Tips to Give Your Business a Well-Rounded Online Presence

Of course you want your company’s online presence to be the best it can be, but the path to reaching that goal is a labyrinth of different approaches, tactics and strategies. Where do you even begin? Well, if you are asking yourself that question, this is the article for you. Over the next several hundred words, we’re going to review the central aspects of establishing a well-rounded online presence for your business.

Now, for many small business owners, this challenge is often left in the “too-hard basket” as they focus on the aspects of their businesses they’re more comfortable with. They do this even though there is often very ripe and very low-hanging fruit there if they were to engage online in the right ways.

However, before we go too far here, let’s define what online presence is in functional terms. Simply: your “online presence” is how easy it is to find you in the digital realm, either on the web, social platforms or some other cyber field (such as app marketplaces, for example).

This ease-of-finding is crucial for establishing, building and defending your brand. A good presence means your brand reputation is clear, brand awareness is strong and that your products, services or solutions are ideally placed among the results when users search the related keywords.

In the early days of the web, a website whose design or functionality had something new to offer — great design, a flashy gimmick or free downloadables — was enough for a brand to stake its claim. Those days are gone. We’re now in a more sophisticated era where the right fundamentals, careful planning and sharp targeting makes more headway in the labyrinth.

Make no mistake, having a well-rounded online presence still “works”. It will still help you reach the right customers and build your bottom line.

So, let’s get you started…

Online presence boosters – 4 of the best

1. A good-looking website

If you want to be a leader in your field, you must look the part. This means your website must measure up in the aesthetic stakes. Often, you’ll find there’s a trade-off between looks and usability. A good rule of thumb is to push your designs until it starts impinging on good user experience, then step it back.

Once you have the website’s appearance and “handling” dialled in, you then have to add content that’s just as focused. Your site info must be brief, targeted, compelling, accurate, well-written and easy to read.

2. SEO makes your site grow

Aesthetic appeal matters, but among the billions of sites on the internet you first need to be found. This is where good SEO comes in. A capable web designer will instill the right SEO approach to help people find your business through Google and other online tools. Websites with appropriate SEO will have less competition when it comes to ranking well within various searches. The more prominently your business is displayed in the right search results, the more leads you’ll receive.

3. Social media: making friends influences people

Social media is not going away and it deserves pride of place in marketing efforts to boost an online presence. More than just making friends, social media has several other positive effects.

First, it raises awareness because your messages will propagate through the social media platform to reach all-new audiences.
Second, when you have a solid set of followers, they will tend to clump together into a community of interest that, when stimulated by your videos, photos, updates and such, will speak to each other. Their favourite topic? You! They may soon start reposting your material, thus causing your social media marketing efforts to grow by themselves.
Third, if people believe in what you’re doing and trust your integrity, don’t be surprised if they start feeling like “part of your company” — promoting and defending you online, all without your encouragement.

4. Do not ‘set and forget’

One of the most important signals used by the owners of online ranking platforms — whether those are social or search — is how frequently you post, engage, comment or, simply, interact on their platform.

This is a case where more is definitely more — the quality and quantity of your use behaviour is a reliable way to tip just about any algorithm in your favour. So, become a power user of all your channels. Post regularly. Post good stuff. Reply to comments. Make connections. As this approach can be a major time suck, it might make sense to hire a content manager/social media manager to keep on top of it all.

Get started on rounding out your online presence

So there you have it: the fundamental points to cover in getting the most out of your online presence. As with many of the digital aspects to business management, the first challenge is getting your bearings. Knowing where to start and in what general direction to head makes it all the easier to take the next step. And the next. If you still need a nudge to get going, it always pays to reach out to experts you can trust.

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