In the current economy, visibility plays a central role in business success. A few years ago, this meant paying for billboards and showing signs to the public. Today, getting eyeballs means positioning yourself online.
Per Google’s stats, 97 percent of customers resort to the web when looking up local businesses. Therefore, solopreneurs, large corporations, and freelancers must up their online presence to separate themselves from their competitors.
But what are the building blocks of a solid online presence? With the massive number of SMBs trying to leverage the internet for attention, it’s becoming trickier to gain a competitive edge.
Fortunately, this guide provides the pieces you need to boost your brand’s online presence locally.
What is Online Presence?
Try to see things from your client’s point of view for a brief period. Let’s say you need to hire a web designer for a short-term project. A simple search on Google shows dozens of firms and freelancers offering this service.
Now, ask yourself how seamless it is for prospects to contact your company. How you honestly answer this question dictates the bases for your online presence.
The Meaning of an Online Persona
It’s tempting to believe that simply having a website will be sufficient to impact the digital world. But this is just a piece of the proverbial puzzle. Establishing a real presence takes more than just a few published web pages.
There are three main aspects of online presence:
- Credibility
- Visibility
- Reputation
To rephrase, having a web presence makes it easier for customers to find you and acquire additional information about your offerings and track record.
Maintaining high brand recognition and goodwill levels in the digital sphere calls for consistent
effort.
You can take advantage of your online presence using the tips below.
5 Tips to Instantly Expand Your Online Presence
1. Improve Every Content Asset
Remember all the talk about the businesses that publish websites but fail to update them regularly?
You must avoid becoming one of these ‘would-be’ online ventures. Consequently, enhancing the quality of your content is critical to your online visibility.
Frequently putting out valuable and engaging content that resonates with your audience will not go unnoticed. Using this approach will not only catch and retain the attention of prospects but also display credibility.
Additionally, originality is paramount when creating content for the web. Otherwise, you can expect penalties for duplicate content.
This applies to writing, video, and audio content like Youtube and podcasts. Remember, all content isn’t equal since some formats impact impressions, views, and revenue generation more.
For instance, video content has several positive effects on growing businesses. For example, people remember 95% of what they see in a clip but only 10% of what they read in text. This makes a convincing case for hiring corporate videography services to craft professional-looking videos for their services and products.
2. List Yourself on Other Websites
Utilizing the appropriate keywords and search terms is a crucial component of a successful on-site SEO strategy for attracting the attention of today’s search engines. On the other hand, you should also think about how off-site SEO might help connect you to the right audience.
Off-site Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of increasing your website’s visibility on the web by gaining inbound links from other sites.
Developing relationships with other companies is an effective method to accomplish this goal. However, other online directories allow freelancers and companies to list their services for the public. Many of these directories have categories organized according to different industries, which may make it easier for you to reach your target market.
3. Continuously Seek to Rank Higher
Obviously, search engine optimization is not something that you perform once and then sit back, waiting for it to magically transform your web traffic several months or even years later. Instead, you should always be trying to improve your overall approach.
Keep an eye on your analytics data to determine how well each page performs for specific keywords, then tailor future content creation efforts to improve those areas.
In addition, make it a habit to inspect your website frequently to check that it is optimized for the most relevant keywords and follows all on-page best practices.
Additionally, make it a point to review the ever-evolving rule governing SEO best practices, as adjustments to the Google algorithm may cause your strategies to shift significantly over an extended period.
Local SEO may prove advantageous if your company serves customers in a specific location. Following COVID, many customers and institutions are more eager than ever to patronize local businesses. To rank higher in local results, use keyword phrases that include location-specific language (for example, “graphic designers in New York”).
4. Get Socially Active
Nowadays, social media is undoubtedly a part of everyday life. One study indicated that consumers spent 19 percent more than usual when firms interacted with them via social media.
Thus, a successful online presence for your company requires that you leverage the most widely used social media channels in your industry to engage with your audience.
You should also plan to update your social media accounts regularly, ideally once or twice a week.
When sales increase, several companies have the unfortunate tendency of letting this practice slide, which can significantly negatively impact momentum moving forward.
Instead, create a specific content schedule that details when and what kind of material will go live. Often, the likelihood that you’ll neglect your social media accounts reduces if you have made a detailed plan in advance.
5. Consider Using a Review Strategy.
It’s undeniable that online reputations rely heavily on customer feedback. The vast majority of customers who shop online know that writing a positive or negative review is the simplest approach to communicating with a business.
Your company requires a review plan for two reasons:
- Requesting positive reviews.
- Responding to all comments made on well-known review sites.
Ensure you respond to positive feedback and address any bad remarks immediately.
Some companies take this so seriously that they have employees whose sole responsibility is communicating with clients through online reviews and social media channels. You should follow suit if you have the workforce and resources to spare.
Conclusion
Keeping your online presence burning bright should be a priority for every business owner. Therefore, you should regularly assess the performance of your online assets in the various search engines and iterate your tactics accordingly. Always remember consistency will ensure maximum returns from your efforts in the long run.
