How to Choose an Online Marketing Consultant
Online marketing consultants can make all the difference for an online business. There are a number of these web consultants out there. Of course, results will only be seen if one chooses a professional and experienced consultant. One who offers consulting services is deemed to be extremely well versed with all aspects of marketing. The truth is that some are not. There are five things that professional online marketing consultants should not do:
- They should not hide links in the source code. With the recent algorithm updates, websites may be penalized for stuffing keywords into source code.
- They should not put too many links in page footers. Doing so can throw off browsers. It is best to have only contact information and copyright data at the footer.
- They should completely avoid content that is copied, spun or scraped as search engines can detect this and lower the ranks of the offending websites.
- Internal broken links should be avoided. This is important for the sake of SEO as search engines identify pages that are navigable which also lowers your site rankings.
- Over-saturation with keywords should also be avoided as it puts off rather than attracts browsers.
There are five key qualities that consultants should have:
- They should be knowledgeable about market research. An internet marketing consultant must prove to you that they have an understanding of the particular market that you are interested in. They have to know how to use keywords research methods, techniques and tools and give you solid information on how to best position your online business so that you see results.
- They should be able to generate web content that has an impact. They should know how to generate leads by creating engaging web content that will raise your rankings in search engines, If not, they should be able to outsource it for you from web content creators who are known for creating content that engages and grabs the market.
- They have to be able to know how to build websites. When all the research has been done and the content has been created, it then needs to be put in a website for browsers to access. Online marketing consultants must have a good understanding of content management systems. They have to be able to deal with issues like coding, creating links and optimizing websites so that they get the attention of browsers and retain it long enough for them to become actual buyers.
- Skills at generating traffic is another must-have. It is not enough to have great content that has been put into a website that is easy to browse. All this will not do anything for a business unless it is generating a steady stream of visitors. If necessary, the consultant should outsource the task to specialists.
- Lead Conversion strategies are another criteria. The traffic that is generated has to be converted into leads. This is how actual sales are realized and this is what determines whether a business stays afloat or not.
If they are good at what they do, an online marketing consultant can implement an inbound marketing plan take your business all the way to the top.
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