6 Valuable Tips for Establishing a Strong Online Presence for Your Business

Whether you’re a fledgling startup or an established business, having a strong online presence could be the key to reaching your revenue goals faster. According to a Salesforce survey, 85% of consumers conduct research online before purchasing any product or service. If your business is not discoverable to prospective customers online, you’ll be missing out on a chunk of leads and potential revenue streams. Beyond discoverability and brand awareness, you can also leverage your digital presence to communicate with customers, share reviews, engage your community, manage your reputation, etc.

But how exactly do you go from being obscure on the internet to being discoverable everywhere? This guide will show you how to leverage the available platforms to establish a strong online presence for your business.

1. Optimize your website for search engines

Having a business website is an essential requirement for any business in this age. However, it’s vital to understand that designing and launching your website is never enough. It would be best if you optimized all your website pages to rank for the search terms commonly employed by your target audience. When you do that, you’ll have a higher chance of attracting leads via organic search.

Optimizing your website for search engines should start from the design stage. Among other considerations, all the design elements should be user-friendly, navigation should be smooth and easy, and the page loading time should be as short as possible. Afterward, you’d have to optimize your content by doing proper keyword research and then work on off-page SEO. A competent web designer and digital marketer are best placed to handle your search engine optimization needs. Explore our web offering today!

2. Develop a comprehensive content marketing strategy

A comprehensive content strategy should cover all your marketing channels. It may include blog posts, whitepapers, e-books, email campaigns, videos, social media posts, etc., depending on the nature of your business. You’ll significantly increase your chances of establishing an online presence by leveraging all the available digital marketing channels and developing content that resonates with your target audience.

The type of content you post and the channels you’ll leverage should reflect the nature of your business and your target audience. Your content strategy should also take your brand voice into account while communicating the value of your business to the end-users. Importantly, all your content should be optimized to rank high on search engine result pages. If your content strategy can tick all these boxes, your digital channels will become a source of organic leads in no time at all.

3. Increase your credibility and manage your reputation

A 2017 study by Podium revealed that 93% of consumers say online reviews impact their purchase decision. As you’re struggling to build a strong online presence for your business, you need to pay attention to what people say about your products or services online. Negative feedback left unattended can deter scores of potential customers, while a stream of positive comments will help build trust in your brand.

Managing your reputation online is a continuous task, but it typically starts with claiming your listings on directories like Yelp, Google My Business, Yahoo Pages, etc. Next, you should encourage your customers to leave reviews and provide incentives if they’re not forthcoming. Afterward, you’d have to monitor the feedback and address the complaints of your dissatisfied customers. You’d also have to be proactive on social media channels by controlling the conversation about your business and amplifying the positive comments for all to see.

4. Build a community

About 78% of customers prefer brands that help people connect through social media. Admittedly, the success of this method will depend hugely on the nature of your business. However, if you consistently share a compelling brand story and leverage the available social media platforms to project your brand voice, you’re likely to achieve some degree of success.

When building a community for your brand, it’s vital to understand your target audience and the best channels to reach out to them. For example, if you’re a B2B service provider, you’re likely to record more success by prioritizing Twitter or LinkedIn. On the other hand, if you run a local business that targets millennials or older age groups, Facebook may just be your happy place. The key is to find a way to invite your customers into your virtual world and continually engage them till they forget you have competitors.

5. Track your metrics and monitor progress

When starting with your digital marketing campaigns, you’re likely to share your resources among the available channels based on your intuition. However, intuition isn’t always a reliable market when making business decisions. Thus, you need to regularly evaluate your strategy and measure the ROI from each platform. When you do that, you’ll get better insights into the channels that deserve more attention and the ones you can do without. You’d also be able to figure out what’s working and what’s not and consequently improve your campaigns to yield better results.

6. Partner with the right digital marketing company

Effectively executing the tasks highlighted above may be a tad challenging for businesses with small teams. More often than not, the owner and other staff members are overwhelmed with work and may have little time to dedicate to building a robust online presence. That’s why you need to work with a digital marketing company that has the knowledge and expertise to design and execute a custom digital marketing strategy for your business.

Trust Tap Marketing to help you establish your online presence

In this age of hyperconnectivity, having a strong digital presence is no longer a luxury for all businesses. It’s the easiest way to get ahead of the competition and ensure your business is the go-to option in your local area or industry. If you need help setting up or strengthening your online presence, Tap Marketing is always a click away. Get in touch with us today, and we’ll be glad to discuss how we can help.