I often hear things like “but I have a website” or “I’m on LinkedIn and I twitter” from my clients when we start talking about how to use the web to grow their small business.  These comments are often made in exasperation because they thought that their efforts would magically deliver traffic and business to their web/blog site. 

Internet marketing is not a singular event or action, but a series of many steps that lead to success. We can learn a lot about internet marketing success by looking to…a Tree!

Good Web/Blog design is like the trunk of a tree!

A well designed web/blog site is similar to the trunk of a tree; it provides a solid foundation from which to launch your internet marketing efforts.  Good design includes things like layout, color, ease of navigation, look and feel and typography.  It also provides a solid infrastructure that makes it easy for you to update your site as well as add multimedia.

But good design in and of itself does not make your business grow or drive traffic to your website.  Leaves are to trees as online marketing is to websites!

Internet Marketing is the equivalent of leaves on a tree.

Internet marketing involves many different strategies such as content, traffic, search engine optimization and social media.  You could compare the essence of each strategy to photosynthesis.  Just as leaves convert light into food energy for your tree, internet marketing attracts prospects to your site (tree trunk) and helps to convert them to clients! 

As your marketing efforts grow, so does the size of your tree and the depth of your roots or “reach” on the web.   And the stronger your roots, the stronger your business.

Your Web/Blog site requires nurturing to grow your business!

Without sunlight and water, a tree will wither away and the same is true of your website.  In today’s web 2.0 world, web/blog sites are living, breathing beings! 

Business growth depends on continuously watering and feeding your website.  The food and water you feed your site has many forms such as content updates, press releases, link building, social networking, newsletters, blogs etc. 

Successfully growing your business online is just like growing a big beautiful tree.  A tree needs its trunk, leaves and nurturing to grow big and strong.  Your online business needs a strong foundation (web/blog site), internet marketing (leaves) to promote it, and ongoing nurturing to grow your web reach and develop deep roots!