Who says internet marketing is easy work? For all the stories out there – the tales of marketers working three hours daily, earning tens-of-thousands-of-dollars weekly, and enjoying a relaxing lifestyle – there are thousands of marketers slaving for hundreds of hours monthly to ensure that their visions of an online empire become reality. Simplicity has invaded our goals, and it is unlikely to leave any time soon.
What is remarkable, especially for business owners accustomed to working ten-plus hours daily, is that it is very possible to minimize your workload, cut down on stress, and enjoy more free time. In fact, SEO is one of the best ways to achieve such a goal. These four tips will help you make your business empire less tiresome, less stressful, and significantly more per-hour profitable.
Research is everything.
Spend only ten minutes researching keywords, niches, and opportunities, and you will end up producing a website that is loaded to the brim with stress and frustration. Poor markets yield poor returns, and hundreds of marketers fall into the trap of picking a poor niche, domain name, or product daily.
Instead of spending your time building, spend it researching. Two hours spent researching keywords is often time well spent – time that would otherwise be invested in improving poor search keywords, working against the disadvantage of a bad domain name, or rebuilding a poorly planned website.
Own your links, content, and PR.
Never rely on third-party websites and hosted content. Your goal as a business owner should not be to merely rise to the top of the search rankings, but to rise to the top of the search rankings while remaining in control and secure. Owning your links, content, and page rank allows you to enjoy stress-free rankings – rankings that are not likely to be hurt by off-site actions or new indexing standards.
Outsource almost everything.
If anything separates good marketers from great marketers, it is their ability to outsource tasks and manage employees. Consultants and business experts like to throw around the word ‘team,’ and for good reason – marketers and entrepreneurs with management experience tend to be more effective than those without.
Structure your SEO efforts not around difficulty or intensity, but around manageability. By grouping tasks into ‘outsource’ and ‘do-not-outsource’ categories, you will be able to manage your workload more effectively, build a successful work team, and get significantly more work done.
Not sure where to turn for SEO help? Look no further! I can work out a Keyword Research/SEO/Backlink Strategy and Action plan that will bring results and ease your workload for the things you enjoy more in your business.
Stick to a long-term plan.
All marketers fail. Some experience major failures, investing thousands of hours into a project before having it fall down in front of them, often quite publicly. Others fail cheaply, building a small website and watching as it fails to gain any traction. Failure is an essential part of success, and it is one that can be particularly difficult to understand as a marketer.
So do not worry too much about your failures. You will build websites that do not rank, and you will occasionally lose your rankings for certain websites. Stick to a long-term plan, focus, and always remember that for every hour spent on something other than long-term goals is another wasted opportunity.