Scott Orth and Wendy Miller - of our famed Internet Marketing Services division - talked to us about 6 myths of internet marketing.  

Myth #1: Having a website is good enough.

There’s millions of sites online.  Think of the Internet like the Vegas Strip. If you open a new store inside a casino, will everyone that comes to Vegas know you’re there? No – you’re essentially buried amongst thousands of other stores – many just like you.  Yeah, the people that happen to stay at the casino might know you’re there – but just by chance.

The only way they’s stay in business is to get the word out that they exist and where they can be found.  Put signs on the streets, put maps in information booths – advertise on banners, TV, radio…right?  Your site is the same.  That you have a website is a great start – but now you need to make sure it can be found by your audience – and make sure it drives business.

Myth #2: A website is like a brochure.

This is what people thought 10 years ago, unless you were ecommerce and sold something online.  But it’s completely wrong – a website it’s a living dynamic, marketing and sales force.  It is another location of your store or shop.  Many people, instead of getting in their car and driving to your store, will jump online and go to your site instead. 

Your site should welcome them and tell them a little bit about you, but then it should suck them in, build trust with them, answer their questions and convince them to buy from you.  This is what your people in the store do – and its what your site can and should do.  Yes – some will want to pick up the phone, that’s fine – but most expect more out of the web these days than a simple static website that’s nothing more than a boring brochure.

Myth #3: Some companies can guarantee a top ranking on a search engine.

No one can guarantee anything online.  If you ever here this from an agency – run.  It’s a lie.  Scott has seen two instances where a company can say this and legally get away with it:

• They promise top 10 rankings, that’s it.  They succeed – but they succeed on getting you top 10 placements for “windshield cracked by hitting a bird”.  Okay, great – there might be 1-2 people that ever search for that.  But all your business making terms like “auto glass repair” and “windshield replacement” – you won’t be found anywhere.

• They use strong black-hat tactics to get your site listed in the top 10 for the good keywords.  You think you’ve done it – you found the silver bullet.  But you start to wonder how it could be so easy… then you get banned from the search engines for spamming them.  That’s right – your site is gone – not even found 100 pages deep on the major engines.

You fire the agency, beg to get back on the engines, send letters and evidence proving your innocence, or naivety (?), and with some luck, in about 6-months your site will be allowed back on Google – but somewhere on page 20 until you can figure out how to do it right, without breaking the rules.

What about guaranteeing results?  Think about this – if I sent 1,000 people into your store, how can I guarantee that your staff can close them, or that they are ready to buy today vs. next week.  No, it can’t be guaranteed.  But, what if I can show you proven results over time?  References, case studies – that’s what you need.  Again – run if anyone ever uses the word guarantee; but they should be able to show where they’ve been successful in the past.

Myth #4: Leads from a website are not as good as 'regular' ones

What’s regular?  These are regular leads.  Only, they’re usually further along in the buying cycle than from regular marketing techniques.  When someone sits down at the computer to look up a windshield repair shop they usually need something, right?  Scott spends a lot of time online looking at the next electric car, home theater systems, or tropical vacations – things that he hope to buy some day.  But you won’t likely find people looking around for their dream windshield.  If they’re looking – they need to buy now… or soon.

Myth #5: Using YellowPages.com or Superpages is all the presence you need online.

These guys don’t know what they’re doing online.  Sure it’s a good idea to be listed there - but to rely on that as your only web presence it’s a recipe for failure. You’re listed along side of all of your competitors. So what’s the customers compelling reason to buy from you rather than someone else? Is your phone number cooler than theirs?

Your website is an extension of your store – it is another location if you will. The site is what builds trust and makes you stand above your competition – convincing your customer to call you – not them.  A YellowPages.com listing can’t do that.

Myth #6: My customers don't use the internet.

There are over four million searches a year on auto glass related terms.  Enough said.

Myth #7: You want everyone to go to your home page.

The home page can’t be focused on all of your products and services.  Your site should break out pages to be as specific as possible – you lose 40% of your customers for every click.  You want the engines to index pages based on their specific topic – then you want customers to get to the page closest to their search.