In the online world, it is important to "sell" your online brand so that it stands out above your competitors. That is where smart Internet marketing comes in handy. This will help visitors find and remember you, which can result in more traffic and more profits. Follow these tips to make your website stand out above the rest.

It would be in your best interest to offer daily or weekly bonuses to return visitors. This will increase the flow of traffic to your site, because everyone likes free stuff and visitors will flock back to your site in order to take advantage of the bonuses you are offering.

Scope out your competitors' websites to learn how you can improve your own internet marketing efforts. By taking notes on what your competition does well-- from site navigation to keyword usage--you can glean valuable ideas that will enable you to improve your own site and better promote your business.

In order to be successful at internet marketing, you have to have clear goals and unique strategies. Make sure you can answer questions such as why your product is better than others like it, why customers should buy a specific product from you rather than another company, why customers should trust you and how you are going to convince them that your product is the best. If you can't answer these questions, you may have a hard time marketing your product.

Encourage your customers to refer new customers to your website. You can offer them incentives such as a free product or so much off their next order for every three people they refer to your site. Chances are they won't get three people so you won't have to pay out the reward, and even if they do get three people you'll have gained three new customers and it'll have been worth it.

If you are a local business, have your city, county, or state government website link to you as a service provider in your area. Many of these organizations will have pages dedicated to businesses within their jurisdiction. You can't be found if you aren't putting yourself and your business out there.

One of the things that you can do to insure that people visit your website is to offer daily or weekly bonuses for them as they visit. This will greatly increase the traffic in your website. For example, you can say things like, "Each week I will be handing out free e-books to regular visitors". The more visitors you have the higher the chances of making new customers.

If you're asking questions on someone else's site, whether it's a forum or a blog, make sure that your questions are always genuine. In fact, this goes for any comment you leave. Don't make a habit of leaving platitudes and small comments for the sake of leaving them. Have something legitimate to say or don't say anything at all.

An important tip regarding Internet marketing is to consider setting up a chat feature on your site. This is important because it provides an easy way for people to speak directly with a human without having to wait for an email or pick up the phone and face a possible language barrier.

Get a merchant account. This will alleviate a lot of stress and headaches regarding payments from customers and clients. If you don't have a merchant account and are processing payments from different sources, you might find yourself with a frozen account and unresponsive customer service on the night of your big launch. Spend the money and use a merchant account right away.

As you can see from the previous list of tips, Internet marketing can really make a difference in the strength of your online presence. It takes a lot of work, a lot of networking, and tons of patience, but it is all worth it in the end to have a successful online business.