With promises of earning a fortune just by sitting at their computer for a couple of hours a day, many have tried (and failed) at making money at internet marketing. While it is possible to make a lot of money marketing products online, there are many common mistakes that newbies make.
Therefore, in order for you to avoid these, here are the top 10 pitfalls to avoid if you are just starting out in internet marketing:
1 – Believing All the Hype
First of all, never believe the hype about making $10,000 a day in your first few weeks. These ludicrous claims are made so that these marketers earn money from you when you sign up for their affiliate promotions or buy their products.
In the end, the claims are just too good to be true. So, avoid believing all the hype associated with internet marketing and focus on time-proven strategies of being a successful internet marketer.
2 – Too Much Focus on Selling
Many internet marketing newbies make the mistake of trying to ‘hard sell’ products. This approach can lead to failure and disappointment.
Why is this approach a pitfall?
Your job as an internet marketer is to promote the product by educating your customers on the benefits of the product. You explain why this product is better than another one and then give them solid reasons to click the link. It is then the job of the product’s website to ‘sell’ the item.
3 – Being Overwhelmed by Too Much Information
It is very easy to be overwhelmed by all the information on affiliate and internet marketing. You could end up trying to take in too much and, in the end, feel that you will never be successful. To avoid the pitfall of feeling that you have too much to do, you need to break it up and set attainable weekly goals. Limit information and most important take action, because you can learn endlessly, but you will not find success until you take action.
4 – Forgetting SEO
It can be very tempting just to jump into internet marketing, setting up review sites, and promoting products.
However, you should never forget about SEO. Even though SEO doesn’t have the impact that it used to have in terms of ranking high for a specific keyword, it is still important for any website. So, make sure and spend enough time to identify long-tail keywords, build quality backlinks, and regularly post quality content.
5 – No Quality Content
Because there is so much to do, it can be very tempting to skip on quality content and start posting any somewhat content. However, quality will always trump quantity when it comes to content.
Make sure that the content you post is engaging and is focused on the customer, not the search engine. Even though this may take longer, it is a much better long-term approach to internet marketing.
5 – Forgetting Social Media
Social media has evolved from a way for friends to keep in touch and post pictures of their latest meal. It is now a very powerful internet marketing tool. Social media can help you get your message to literally billions of people around the world.
Social media platforms also let you pay for advertising so that you can reach an audience that, otherwise, would be very difficult to reach. What’s more, you can target the specific demographics of your potential customers.
6 – Procrastination
Many newbies in internet marketing sometimes find it a challenge to get motivated and get things done on time. One way to avoid the pitfall of procrastination is to set clear and obtainable goals for yourself.
These should be focused on daily goals, weekly goals, and monthly goals. Try to keep to deadlines, but also, allow yourself enough time for rest and to get your thoughts together.
7 – Not Having Your Own Domain Name
Domain names are very cheap, and you shouldn’t make the mistake of not registering your own domain. It can be tempting to go for a free hosting site and domain name like with Blogger or WordPress.com, however, in the long run, this can hamper your internet marketing efforts. There are several reasons for this, the most important being that when you use these free sites, you really never own your site, you are always under their control.
8 – Not Building an Email List
Of course, it may not be possible to start with a large email list. However, you should as soon as possible start building one. This is an important way to generate new leads and promote more products.
Emails can be used to regularly keep in contact with your customers. One other pitfall to avoid with an email list is to use it exclusively for selling products. Keep a balance of information, education, and product promotion.
9 – Forgetting Analytics
The only way to properly know if your marketing strategies are working is to use analytics to track your visitors’ actions. You can use analytics to tweak campaigns, change tactics, and improve on what is already working. If you suddenly notice a drop in your website’s visitors, analytics will help you find out what went wrong.
10 – Self-promotion
Remember that your customers want to know what the product you are promoting can do for them.
So, avoid the pitfall of talking too much about your business. Give your potential customers solutions to their problems. Educate them on how to use the product to generate money.
Yes, you will make mistakes along the way and it is always good to learn from mistakes. If you avoid these 10 pitfalls, you will learn from the mistakes of other internet marketers, not your own.