Newsstand

June 24, 2011
Search Marketing Myths: If You Build It, They Won’t Come [DMA11]

One of the biggest, most prevalent myths about Internet marketing campaigns harkens back to a famous movie quote about a farmer and a baseball field. You’ve probably seen it – everyone has. But we all know that what happens on the silver screen rarely happens in real life, as tough as that may be for some to accept. In the end, facts are facts: If you build it, they won’t come. Not unless you take a few extra steps to ensure they know you’re even there.

In the case of online marketing, it’s important to remember that a website alone won’t guarantee that you receive any traffic. In fact, websites have an uncanny ability to remain almost perfectly invisible if all you do is build them and leave them standing without actually taking any additional action that will increase their visibility. One way to take action is to optimize your website for search marketing.

The way this is accomplished is through the smart use of keywords, or certain phrases that your potential customers are likely to type into a search engine – thus providing a link to your business website in the search results. But the operative word here is “smart” which is, as you guessed, the opposite of “dumb.”

A perfect example of the “dumb” use of keywords is by riddling your web copy and blog content with words that are repeated at such ridiculous intervals, the text is unreadable. A far better method is to work keywords logically into your website in a manner that doesn’t send your visitors scurrying on first sight. Reel them in with well-crafted and frequently updated content, and watch your site visitors counter climb.

You can learn more about the "smart" use of keywords by attending DMA2011, the upcoming digital marketing seminar taking place this October in Boston, which will feature keynote speeches from marketing experts as well as hands-on workshops to help you learn the proper methods of attracting website traffic.

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