SEO.pn asks (paraphrased), What’s the most important thing about Internet marketing?

Well, there are so many things to think about that it’s really hard to come up with just one thing that is important. I mean, do you say that SEO is the most important thing? How about driving traffic to your site? Or traffic conversions? Maybe your take is to leverage social media for maximum performance. It’s a bit of a fill-in-the-blank question.

But I do believe there is one thing that is more important than everything else. No, it’s not SEO. And it’s not social media. Nor does it have anything to do with traffic or conversions.

The most important thing about marketing online as a small business is to be true to yourself and your customers. You may be doing business online, but you are still doing business and whether you are an Internet-only business or a brick-and-mortar business with an online presence, it’s still all about building relationships. So, my one tip would be this: Build your brand with honesty and integrity.

Whether your are engaging your audience through social media, search engine marketing, e-mail marketing, or some other method online, being true to yourself and your customers is the most important thing. If you can’t do that, it doesn’t matter how good you are at anything else.