The Internet Marketing List: 59 Things You Should Be Doing But Probably Aren't

March 21, 2008 by ian

Internet marketing is about lots of little things, not one big one. This list is half-list, half-procedure. If you go down these items in order it might give you a decent internet marketing plan for the next few months. If you have others, post ’em as comments:

  1. If you have a Flash introduction on your web site, delete it. If you don’t agree, try this: Shove your head into a bucket of water. Stay in there, not breathing, for 10 seconds longer than is comfortable. That’s what you’re doing to your customers. Delete it, please.
  2. Check the load speed of every page on your site. If any load in more than 10 seconds, fix it (2-6 seconds is far better). If your developer says they can’t, and it’s not your own network causing the problem, fire them. Here’s a good page load tester.
  3. Check your site for broken links. You can use a tool like Xenu. Fix those links. Do not pass this step until you’re done. If it takes your developer more than a week to do this step, again with the firing thing.
  4. Make sure you have a user-friendly 404 error page, not the generically nasty PAGE NOT FOUND message.
  5. Make sure you have a user-friendly 500 error page, too. A 500 error happens when some bit of database code you wrote late at night decides it’s had enough with this world, and takes your web site with it. That usually leads to something terribly informative like “500 Error Connection Timed Out”. Maybe you can do something better?
  6. Remove all inline javascript to a separate .js include file. That will speed up page load times and may help you with search rankings, too. Plus it appeals to code geeks like me, and we’re all that matter, right?
  7. Set up Google Webmaster Tools, Yahoo! Site Explorer and Live.com Webmaster Tools. You’ll see your site from the search engine’s viewpoint, what folks use to find you, and whether there are any problems that might be hurting you in the search engines.
  8. Set up an XML sitemap, too. Check out Sitemaps.org for an overview.
  9. If you’re running an e-commerce site, hire a really good writer to rewrite all your product descriptions. Those descriptions matter more than you think.
  10. Get analytics set up on your site. You can’t do internet marketing without it. Actually, you can, but you’ll suck at it. I recommend Google Analytics. If your developer says they can’t install anything, well, you know...
  11. In that analytics tool, make sure you can consistently track conversions: Sales, or leads, or whatever else you want folks to do when they see your site.
  12. Get a HackerSafe or ScanAlert logo on your site. While I question their value, the search engines don’t. Nor do customers. That sticker can get you more search engine ‘trustrank’ and improve conversion rates.
  13. Put your full address and phone number on each page of your site, for the same reasons.
  14. Use Wordtracker, Trellian Keyword Discovery or something similar to find the top keywords that folks use to find your products or services.
  15. Now find the top ranking sites for those phrases.
  16. Who links to them? Do a “link:” search on Google, or use linkdiagnosis.com or Yahoo! Site Explorer to build a list. Now go out and get those links!
  17. If two years ago some SEO hack advised you to put 100 links at the bottom of your home page, delete them. They’re not helping you, and they may be hurting you.
  18. If two years ago that same SEO hack advised you to write title tags that read like this - “Wedding stuff and wedding things and weddings stuffs and weddings things with more wedding items and this is your place for weddings” - delete those too and write something that doesn’t sound like Elmer Fudd suffering a mental breakdown.
  19. If you have the same keywords in your keywords tag on every page of your site, search your feelings... Do you really think the search engines are that stupid? Change ’em, or delete the tag altogether. The tag doesn't really help, and duplicating keywords across all pages can flag you as an SEO spammer.
  20. Write a high-quality meta description tag for each page of your site. That may not affect ranking but it’ll get more folks to click on your search listing.
  21. Make sure your site uses correct semantic markup. Your developer had better understand what that means. Don’t make me come over there...
  22. Get your site totally standards compliant according to the W3C code validator.
  23. At the same time, make sure your site isn’t hideously ugly.
  24. With those two items handled, you can now go to all the major XHTML and CSS site directories out there, which list lots of standards-compliant sites, and submit your own web site. If you get in, you get great links from great sites. Do not submit your site to any CSS or XHTML directories until you see a happy green report on the W3C validator. Doing so wastes your time, and the directory owners’. They’re liable to digitally tar and feather you.
  25. Comment on other folks’ blogs. That gets you attention from those bloggers. They may come look at your site, or just drop you a line, or they may do nothing for a while. But you’re building relationships you can use later.
  26. Do a press release a month. Chances are something cool happened. Did you hire someone new? Create a new product? Complete a new project? Win a prize? Brag!
  27. Get someone who can write to create that press release. Bragging doesn’t help if you sound like an idiot.
  28. Learn to use Google Reader. Subscribe to the top internet marketing blogs. Read them a lot. For a hint you can look at the AdAge 150 list.
  29. Go to Google blog search. Search for your own brand name. Then subscribe to that search result in Google Reader (you’ll find a little RSS link on the search results page). That gives you a quick look at what folks are saying about your company.
  30. Do the same thing for your own name.
  31. Then subscribe to who’s linking to you on Technorati, for the same reason.
  32. Go to local directories like Yelp! and make sure you’re listed. Hey, it’s a link, right? Plus it’ll give you one more place to manage your reputation.
  33. Be sure your company information is up to date in Google, Yahoo! and Live’s local search tools.
  34. If you’re a local business, ask your customers to review you on one of the local sites: Either on the search engines or on the other sites. This will boost your ranking in local search results. Beg, plead, bribe. It does require work on their part. And don’t worry if you get a few negative reviews, either.
  35. Start working on Yahoo! Answers. This is an opportunity to make yourself an expert, and get some links at the same time. Spend no more than an hour a week. Read Matt McGee’s excellent article on the subject to learn more.
  36. Invite people to subscribe to your house e-mail list. If you don’t have one, start one. This continues to be one of the most neglected facets of internet marketing.
  37. Make sure there’s an easy way for folks to sign up for that list.
  38. Remove any extra fields from your subscription form. All you need is their e-mail address.
  39. If you require registration during checkout, get rid of it.
  40. If you’re automatically opting folks in to your e-mail list, stop.
  41. When you receive customer requests via e-mail, answer them. Fast.
  42. Remember that house e-mail list I got you to start building? Starting sending out a quality offer to that list, once a month. See how it works. Keep testing different types of subject lines, creative, offers and such. Always strive to beat your last best performance.
  43. Now you’re ready for some real online marketing (yes, all this was a warm up). Create a landing page for the best offer you’ve got. Follow best practices. Read Marketing Sherpa’s Landing Page Handbook for the best information you’ll find.
  44. Create 2-3 headlines for that page.
  45. Write a few different versions of body text for the landing page.
  46. And finally use a couple of different images.
  47. Then use a multivariate testing tool like Google Website Optimizer (if the budget’s tight) or Widemile (if you want the best possible result) to test all those headlines, copy versions and images and find the best ‘recipe’.
  48. Create 2-3 pay-per-click ads on Google Adwords and/or Yahoo!. Point those ads at the landing page. Be sure to use whatever tagging mechanism your analytics software requires, so you’ll know which ad generates which clicks.
  49. Now start that test!
  50. Pick the 3 things you learned from that test, and apply them to the rest of your site. Did one call to action work best? Create a button to put everywhere on the site. One type of photography? Use that, too. You get the idea.
  51. Did conversion rates go up? Cool! Now make sure you’re earning a good return on those PPC ads. Increase your spend and broaden your campaign, always watching out for ROI.
  52. Now you can create landing pages for all those house e-mails you’re sending out. Since you already know which subjects work best, and which kinds of offers, you can start with a good foundation and find the best possible landing page.
  53. Borrow your neighbor’s DVCam. Put it on a tripod. Film yourself talking about one of your products, or explaining how to use one of them. Post it on YouTube and then embed it on your site. No, you’re not Scorcese. But it’s more exposure for you, in another venue.
  54. Are you still using Yahoo! Answers? I hope so. Don’t make me come over there AGAIN.
  55. Create a MySpace page for fans/hobbyists/enthusiasts/students of your product or service. Don’t brand the page that heavily. Focus on the type of product or service. Attract folks who want to know more. Then wow ‘em with your knowledge, and build a circle of friends. Now you can announce offers and such to them, too.
  56. Do the same thing on Facebook.
  57. Find any industry-specific social networks that are relevant to you. It’s easy: Go to Google and search for “‘your product’ social network”. Bet you find some. If you do, join up.
  58. Take all the cool stuff you’ve learned by testing offers, and newsletters, and keywords, and ads, and landing pages, and revamp your site. Then announce your new, improved site to all your customers, and subscribers, and MySpace friends, etc..
  59. Whew! You’re done. Congrats! Now, go back to step 1, and repeat the process. Because you’re never ‘done’.



This stuff takes time and expertise, of course. Making it all happen as part of a sound internet marketing strategy does, too. Be prepared to work hard, or hire someone else to do it for you, like your friendly neighborhood consultant.

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Richard Callaby says:

March 21, 2008 18:23

I know one thing I should not be doing and that is reading yet another list post by a blogger. Just kidding :). But seriously you have pointed out many things that I knew I should be doing but am not. Thanks for the reminder. Now I have to just get back to work.

Bambi says:

March 21, 2008 19:34

There are some really good tips in amongst your list and some interesting links too....I like it ;)

Patricia Skinner says:

March 21, 2008 22:18

This is about the best list I've seen so far addressing the subject of Internet Marketing Strategy--also sometimes known as SEO. I love it.

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 21, 2008 22:33

Thanks Patricia! Although I'd say that there's more to internet marketing than SEO alone. There's stuff on this list about analytics, e-mail marketing, usability, etc.. SEO is part of internet marketing, but not all of it.

Internet marketing manchester says:

March 22, 2008 01:17

That was an excellent list with some excellent resources and pointers. In particular the point on monthly press releases. Also pushes me to look further into yahoo answers.

On an additional note I found this blog by using a completely new tool for me called Google alert,
Simply put in your keywords and Google actually sends you trends that occur on-line with your chosen keyword. Another great pointer to aid in marketing your website.

rohit says:

March 22, 2008 04:35

thanks! very very useful... incidentally you dont have a 'required' star on the name and email - that pissed me off.

Jack from eyeflare.com says:

March 22, 2008 10:39

Great list! Certainly covers all the basics and avoids anything 'black-hat'. Whatever we call this field: SEO / SEM / Internet Marketing... it all comes down to basics - creating a useful resource for the people that consume what you offer.

The only thing I'd add to the list is re-iterative testing during changes and the power of observing actual users of your site. Oh, and to check if your Grandma can use it and what happens when a person with a screen reader accesses your site!

Nataliya Yakushev says:

March 22, 2008 12:39

Excellent and very comprehensive list. For e-commerce sites I'd add social shopping sites participation. Thanks for putting it all together!

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 22, 2008 20:44

Great additions.

The reason I call it 'internet marketing' is that it also includes stuff that doesn't touch search engines, like e-mail.

Re-iterative testing is as important as re-iterative design and analysis. And accessibility should be second nature.

Anthony Juliano says:

March 23, 2008 05:40

You had me at #1. Flash intros make web developers feel cool, and they make everyone else feel impatient. The rise of broadband has turned the mouse into a remote control, and Flash intros give people a great reason to change the channel.

Peter T - Webshop says:

March 23, 2008 11:19

I love number #1, very funny. I'm not quite sure about the Hackersafe suggestion. The the logic, the more the better. There are many products in this area, could any of them work and would combining them create a stronger trustmark? We have some folks on the business side who insist on having more than one subscription to such services because their SEO consultant has advised them to.

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 23, 2008 12:04

I'm not thrilled with Hackersafe and their services, either, especially after having seen them work. But for now they sure seem to help.

Albert Johnson says:

March 23, 2008 13:38

Regarding point 12:

I have an e-commerce site with a remotely-hosted shopping cart. The transaction pages are, of course, encrypted, and "protected" by [a "protective shield" company].

We've been getting mail from [the same "protective shield" company] encouraging us to purchase the right to use their logo on our content pages, where it would do utterly nothing for us or our customers. We also received mail from a "customer" who was irate that our display pages weren't "protected." We were unable to convince this person that this made no sense. After some investigation, we found that this "customer" actually had an affiliation with [the "protective shield" company]. Very uncool.

Ronda says:

March 23, 2008 14:56

I like this list. #28, in particular, was an eye-opener for me. This serves as a great source to start building relationships with fellow bloggers as well as stay abreast on what's current in the industry.

Son Nguyen says:

March 23, 2008 15:16

Some very useful reminder; however, "59 things" is a bit misleading, you should group them into related items and it would be easier to follow.

Susan says:

March 23, 2008 17:44

Great article with a lot of useful tips. Just need time!
Thanks.

Web Geek says:

March 23, 2008 17:50

you are an idiot, while some of what you says holds true you have no understanding of technical issues, you are just a marketing cretin and you are clueless

DazzlinDonna says:

March 23, 2008 17:51

I feel like giving you a standing ovation. This is a seriously good list. One of the biggest problems is that although we may "know" to do all of these things, frankly, we let a lot of them fall through the cracks because there really is a lot to remember to do.

I'm wishing I could print this list out on a shiny poster to hang on my wall. Since I can't, I'll just bookmark the page and come back to it as often as needed. My memory is terrible. Always good to have a little help.

ms says:

March 23, 2008 18:28

I'm really sick of people saying to delete splash pages or flash intros. People, do whatever you want. if you want an intro, keep it. Most intro pages are for legitimate purposes these days anyway.

For example, with a movie site, one that is to pull you into a story, or a game site, or a site with a theme from you can use motion, sound to engage the audience, use flash intros. Last I looked HTML and blog frameworks, didn't supply a way to do this, so flash is still king for that.

Ignore this blog post's author about deleting them. if they work, keep them, enhance them. If they don't work for you, then delete them.

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 23, 2008 20:20

Sorry about that. I wrote this jammed into a coach seat flying home from Newark. It was very stream-of-consciousness...

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 23, 2008 20:26

Hi ms,

Sorry if I wasn't clear. I don't mind pages that are 99% flash, or even 100% flash, IF THEY INVITE THE USER to participate or further the goal of the site.

A classic 'splash' page has stuff looping around with no opportunity for me to do anything. And far too many of those lend absolutely nothing to the site or the marketing goal

Movie sites, for example, are great. Movies are about motion, and nothing does motion online better than Flash.

I don't want anyone to think I'm a Flash-hater. I'm not.

Thanks,

Ian

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 23, 2008 20:29

@webgeek: Nice trolling.

But, what you lack in capitalization you make up for with gross assumptions.

I've been writing code since the early 1990's. Including some pretty respectable web apps.

While I'm not genius, I manage.

Now, if only you could punctuate as well as I write code...

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 23, 2008 20:57

I don't have a very high opinion of their sales tactics either. Fact is, though, that logo does have an impact.

The Baldchemist says:

March 24, 2008 01:45

Thanks a million. Well written and pertinent.
I'm not an Internet marketer myself but my punters want the best.
many have asked me why I don't have ads and other stuff on our site; well its just that our site is information for our clients rather than a direct money spinner.
Thanks again. I'll watch ou for your articles.
The Baldchemist

Madize says:

March 24, 2008 05:18

Hi, I found these tips, tricks and pages very useful, so hope I can use all of them! Thanks for this article!

Stuart Stirling says:

March 24, 2008 05:57

nice list... only got to through the first half then got bored...sorry :( maybe that's why I'm only half as successful as I think I should be...

Cheers,
Stuart Stirling

Matt says:

March 24, 2008 08:05

Good list, going through it over the next few days. You sure got a good amount of responses on this one Ian. :-D

Dev Basu says:

March 24, 2008 09:10

Great list Ian. I concur with you regarding the hackersafe logo boosting conversion rates based on 'human trust', but I am curious as to any research you have on the logo improving a websites authority or trust rank?

Malte Landwehr says:

March 24, 2008 10:08

Great list! I'm familiar with almost every point you mentioned but having them all in one place is a handy reference.

graywolf says:

March 24, 2008 12:06

ok I'm going to ask the painfully obvious, if those are recommended things you should be doing why are all of the links no-followed?

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 24, 2008 12:45

Because the links still work, and these tools/sites all already have all the rankings they could ever need. I, on the other hand, continue to labor in the cellar, and would like to move up some day.

graywolf says:

March 24, 2008 13:11

it's your site to run as you please but IMHO this is one of the big probs with no follow. PPL get far too concerned about how google sees there site instead of linking the natural way would in the past.

If you are linking to something "bad" or that you don't want indexed use nofollow. If you are linking to something good don't try to horde, save or conserve your pagerank. If other people see you as not giving the link love they might be more inclined to not link to you in a way that passes page rank.

my two drachmas.

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 24, 2008 13:15

Point taken. I'm removing them now.

Federal Watch says:

March 24, 2008 15:33

I have to agree with #1..those flash introduction that is taking too much of your time really sucks..but I don't why we still can't get rid of them...I guess probably because they look nice but we have to admit most of the time they really are annoying...^^

# 23 is funny but true..I just hope my site is not that hideously ugly..^^

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 24, 2008 15:42

Don't worry. Hideously ugly means the site induces allergic reactions in a measurable percentage of the population. Symptoms include uncontrollable laughter, howls of disgust, an urge to throw your monitor, and a rising need to reach through the monitor and slap the site owner in the face.

Your site inspires none of those and in fact looks pretty damned good to me.

Holly says:

March 25, 2008 02:21

No mention of alt-tags for images and a good footnote describing the same image? Works like a charm. O, and submit your site to Dmoz.org is another one. Great list though.

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 25, 2008 06:26

@Holly thanks those are great adds.

JKelley says:

March 25, 2008 08:45

Thanks for this list. I am fairly new to internet marketing and most of the articles I read continue to go over my head. This article is packed full of useful information, while still remaining understandable. Thanks!

PoLR says:

March 25, 2008 08:53

Great list and links, thanks - Stumbled :-)

mgroves says:

March 25, 2008 10:22

#57 appears to be corrupted?

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 25, 2008 11:35

@mgroves sorry I mis-typed the entity for a left hand single quote. Should look ok now.

Fred says:

March 25, 2008 12:30

I've been at this new business for just a couple of days here. I knew there was more to it than the-make-money-fast-on-demand-instant-cash URL gangbangers were telling me. I llke them love them want them but lets hold on and get the rest of the picture. All I'm trying to say is thanks so much!

Bill aka NO DooDahs! says:

March 27, 2008 04:27

All good tips, and I am starting to work on some of the optimization. Thanks!

BTW, have you checked the load time on THIS site?

Rudy says:

March 27, 2008 09:42

Great list! I'm launching a clothing line soon, and will be using many of these tips to promote my brand and its supporting blog.

Found via Stumble

Ian Author Profile Page says:

March 27, 2008 10:31

Alas, the load time on this site is a constant tooth-grinder for me. Since we switched to MT4 it crawls...

Jon Moss says:

March 28, 2008 09:47

Ian,

A great list and some good ideas - bookmarked and sent to some friends.

Best,

Jon :-)

Bubbila says:

March 29, 2008 15:55

Sweet resource. Stumbled.

Guru Naganat says:

March 29, 2008 20:13

Thanks Ian. I read your ideas and thanks for being so simple. Since I am new to this SEO jungle and since I am trying to improve my site rankings I found your article very useful.

I knew about Googe Analytics but you have shown a bunch of other free tools valuable to me.

Thanks
Guru Naganat
gurun@dubinresidential.com
www.dubinresidential.com

Jason says:

April 2, 2008 09:12

Get someone who can write to create that press release. Bragging doesn’t help if you sound like an idiot.

LOL.

Your list made me cry... with laughter, of course. Cracking, hilarious stuff! :lol:

Ian Author Profile Page says:

April 2, 2008 10:59

Always happy to make someone cry :)

Josh says:

April 2, 2008 17:53

This list brought a tear to my eye. Well done, and I now feel wholly inadequate. I can sling Flash, but I am with you on the over-use of it. When used properly, it's a beautiful thing. However, most uses of Flash are unnecessary.

Thanks for your work on this list, and now I've got to get to work!

Ed says:

April 6, 2008 14:00

Good list, the suggestion of having a look at Yelp! got me looking into the yellowpages/goldenpages entries for my company.
Yep, they were years out of date...

thanks
Ed

Gianluca Carrera says:

April 8, 2008 15:30

Thank you very much, this is amazing, very helpful.
I am already using some of them, and they are working! Great post.

Justin Kistner says:

April 26, 2008 11:34

Normally I hate these kind of list posts because the author doesn't know what they are talking about. This post, however, doesn't miss on a single point! You have touched on seriously hot tips and anyone that applies this knowledge will be successful. Great work!

Ian Author Profile Page says:

April 26, 2008 13:55

@justin Thank you! Glad to hear it's helpful.

internet marketing strategies by Ian Lurie

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