If you are using a Joomla platform to market your services or products online, then you already know you have a very powerful system in place.

However, that is only part of the equation. You also need to know the most crucial internet marketing strategies, in order to make the most of your marketing efforts.

Here are the things you should be implementing:

Collect email addresses

Every online business needs to collect the email addresses of visitors and potential clients. This is one of the most vital aspects of the business, as it allows you to send follow up emails over months and years (which increase the likelihood of a sale). As such, ensure that your website has a number of locations to request the visitor's email address (the sidebar, under a blog post, and in the footer, are the best locations to use).

Have the best information above the fold

Studies have shown that most people do not scroll down when they visit a website. This means that you need to captivate visitors with the content that sits above the fold on your website. As such, ensure that the message of your website is clear, with your most important information presented at the top of the screen, and that it gets the attention of your target market.

Ask for the sale

Many websites neglect this step of the sales process, and therefore lose many sales. If you have a great product or service then you need to tell your potential customers how to order. Make it very easy for them, and make the choice clear. Remember that people need a reason to order, and need to feel secure on your website, so include benefits and a reason why the sale is an important decision.

Give away useful information

To separate your website from the others in the marketplace, you can use the marketing strategy of giving away very valuable information. You can educate your readers about problems they may be facing, and provide possible solutions. You can also explain issues and answer questions in a number of formats (with videos, blog posts and audio recordings). Giving away great information will ensure that people will come back and will want to know more (so they will sign up for the newsletter).

Use Joomla features/extensions

There are many features that make the strategies listed above very easy to implement.

1. You can use sections of the website for a dedicated newsletter (email) signup area, as well as for a blog.
2. Syndicate your content with Fireburner usinfg the built-in RSS feed.
3. Use a Joomla extension to send emails to your subscribers.
4. Use a free download tool like OS Downloads to deliver free eBooks to your visitors while collecting thier email addresses.
5. Integrate Google Analytics or Optimizely to help optimize the signup rates on your pages.

Implementing the marketing strategies above will improve your sales and give you a strong online business that will continue to grow. Joomla allows these strategies to be implemented with ease and simplicity.