Building a Strong Online Presence For Your Business

The vast majority of business owners understand that they need to have an online presence. After all, with some 81% of consumers beginning their purchase journeys online, having an online presence isn’t just a bonus — it’s an outright necessity. 

Of course, simply being online won’t automatically help your business. In an age when competition is more fierce than ever, businesses need to put together a strong online presence in order to get ahead. Happily, that’s something any business can do by ensuring they’re ticking all the key areas that contribute to a robust online presence.

We’ll take a look at a bunch of the essentials below. Make sure you have all of them, and you’ll reap the benefits that the web can bring to your business. 

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Choose a Great Web Address

It’s not just the content that’s on your website that matters. The domain name — the www.yourbusinessname.com bit — is also crucial. Not only will this help with your website branding, but it also makes it more likely that your visitors become repeat visitors. After all, your visitors will find it difficult to return to your website if they’re unable to remember the name. So don’t just pick the first domain name that comes to your mind; think carefully about how it’ll influence your visitor’s perception of your website. When in doubt, it’s best to keep things simple. 

Invest in Great Design

First impressions count for a lot. Even if the content on your site is brilliant, a visitor will be less likely to stick around to check it out if the website’s design is outdated, cluttered, or otherwise out of sync with their expectations. If your website’s design looks like it comes from the early 2000s, then you can’t be all that surprised if your visitors decide to hit the ‘X’ button and visit another site instead. When you’re designing your site, look at choosing a web designer that offers a personalized experience; it’ll ensure that you get a design that makes sense for your business, one that’s in line with your overall vision and branding. Remember — you only get one chance to make a great first impression, so don’t lose a potential customer because of poor design. 

Around the Web

Your website will be responsible for the bulk of your online presence, but it’s not the only place you should focus on. Customers will likely search for your brand on search engines, and what they find will influence their perception of your trustworthiness and reputation. It’s recommended to fill out your ‘Google My Business’ page with as much up-to-date information as possible, including your opening hours and contact information. It’s an easy, simple way to communicate that you’re a professional outfit. You can also list your business details on sites related to your industry, too. Aside from giving your business a professional boost, this approach can also help improve your search engine ranking, increasing the likelihood that potential customers discover your site when they make relevant searches.

Great Content

Some website visitors will come to your website, find what they want to buy, and make a purchase. But others will do a little bit of research before they take action. By putting together great content on your website, you can ensure that those visitors find what they’re looking for. Putting together great content can be an effective way to showcase your expertise and provide real value to your website visitors. Content can take many forms, including blog posts and how-to guides. 

To offer a great user experience, look at mixing up the types of content that you host. Video content, for example, has become hugely popular in the past couple of years, and is also a highly effective way to boost your site’s SEO. 

Social Media

Did you know that there are more than 5.2 billion social media users? In other words: whoever your target audience is, there’s a high chance that they’re using social media. 

While your website is the most important part of your online presence, your social media accounts can also play a vitally important role, allowing you to reach new customers in fresh and exciting ways. Finding success on social media can be challenging, but it’s worth the effort. If you don’t have the time to manage your social media accounts yourself, then take a look at hiring a social media expert to do the job for you. 

Build Your Email Subscribers List

Some website visitors will come back time and time again. Others will have an interest in your business, but not make a habit of visiting your site. One effective way to reach those people is to build your email subscribers list. That’ll ensure that you can still touch base with your customers even if they’re not proactively going to your website. 

Email marketing has been shown to be highly cost-effective, often attracting an ROI of as much as 4400%. To get started, look at building your email subscribers list by offering free content in exchange for the user’s email address. 

Think Mobile-First

More than 60% of web traffic comes from mobile, which means that the majority of your visitors will be visiting from their smartphone, not their desktop computer. If your site doesn’t work well or look good on mobile, then your smartphone visitors probably aren’t going to stick around all that long. After all, why would they when they have so many other sites to choose from? 

Encourage Reviews

Finally, remember just how important online reviews can be for strengthening the perception of your brand. They’re one of those things that can have a huge impact on the customers’ buying journey; people are just much more likely to buy from a brand if they can see that other people have had positive experiences. If you’re a young brand, then look at asking your happy customers to leave a few words on the most popular review sites. If they’ve had a good experience of working with you, then they’ll probably be happy to.