Certain companies are everywhere and they stick in your mind – this is no coincidence; it’s because they have carefully crafted their online presence. A strong online presence is hugely beneficial for businesses as it cements your brand awareness, helps raise your reputation, and ultimately can boost sales and profit.
But how do you do this? Is there a magic formula to follow so your business can become part of the popular crowd? There is no foolproof plan but there are some simple things you can do to improve the online presence of your business and we discuss six of them below.
1. Creating Listings on Business Directories
- One of the first things you can do is to submit your business to local and international directories. There are hundreds of business directories and they serve a two-fold purpose. Primarily they boost your online presence as people can find your company easier when they are searching for a specific product or service. The backlinks can also boost your SEO strategies which we discuss further down.
- Examples of business directories include Google Business Profile (This is the one where a proper business listing pops up on Google Maps or Google with reviews etc.), Yell.com, Apple Maps, LinkedIn Company Directory, and Bing.
2. Be Active on Social Media
Love it or loathe it social media is an integral part of modern business and it’s one of the easiest ways to build your online presence.
Many companies have entire teams dedicated to their social media brands and it can also serve as an additional source of income from sponsorships and direct sales.
Developing your social media presence takes time though and it’s something you must be willing to stick at. You can’t simply create an Instagram account, post a couple of pictures and then forget about it – that will achieve nothing.
You have to consistently create quality and useful content that your followers can relate to and/or engage with. Don’t simply sign up to every social media platform either – look at the different options and see which services complement your business the best and concentrate on them.
3. Consider Guest Posts
Not only should you look at content on your own website and social media profiles but building a catalogue of guest posts can really help boost your online presence.
Many companies and websites accept guest blog posts and have a policy and guidelines to follow for submissions. By giving your opinion, sharing your knowledge, or promoting your business on other high-authority websites you can greatly increase your exposure.
It also works to boost your SEO as you can typically include backlinks to your website with targeted keyword anchors.
4. Develop a Sound SEO Strategy
Search Engine Optimization is a huge part of building your online presence as it improves the chances that customers can find your company via search engines like Google.
This is the process of optimizing your web content for specific keywords so that Google ranks your website higher when people search for them.
ClickSlice for example may want people to find our different SEO services and thus create content for important key phrases like “SEO courses London”, and “SEO training London”.
By creating a sound SEO strategy for important keywords you can build your online presence purely by the volume of people that use Google on a daily basis.
5. Try Email Marketing
Email marketing is often overlooked but it can still yield results and it is another opportunity to build your online presence.
You could create an email newsletter and have a subscribe pop-up on your website or promote it via your social media profiles. Customers could then opt to receive regular updates from your company relating to new product releases and other useful info.
The key to successful email marketing is to make the content relevant, useful, and unobtrusive. How many times have you unsubscribed from an email newsletter because your getting several emails per week?
No one wants that! All you have to do is create semi-regular email content that customers will enjoy. This could be useful product tips, access to exclusive content, or even promotional material relating to new products. That steady drip-feed of content should work to build your presence and continually remind customers that you exist!
6. Create a User-Friendly Website
While SEO helps get your website ranked highly on Google it won’t help retain customers or get them to buy your products or services.
For that you actually need a website that is usable and this is still an area many companies fall down. Have you ever opened a website only to find that the content takes forever to load, links are broken, or the text is too small?
Every time I open a website with problems like this I die a little inside and let out an audible sigh. Ultimately I then usually close the site and look for a competitor with a better website. You can guarantee that this is what many others do if they encounter a poorly designed website that is difficult to use.
A great way to boost your online presence is to craft a user-friendly website that customers want to come back to!
Get Noticed and Build Your Online Presence Today
Don’t be that quiet kid in the corner anymore – instead, be the loud one, the kid that oozes confidence and gets invited to all the parties! Joking aside you understand the analogy – an online presence is vital to get your business noticed and ultimately improve web traffic, reputation, and custom.
By doing simple things like email marketing, social media posting, and submitting your company to business directories you can boost your online presence and push your business in the right direction.
