Building an online presence is vital for success, but how can you ensure that your presence is worth the effort? An effective online presence will help spread the word about your business while assisting people through various levels of your sales funnel. To make that happen, you need to focus on these five key areas. Together they will give you a well-rounded online presence.
Strategize Your Social Media
To create a long-lasting social media strategy that keeps giving you need to do the following:
- Find your audience.
- Engage with the platform’s community.
- Get the most out of their features.
- Post regularly.
Finding your audience is not difficult. If you’re targeting a younger audience, you’ll need to put effort into keeping up with the latest platforms. But if you’re targeting a micro-niche that primarily uses Reddit, you can focus your efforts there. Keeping up with the platform’s community and using all their features can make a huge impact on your presence. Instagram was talking about their in-video SEO tools well before they launched them. So, some Instagrammers were prepared, and others were not. Being smart about strategizing your social media can provide major benefits in the long run.
Claim Your Business Listing
Another important thing to do is to claim your business listing online. It allows people to find you, and it helps Google spiders crawl through your site and blog, making your posts easier to find. These listings are vital for the visibility of your company’s online presence. So how do you claim your business listing? You must create a Google Business account and add your business into it. Through your Google account, you will add all the specifics relevant to your business, and then you will “request access” and complete a form. After that, Google takes some time to verify that you’re the business owner or contact person and the listing is yours. Staking your claim on your business listing will help Google verify the information you put out, give it some authority and help direct Google users towards your site. It’s a free way to boost your online presence.
Content
A few years ago, people would fervently argue that content was the only thing that mattered in a digital marketing strategy. But platforms have evolved, and blogging is become more niched by the day. Content is still a major pillar of building your online presence, but it’s critical that you use it correctly. Using “spun” or outright plagiarized content will hurt your visibility. Google and other search engines are essentially punishing the act of plagiarism. by removing the authority and knocking them down a few pages in search results. Black hat SEO tactics can have the same effect. Cultivating content, while building your online presence, relies on one thing: quality. They want to see your blog posts have high levels of readability, original content, and links to support your findings but only when appropriate. It’s a fine line to walk, but it’s possible. It’s not enough to churn out high-quality content. You also have to measure and analyze what works and what doesn’t. Carefully categorize your social media and blog posts and track the number of visits and engagement.
Integrated Marketing
Companies that operate both offline and online often have trouble making the experience seamless for customers. It goes far beyond branding in that you must create a synergy between multiple departments with different goals and different views of the customer. Taking your online presence and putting it to work in other formats can have a huge payoff. Explore options of hosting a meet and greet in your local area or starting a podcast. Even going to events as a company representative can direct people towards your online presence. Do be sure that all of your company’s online profiles and website are on your business cards!
Engagement
Social media used to be the mountain that you stood on to scream at the world. Similar to an infomercial, if you don’t like the message, scroll on by or in other words, change the channel. That’s not the case anymore. Always engage with comments and social shares from your blog. A quick “thank you for reading,” if there really isn’t much room to start a conversation, will suffice. Knowing when to engage can have a huge impact on how often people follow your business online. Building an online presence goes far beyond your blog or your Facebook page. As social media platforms change, and user preferences adapt, you have to be ready to move too. Focus on these pillars for ongoing success.
With these in mind, you can quickly move forward with changing trends while also creating a consistent brand and image. Always be sure to create high-quality content and engage with your readers. Focus your social media efforts towards your ideal audience for a big impact. Finally, don’t forget about how your offline business dealings affect your online presence. Claiming your business listing and integrating your marketing strategy can come with a nice payoff.
An online presence is becoming a vital asset for many companies. In order for your company to embrace the changing digital world, you should follow these principles daily. The sooner you put these tips in place in your organization, the sooner you become closer to having the most effective online presence.