What is worse than not marketing your website/blog? It is getting bad backlash from doing the wrong thing. When you are getting a bad rap, people may avoid you like the plague.

If you are not marketing yet or need to change how you are marketing, here are a few internet marketing do's and don'ts to keep in mind as you go forward from this point.

DO'S

1. Keep the name of your website/blog short and to the point. Choose your words carefully. When it comes to reading something on the Internet, shorter is better. People lose interest quickly and a long name will not be catchy enough to stay on their minds for very long. This is a business that you want to keep going for a long time.

2. Use your signature line in forums and on emails. The signature line is not just for your name anymore. Include the name of your website/blog, a brief description of what it is about, and the website/blog link to find your main page. Be sure to check with the forum TOS to find out what you can and can't do as far as trying to get free advertising.

3. Do advertise offline to the local community. The local community is another sphere of influence that will help you spread the word about your website/blog. If money is an issue, try to find cheap local directories, newsletters, advertising books for special events, and the word of mouth method to advertise with. Talking to people in the beauty shop, barber shop, church, and club meetings can earn you hundreds more visitors to your site. Hand out your business card whenever possible.

4. Learn all that you can about search engine optimization. The idea is to be ranked somewhere in the top ten of search results for as many search engines as you can. Most people only look on the first page because they assume correctly that they are the best places to find the information needed.

DON'TS

1. If you ignore the rules of posting information about your website/blog on forums, they will boot you out. This type of blatant solicitation is prohibited on most forums. They let you use your signature line but adhere to the rules of what you can say.

2. Adding a lot of extra frills to your website/blog page will not make it more attractive to the search engines. People who visit may like the bells and whistles but they won't be able to find you to admire them if you are consistently placed low in the page rankings.

3. Take a long time to respond to visitors/customer service issues. When visitors/customers send you an email about a broken product or have a question, answer promptly. If you do not they will tell everyone that they know about your bad service. That type of word of mouth marketing you can do without.

Internet Marketing strategies will either help or hurt you. It takes time to see what works best so try as many as you can. Remember that the object is to attract customers, not chase them away.