1 – Assuming You Don’t Need to Be Concerned With Your Online Presence
I still meet people all the time that don’t believe they should be worried about their presence and findability online. The first 
place I look for a business is online. If I can’t find you than no one else can either. More importantly, if I can’t find you on my phone (iPhone) I will most likely quickly choose one of your competitors that is visible.
2 – Ignoring Local Search
If you are not concerned with local search you are like a Pacman with no dots to eat. You will just wonder around somewhere on the net, but with no purpose. Local search is critical and it is extremely important to Google nowadays, so I suggest you jump on the train and get to work.
3 – Dismissing SEO and Believing It is Just a “Thing” Geeks Do
SEO – Search Engine Optimization – Is now the most important part of your online presence. It involves a lot of research, data, work on your website and work off of your website. Even if you don’t have a website (which I suggest you have at least one) you need an SEO to help you have an online presence.
4 – Not Being Focused on Conversion
I have several clients that believe their success is the amount of traffic they receive. This is just not so. Traffic is fine, but is it traffic that invests in what you sell? Are you making money from the website? Can you track and see that you made a sale due to the website? Conversion is what matters, not traffic #’s.
5 – Keeping an Ugly and/or Hard to Use Website
If your site is old, ugly and/or hard to use you lose people. People don’t trust old and ugly websites and people won’t stay on a site that is hard to use. I tell everyone that they should be saving money each month for site upgrades or site changes. You need to make sure at least every two years that your site looks up-to-date and is easy to use. Your website is so important, so please keep it updated in the looks and functionality department.
All those tips should be considered as mayor not only in 2011 but all the time. It always good to avoid mistakes… At least mayor mistakes 🙂
Jacek
Great Post Melissa,
If I might be so bold there is a 6th one that is unfortunately one of the biggest mistakes that I see in our industry.
6 – Think that you can outsource all your online marketing without any involvement.
All too often we see companies that higher a vendor to build their website with the promise of more conversions by simply having a new “better” site. In some cases where the site was very out dated this may be true, but very rare anymore.
Businesses need to realize that to get ahead on the Internet requires a commitment to taking ownership of their online marketing efforts. Higher a consultant to help you create and implement a strategy, but be involved to get the most out of it. When your Internet marketing consultant gives you a tasks list make sure you prioritize that and get it done. Even the best Internet consultants can only lead you to the water, it is up to you to get in there and drink up.
Mike Fitzpatrick
I’ve to say you are very right. These days if you have your internet business you need to promote it or else your site is dead. Ignorance and not updating with the new tricks or techniques will not help you so be more resourceful and try to apply the new techniques that most internet marketers do in order for them to rank well in search engine.
dan dees