It does not matter what industry you are in today, without an online presence, you are virtually invisible. For smaller businesses, not appearing in search results could be highly detrimental to your sales and to your continued operation. But, for those who might be new to the digital marketing world, it can be tricky to build an online presence.Â
When you are working on a digital marketing strategy, building your online presence should be at the top of your list. No matter the size of your business, you need to be found online. Now, this does not need to cost you a huge amount of money or time, but it should be done correctly.Â
If you are unsure of where to start for building your online presence, below are some top tips for building an online presence for your small business.Â
Build Your Blog
Having a website can help immensely in improving your online presence, but it is only half of the battle. Having a blog where you can post relevant and useful content for your consumers will improve your online presence and can help to convince people to use your products and services.Â
Using relevant keywords will also ensure that your business appears in search results for these keywords, beating out the competition. Your blog should contain content that is relevant to your brand and niche, such as describing how to use your products or services. Be sure to link to other pages on your websites so that traffic can improve.Â
Soup Up Social Media
Social media marketing is a sure-fire way to improve your online presence, especially when you combine it with search engine optimisation. You can use keywords in your social media posts that you use in your blog posts or website content, and hashtags are also searchable and are indexed by search engines, so be sure to put these to use too.Â
Your social media page should be accurate and filled with all the information your consumers need to find you and interact with your brand. Be sure to have a carefully-thought-out content calendar so that you share content that is relevant and valuable. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even LinkedIn are ideal platforms to choose for any small business.Â
Ask For Reviews
An effective way to build up your online presence is to ask consumers for reviews with links to your website or mentioning your brand name. This will help especially with local SEO, as these reviews can be placed on your Google Business Listing and will appear in the search results when your business is searched for.Â
Be sure to highlight positive reviews but also make sure to answer negative reviews politely and constructively. If you see a review that doesn’t link back to your website, you can ask the reviewer to insert a link or to mention your business’s name if they are able to. Online reviews are a free way to build your online presence, so be sure to tap into this.Â
Optimise Your Website
One major part of building your online presence is to optimise your website for both search engines and people. You should make sure that your website has the correct meta-descriptions and titles for each page, that the flow of the pages makes sense for the user, and that you are using the right keywords for each page.
You could also optimise your contact page, as this is often overlooked. Make sure it has a proper meta-description (the description that Google shows of a page in its search results), that all of the details are correct, and that you have used keywords to help it appear in search results. Once you have done this, it is more likely that your website will appear in search results.Â
Dig Into Directories
An affordable and effective way to improve your online presence is to use business directories to list your business and website on. These directories are mostly free to use and are simple to set up, and allow you to use keywords that relate to your business. Using these directories will help to improve your online visibility because your business will appear in search results.
If you combine all of these tactics together, then you will soon see an increase in your online traffic. Start by building your blog and improving your social media and then move on to asking for reviews and optimising your website. If you would like to build your online presence, speak to the NetMechanic team today to find out how we can help you.Â
