The web has been a blessing for small business owners and entrepreneurs, providing them with numerous opportunities such as access to new markets, elimination of barriers to existing markets and providing a platform for innovation like never seen before. In the spirit of the upcoming awards season, small business experts and entrepreneurs offer their version of the grammy awards to the best web strategies that have helped them innovate, create awareness and sell more products and services online:

Search Engine Optimization for Best Performance

With or without sizeable marketing budgets, SEO is still the best way to attract customers to your business’ website. Effective use of relevant keywords in your website content and link building leads to high natural ranking on search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo!. SEO companies are a great help, as they understand the search engine algorithms and the white hat SEO techniques to optimize your website for high search rankings in organic seach results. SEO has delieverd the best performance results in driving qualified traffic to your website, but trying to get there without white hat SEO tactics can get your website blacklisted by search engines.

Social Media for Best Innovation

Social media websites are powerful amplifiers and viral agents that can spread awareness and build a loyal customer following overnight. Blogs, wikis, consumer review sites and social bookmarking ane networking websites are all places businesses should venture into to reach their target audiences,  serve customer needs and build strong customer loyalty. As social media websites are accepted by the users as genuine word of mouth, aggressive marketing or selling of products and services can turn off customers in a hurry. On the other hand, genuine customer engagement and relationship management can get you brownie points and build strong followers of your business. Social Media Marketing wins the best innovation web grammy award because of  its viral nature and high amplification power that can make or break your business’ reputation.

Viral Video for Best New Kid On The Block

Viral Video Marketing has exploded onto the web scene. There are millions of short videos on the internet today, produced both by professionals and amateurs. The amateurs publish their videos for fun and recognition, and the professionals produce and publish them to acquire traffic and sell more products or services online.

Millions of people watch these short videos, but how effective are they at creating brand awareness or driving qualified traffic to web sites? The question, for many small businesses, is how to take advantage of the viral video marketing opportunity to sell more of their products online.

Have you ever watched a video with 1MM impressions and thought to yourself: “How the hell did that video get so many hits?” The chances are pretty good that it didn’t happen naturally, but some marketing company must have launched a viral video campaign for it to have received so many impressions. 

In light of the recent sucess of viral videos sponsored by companies like Levi’s “Backflip Into Jeans,” Gatorade’s “Ball Girl,” and Nike’s “Kobe Jumps Over Car,” marketers and advertising agencies are adding viral videos to their online marketing strategies for 2010.

As we emerge from this deep recession, businesses are seeking new ways to engage with web audiences in a cost effective manner. Viral video – which is generally less expensive to produce and distribute on the web than traditional advertising is fast becoming in vogue.

Tags: entrepreneurs, SEO, small business, social media marketing, video marketing, viral videos

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