Web Marketing For Dummies

This is a solid overview of the internet marketing genre. However, if you are serious about your small business, odds are you just do not have the time available to focus on internet marketing. Internet Marketing is something that requires a lot of work and a lot of attention. Having said that, you may go months without knowing if you are doing things correctly. The reason I say that is because search engines like Google, take several days even months to crawl your website and re-adjust its page rank calculations. If you are looking to get your web site to the top, I would highly recommend using professionals in the field. My advice would be to visit http://www.novelconceptstudio.com as they worked for me and did a phenomenal job keeping me in the loop.
Rating: 3 / 5

Web Marketing for Dummies leverages your line marketing knowledge in controlling the Web. Because the author wrote this for owners of small businesses, where money is king, I suggest dozens of free low-cost guerrilla marketing ideas you can try online.
Rating: 3 / 5

Web Marketing for Dummies is so clearly written that even a “dummie” can learn how to market a product or service on the internet. This book covers everything from building a web marketing plan and establishing a strong web presence, to promoting a product with e-mail marketing, search engine optimization, and other social networking tools. With this marketing guidebook you can also learn how to expand your visibility and measure your marketing success. The amount of money spent on this book will exponentially increase your return on investment. This book will help you “translate your marketing skills to the online world.”

The author of Web Marketing for Dummies was trying to give all the tools necessary to succeed when creating or improving an online presence and marketing a product or service on your website. They tell the reader in the introduction to “keep a picture of your customers or clients in mind as you read this book,” then later explains that in order to make the right decisions, consider the customers’ question, “what’s in it for me?” I thought that question was essential to note. It is important to keep in mind your customer when trying to develop any kind of web marketing strategy. This book is organized into eight separate categories to help achieve that goal.

1. Prepare your plan: set goals, define your market, know why people buy, and craft an online marketing plan

2. Draw them in: learn what makes an effective online storefront and what your site must offer to encourage shoppers

3. Direct mail (21st century style): use e-mail marketing effectively and spread the word via e-newsletters

4. Improve search engine rankings: optimize your site and search terms with best practices and online tools

5. Be a smart shopper: develop a pay-per-click and banner ad strategy that ensures you get your money’s worth

6. Keep it legal: safeguard copyrights, link legally, and use disclaimers, terms of use, and privacy policies

7. Tease them with technology: entice customers with video, blogs, webinars, podcasts, or widgets on your site

8. Analyze: track site activity with web analytics, interpret sales statistics, and determine where problems originate

I really liked “The Part of Tens” that follows these eight main categories. This section of the book describes ten free ways to market your website, the ten most common mistakes of web marketing, and ten tips for tired sites. If you already have an online presence and some sort of marketing plan in place or in mind, these are probably the most crucial chapters to focus on. I found that this section was the most helpful and easiest to apply.

The Pros for this book greatly out-weigh the Cons. Web marketing for Dummies is well organized and easy to read. It is definitely written for people without background knowledge of internet tools or technology. There is a web marketing glossary of need-to-know terms as well as useful market research sites that can help research your target market online. Icons are used throughout the book to indicate when something is important to remember, when there is a helpful tip or a warning, real world example, technical skill that may require additional help, and who to call for assistance. These icons make the book easier to scan and reference in the future. Throughout the book there are also numerous lists of websites to look at. There are websites listed for sample web provider directories, social networks, sources for automated content updates, international search engines, classified ad sites, and many more. Inside the front cover of this book there is also a $25 coupon for Google AdWords to get you started advertising your website. After that there is a cheat sheet that lists the important points of the book. It is broken down into website secrets for marketing success, what every successful website must do, the search engines that matter, ways to attract repeat visits, useful marketing research sites, and a glossary of terms. This was a huge pro for me because I could refer back to the important topics to remember.

There are a few cons I noted while reading this book. There are a few times when the reader is instructed to have “their web developer” add a specific feature to their website; however if a small business or single entrepreneur is trying to perform these tasks there are no instructions. It is also implied that it would be too difficult to write into the HTML what is suggested. There is also a lot of information that pertains to marketing for an online store. I personally am working on a web marketing strategy for a website that doesn’t require any purchasing and therefore skipped those chapters.

Overall this book is essential for web marketing. I would definitely recommend it for anyone that is looking to learn more about web marketing or start a marketing campaign on the internet. Web marketing for Dummies can be used to spread your marketing message to businesses and consumers while establishing a strong web presence.

Rating: 4 / 5