Small business startup problems? Here's advice and solutions for the five top startup problems (marketing & ROI)

4. Small business Internet marketing how to

SEO practices often overlap those of Internet marketing. However, Internet marketing doesn't focus exclusively on organic search traffic, but rather on:

• advertising
• PR
• media
• social networks
• traditional media

... and so on. Basically anything that can drive traffic and revenue to your business, aside from organic search traffic from search engines.

Many small businesses miss out on the potential of Internet marketing because it requires a persistent and consistent effort with very little initial return - it's a medium to long term investment in time and resources.

With the exception of advertising, which can have a more immediate effect, many Internet marketing activities take time. This is because marketing online still relies on making human connections.

The following articles and resources will show you how to approach small business Internet marketing efficiently:

• How to create award winning blog content from a small business 'Top mover'
• The top five tips that teach you how to rock social media
• How best to target new social, marketing, business or blogging connections
• Top five questions to ask your head of digital marketing and SEO
• Breakthrough marketing: How to get your business noticed
• Social buzz: How to get market leaders to talk about your content
• Send 500 FREE email newsletters with your VerticalResponse trial!

5. How to maximize ROI and conversions

Finally, once your startup is operating and driving traffic through the search engines and Internet marketing campaigns, it becomes imperative to monitor and analyze visitor traffic patterns and behavior.

With a clear understanding of where people are coming from, who they are, what they are doing on your site, and why they are or aren't converting (a conversion could be signing up to a newsletter, making a purchase, or meeting any stated business objectives), you won't be able to direct your SEO, marketing and development efforts in the right direction.

Proper analysis, creative solutions, and excellent conversion design will all help propel your business to greater popularity and success. The following articles show you exactly how to do this:

• Comparing Return on Investment (ROI) for paid traffic (PPC) vs. blog and organic traffic
• How to properly calculate social media ROI
• Return on Investment (ROI) calculator for blog and business content
• How to double your search traffic using SEO, Webmaster tools and Google analytics
• The latest Internet marketing techniques & SEO tips using Google analytics' Real-Time
• Five awesome tips to extract valuable SEO secrets from Google analytics data

Do you run a startup? Have you had to overcome technical and Internet based adversity? If you've been particularly brilliant in overcoming a certain problem, I'd love to share your genius with everyone else.

Share your problems and solutions in the comments and join in the conversation on Twitter or LinkedIn.