. Be honest. Ask yourself when was the last time you went beyond page 2 of search results.

With that said don't ignore the power of images for products. Good tagging will help the spiders to crawl your site and understand what you're offering. Likewise, video helps to make your services more tangible. A simple 2-3 minute clip made with your digital camera goes a long way. YouTube is now considered the 2nd largest search engine!

Greed - Don't Turn to the Dark Side

Beware the modern SEO version of travelling snake oil salesman who promises you the quick fix under his / her coat. At best "black hat" SEO tactics produce zero results in the long run; sure, there may be the momentary spike. At worst these practices can backfire - not only getting your site banned or blacklisted by Google, but possibly fines if the techniques involve spam email.

Gluttony - Don't Keep Things to Yourself

 Do share links - while social media, aka Web 2.0, remains a mystery to most, it's really not that foreign. Think of it this way, how did you hear about the latest hot book or movie?

Well, the first answer might be Oprah - she's definitely still the six hundred pound media gorilla, and I'm not saying this to insult her weight. In fact, I think she just ran another marathon!

No, it was more than likely your best friend (or BFF these days) who made the recommendation.

This is worth at least another series of articles. But suffice it to say for now that ignore the power wielded by the hordes of Yelp reviewers and Twitter followers at your own peril.

Anger - Don't Get Mad, Get Going!

 A simple well-designed site with indexed pages and clean pages, paying attention to how viewers look at content as seen in eye tracking heat maps, will go much further than expensive Flash-laden bells and whistles.

For more information on how you can find a website solution for your business, click here.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)