As a business owner, this realization may seem daunting. However, it may be comforting to know that you are in good company. Recently, Donald Trump, found himself in the same situation. Trump, an American business executive, star of the reality TV show, “The Apprentice”, and multi-billionaire has shown us that the Internet truly does level the playing field between the big guys and the small to medium sized business (SME) owners. Trump’s recently launched travel website (www.gotrump.com) proved that even a company with the prestige and seemingly limitless budget can use some help in the Internet Marketing arena. Trump’s new site seems to have been built with little to no thought of online marketing and promotion. In terms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) it does not abide by the ‘rules’ that would give it top ranking in search engines like Google. In fact, due to the sites poor use of html tags and poorly placed keywords, a search for airline tickets produced no Pay Per Click (PPC) ads for gotrump.com, and didn’t even list the site in the first five pages. Trump and his marketing team must have failed to notice how competitive the travel website industry is, and did not adjust their Internet Marketing scheme to make themselves stand out from their competition.

So, what does Trump’s story mean for the average SME? It means that, when armed with the knowledge of Internet Marketing best practices, SMEs have the ability to rank higher than Mr. Trump’s site! By arming yourself with knowledge and leading-edge technology, you can implement an effective Internet Marketing plan that will bring your website to the top of your target market’s search, resulting in more qualified visitors to your site, more customer conversions, and, in turn, higher profitability. WSI (We Simplify the Internet), the world’s largest Internet Consulting and Education company, specializes in helping SMEs profit from the Internet. WSI Consultants are Internet Marketing experts who can help you bring your website to the front page of search engine listings so your clients can find you. While SEO strategies do change and evolve as the Internet changes, a WSI Consultant can help your business thrive by utilizing the latest techniques and constantly testing the results.

While, in the long run, organic SEO (using proper use of keywords and html tags in a website to increase its presence on the Web) is the most effective way to drive targeted traffic to your site, most sites need some help to boost their rankings until organic SEO can begin to work for them. Then, by working to optimize your site to make your site search engine friendly, you can work towards being found on the first page of the non-paid search results. Using Internet advertising such as banner ads or e-mail marketing along with your PPC and SEO can boost the Web presence of your business, showing potential customers that you are up-to-date with their needs, and are ready to work for them.

The changeable nature of Internet Marketing can seem intimidating, but by working with a professional Consultant, SMEs can learn to harness the power of the Internet to help grow their business and level the playing field between them and their competition. A WSI Consultant can work with you to determine your business’ unique needs and put into place an Internet Marketing plan that is tailored to your business so you can start to profit from the Internet. Who knows, by properly marketing your business online, you could end up more profitable than Donald Trump someday!

Gordon Diffey is an Internet Marketing Consultant and trained Internet Marketing expert with WSI. For more information on WSI and how the Internet can level the playing field for your business, please contact 01572 495007 or email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .