After years of working in the inbound marketing business one thing is clear - many, many people seem to be looking for the golden fleece of the Internet. That one secret trick that will cause a website to rank number one in all of the search engines, cause website content to go super-viral, or take a brand to Internet superstar status overnight. There's many companies who claim to be the keepers of this secret too. For the right price, you can hire them to deploy the secret shortcut and become rich overnight right?
Alright, alright. . . you've read this far expecting us to give up the top secret inbound marketing shortcut that only the insiders know so here it is - HARD WORK.
That's it, it's that simple. There are no shortcuts in inbound marketing. There may have been some spammy questionable tactics in the past that sometimes worked and sometimes didn't, but those days are long over.
Being successful online is a great feeling and does wonders for a company's bottom line, but if that is the direction you want to go be prepared to work really hard creating lots of content, communicating with and building social communities, monitoring analytics, testing, emailing, developing, designing, etc.
Another option is to employ one of those companies that make outrageous claims like guaranteeing your website will be number one or claiming they have a relationship with Google. If you do employ them Mr. Google Panda will surely notice.
On the other hand, for those that can't possibly deploy the man-hours required to be successful online there are dozens of reputable inbound marketing agencies with proven track records of success available to do the hard work required in today's Google Panda world. In Panda's world everyone is welcome and good content is rewarded. Reputable inbound marketing companies understand this.
So, now that you have the top secret inbound marketing shortcut only the insiders know what are you going to do with it? It's ok to share the secret with others, but don't be surprised if some of them don't believe you and continue to chase the golden fleece of the Internet. For realistic time requirements and help with budgeting properly for successful inbound marketing take a look at our inbound marketing budget calculator.
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Image Credit: Marcin Wichary
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