The world is now digital. And more than ever, it’s important you take your business online. Many consumers go online to search for solutions to their problems.
Think back to the last time you wanted something. Chances are you went online to search for where to get it. You are not the only one doing this. Many people are searching for products and services online. And some of these people who can be your potential customers can’t find you without an online presence.
Before we proceed further, let’s quickly define what an online presence is. It refers to the ease of finding your business online. The easier your business is to find, the more visitors you get, and you are more likely to succeed.
Below are simple and practical you can take to build or improve your online presence:
1. Build a captivating website
Your online presence starts with your website. But you may not need a website depending on your type of business. Having social media pages/accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and so on may be sufficient for some businesses. However, most businesses require a website.
Before you build your website, you need to think of a business name and then a domain through a domain registrar or domain brokerage. If you have any old domain you want to sell, you can sell it using the aforementioned options.
Get a professional to build your website. Ideally, your website should be aesthetically pleasing, and user-friendly. Remember to make your site mobile-friendly to improve user experience and avoid being penalized by Google.
2. Create value
Yes, your primary goal as a business owner is to make profit. But you need to create value and be customer-centric for that to happen. There are several ways to do that and one of the most popular methods is to provide free educational content online. This not only helps provide value for your customers but also improves your online presence.
Do some research about the problems and motivations of your target audience, create a buyer persona, and create content to solve these problems. Should your audience ask you any questions, be sure to answer them to the best of your ability.
3. Master SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important for your online presence. Having a good SEO strategy is crucial to your website appearing and ranking well in search results. There are two categories of SEO – on-site SEO and off-site SEO.
On-site SEO involves your content. Using keywords, making content relevant and helpful, internal linking, and proper formatting are all elements of on-site SEO. Off-site SEO, on the other hand, has to do with the more technical aspects of SEO. Here we talk about simple URL structuring, loading time, backlinks, and so on.
4. Have a social media presence
With billions of people on social media globally, social media presents a unique opportunity to improve your online presence. Social media is also a great way to build your credibility and reputation. Some of your visitors will check out your social media pages to see what you are posting.
Having a social media strategy is important to align your business goals with your online presence. There’s a lot more to social media than just putting content there. There are different social media platforms and the same type of content may not apply to every platform. You also have to take posting times and SEO into account.
5. Try online advertising
A faster solution to improving or building your online presence is paid ads which can grow your business exponentially. You get faster results than what you’d get from organic growth. You can advertise on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. You can also advertise on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Don’t just jump into online advertising. Think about what you want to promote and decide on the platform that’s best suited for it.
6. Research your competitors
Be competitive. Research your competitors and take a look at what they are doing. Analyze your findings and decide whether you can adopt what they are doing or even modify it. Competitor analysis can help you discover a need or gap that your competitors are not filling. You can then work on filling the gap which means providing more value for your audience. And the result is an improvement in your online presence.
7. Analyze your results
After coming up with a strategy to build or improve your online presence, you have to analyze your results to determine the effectiveness of your strategy. This allows you to identify what works and what doesn’t. Remember that some strategies are long-term meaning it would take time to see significant results.
