Online marketing agencies providing Search Engine Marketing and Social Media Services specifically to small businesses are not easy to find. Instead of hiring a specialist, many small business owners decide to go it alone and do it themselves.

There are so many effective ways to promote a small business online, that it is impossible to fit all of them in one article. In order to conduct an online marketing campaign effectively, I believe every company must start by having a professionally designed website and social media pages that promote your brand online.

Even small companies can afford to build and maintain a company website as well as social networking pages for their business on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Here are some tips on how to improve the online marketing presence of a small business:

-When having a small business website built or re-built, always request a Content Management System (such as Wordpress or Joomla) so that the company website can be easily updated by a non-technical individual. Many CMS websites are as easy to use as Microsoft Word

-Add new content to the website at least once a week. New content can be added to an onsite blog or news page. Or simply add additional submenu pages to the website itself. Weekly or bi-weekly updates are so critical to search engine visibility and success that every company must be doing it.

-Open up a Google Gmail account for the business. Then list the business address and telephone number (for free) on Google Maps and Google Places.

-Encourage the visitor to a call to action. Review website pages carefully and add hot links to contact us pages and quote pages of the website, wherever it is appropriate.

• Consider adding a link to a company YouTube video to the home page to keep visitors on the website.

-Open up a Paypal account to sell products directly from the website. Once the account is established and attached to a company bank account, it is easy to integrate a Paypal button on any page of the website so visitors can purchase goods or services directly, without worrying about security.

-Collect email address from all of your clients, prospects and invite visitors to join the website for free. As more emails and names are collected, an email list of prospects and customers is created.

-Launch an email campaign when a satisfactory number of members have joined. Send out weekly emails to the list promoting specials, products or giveaways. Or simply provide the recipient interesting information related to the business or industry. In promotional email campaigns always link to a contact email that is checked regularly.

Online marketing for small business is so cost effective and efficient that no company, no matter how large or small, can afford to ignore it anymore. While print advertising, direct mail, television and radio can generate a 1 – 3% return on investment (roi) in leads and sales online marketing and advertising can generate as much as 5-7% roi.

Online small business marketing is vitally important to the lifeblood of a business. Hire a staff person to regularly complete online marketing for the company. For smaller companies that want to save money on salaries, consider hiring a contractor who specializes in online marketing services for small businesses as an alternative. Should you decide to go it alone, be prepared to dedicate a portion of the workweek to online marketing.

For more ideas on online marketing for small business, visit, http://www.conversionpipeline.com.