Small business owners realize that it’s critical to have a powerful online presence in today’s internet marketplace. Having an influential brand online allows your company to reach more people. You can show your products and services to customers. You can also generate increased leads and entice more people to visit your official website and physical store location.
How can your company improve its internet market reach and attract more customers to your site?
In today’s guide, you’ll learn 12 ways to improve your business’s online presence in 2021.
1. Create a Beautiful Business Website Optimized for Mobile Devices
The first step your business can take to increase its online presence is to create an official business website.
Since Google currently indexes the mobile versions first, optimize your site for smartphones, tablets, and similar devices. Here are several qualities you should consider when building your web page.
Google encourages sites to have light, swiftly loading pages for mobile users. Webmasters should optimize all images and use well-structured markup code for desktop and mobile versions. Sites can also use browser caching whenever possible.
The technology giant also encourages the use of responsive site designs and the use of a Robots.txt testing tool to ensure your site is accessible to Google’s search engine crawler.
When building your site, have fun while remaining professional. Your web pages should incorporate fonts, colors, text, video, and images relevant to your brand.
Create valuable content on your site that appeals to the pain points of your buyer persona.
You can use several content management systems to create your site, including WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, and HubSpot.
You can also hire a web design service, like LocalBizGuru, to create an eyecatching SEO optimized professional site for your business.
2. Build an Email List
After launching your business website, gather a list of potential leads and customers to increase your company’s online presence. Building an email list is one of the easiest ways to help you succeed. Once you get a comprehensive list, it will enable your business to engage actively with potential customers and leads.
If your website hasn’t officially launched, you can use a maintenance plugin that features beautiful “coming soon” pages for your site. These pages actively encourage users to sign up for your email list while encouraging them to visit.
Produce content that your users will enjoy. Another way you can build your email list is to produce gated content that your customers must sign up for, so they can access it. This material will help increase your subscription list.
Your business can also produce a monthly newsletter to promote your company and collect leads through your distribution list. Spend time promoting your newsletter online using calls-to-action to attract readers who enjoy reading your engaging content.
You can create forms and slide-in calls to action using your content management system. You can use email marketing tools and pop-up forms to promote your site from companies that include HubSpot, MailChimp, or GetResponse.
3. Boost Your Site’s Search Engine Optimization Strategy
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process that increases your website traffic and improves your brand’s recognition and online presence. This strategy helps potential customers have a better chance of finding your website when they search for terms related to your brand. Mastering SEO can also boost your rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).
To rank higher, business sites must incorporate two categories of SEO: on-site and off-site SEO.
On Site SEO
On-site SEO is the practice of optimizing the elements of a web page to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic from search engines. Good on-site SEO helps search engines understand what humans see and the value they would receive when they visit a page.
To master on-site SEO, small business owners should ensure their HTML source code is well-formed.
As much as possible, your code should not be bloated, and all elements of your site need to be optimized for speed.
Additionally, Moz recommends that web owners must produce high-quality, educational content about a specific search query (keyword) relevant to your business that offers value to your potential customers. Companies should also research relevant keywords to add to their articles and blogs.
And like all website content, be it web copy or blog content, make sure your pages are SEO optimized.
For a more in-depth article on this point, read my blog here.
Off-Site SEO
Off-site SEO refers to actions taken outside your website that affects your rankings in SERPs. Optimizing off-site rankings involves improving a search engine and user perception of a business site’s popularity, relevance, trustworthiness, and authority.
You can improve your off-site SEO by encouraging other relevant places on the web (pages, sites, people), linking to and promoting your website. This step vouches for the quality of the web content that you produce.
Key elements of this include:
1. Claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile.
2. Improving your online reputation by getting reviews and testimonials on multiple review platforms
3. Expanding and improving your backlink profile by creating high-quality, shareable content, and link building.
A final note: Check your business website to see that it’s set up correctly.
4. Produce Engaging Content for Readers
Small businesses want to turn a profit for their company, but many studies have shown that the best way to attract more business is to produce content that creates value for your potential customers. This material is a fantastic way to introduce your branding and personality to the world since every piece of content you produce boosts your digital presence.
To get started, you must create buyer personas that focus on your ideal customer’s pain points and motivations, then create content that answers their questions as part of your content strategy.
You can also provide to potential customers through podcasts, guest posting, or question-and-answer sessions.
5. Have a Social Media Presence
To stand out from your competitors, your company must dominate social media.
It is an essential tool to reach your intended audience online.
These platforms are essential because so many people use them. Almost 3.2 billion people around the world use social media platforms. If your company doesn’t have a social media presence, your customers may not know you exist.
Additionally, it allows your business to become more transparent and build trust and a deeper connection with your target audience.
Your company should show up where your primary audience is. If your customers use Instagram but aren’t on Twitter, concentrate your promotion strategies on Instagram.
6. Keep an Active Online Presence
To increase your online presence, your business has to be active online. For instance, regularly post to your owned online properties, including your official website and social media pages.
You should assign someone to engage regularly with followers and subscribers on your social media site. If there is an engaging conversation related to your industry, participate in that conversation.
Your small business can assign an employee to respond to these texts if you can’t do so personally. If you don’t have a suitable representative, you can hire a company, like LocalBizGuru, to handle your social media engagements.
7. Network with Other Companies
Another way to improve your online presence is to develop relationships with other people within your industry. Networking involves strengthening bonds over mutual interests. The same rules apply as in the past: find something you share in common with another person.
For instance, you can establish connections by sharing your hobbies, passions, and interests that you have in common. For instance, you can ask relevant bloggers and podcasters within your industry to feature your business within their content.
They may also ask you to appear in future podcasts or write guest blogs for their site. When you build relationships with others, it will help your brand appear in more areas online.
8. Adopt New Social Media Platforms
Consider becoming an early adopter of new social media and popular web technologies.
The main reason you should embrace new technology is that there is less competition on these sites. These smaller social media platforms also have higher engagement rates than other sites, so your brand will get noticed by more users.
9. Get Listed on Core Web Directories
Web directories are powerful ways to generate additional traffic to your website.
While these directories don’t pack the same punch as they used to, foundationally speaking they are stakeholders and are important to be claimed.
These listings help you rank higher organically and are essential to local searches.
Your company should select directories that add real value to your business, especially Google Business, Bing Places, Yelp, and Apple Maps. The aforementioned directory profiles are critical for getting your business to show up in voice searches.
Other high-value directories include the Better Business Bureau and Facebook.
They feature robust information beyond your Name, Address, Phone, and Web address. Photos, menus, times of operation, services, and much much more!
Aside from the primary benefits these directories offer – like reviews and business information, they also give you beneficial backlinks to your website that can differentiate your business from the competition.
Pro Tip!
Another up and coming local business referral platform called Alignable features enhanced content as well helps you network with other local businesses and their owners. It’s basically a great online community for local businesses!
10. Use Online Advertising
Your company can also build its online presence through online advertising or paid search marketing.
When your ad appears at the top of search results, it drives traffic to your website. It also increases awareness about your business brand and improves your visibility.
Several popular search engines can provide enormous exposure for your brand, including Yahoo!, Bing, and Google. Don’t forget to advertise on social media platforms with large followings, including Instagram, Reddit, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.
When creating your advertising campaign, know what you want to promote. For instance, do you want to promote new products, services, or your email newsletter? Once you know what you want to promote, find the platform that’s best for you.
11. Ask Influencers to Promote Your Product
Almost 92 percent of people trust recommendations from individuals. Social media influencers allow brands to have an organic way to earn the trust of individuals.
Influencer marketing helps customers remain engaged with your business and your product. These individuals have a massive reach because of their large number of followers. When an influencer recommends your products, their fans take notice and are more likely to purchase your product or services. It also helps your promotion to circumvent ad blockers and reach your target market directly.
Businesses can usually find influencers at a steal. You can directly contact individuals with followings over 50,000 people through their email or direct messaging on their website. Companies can also search for influencers through Reddit’s marketing subreddits.
12. Analyze Your Results
Once your business starts implementing strategies to boost your online presence, you must analyze your efforts by testing which ones work. You can use metrics from different sites like Google to see if your search engine optimization is working well. You can set goals if you’re building a subscriber list to see if you reach your target and other click-through rates.
Increasing your brand awareness online may take a few months, so be patient as you work toward your long-term goals.
Does your business need to improve its brand recognition online? LocalBizGuru can help.
We are a full-service digital marketing agency that empowers small businesses through knowledge, transparency, and results. Our professionals offer website design and development, local SEO, and social media marketing services. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
