As a small business owner, you have to make sure that you are putting your energy to good use in building your business. One area that you should put some energy into is creating a successful online presence. About 51% of smartphone users report that they have found a business or service through online mobile searches. The question you need to be asking yourself is “can consumers find you?” and when they do “are they impressed by your online presence?”.
Creating a successful online presence means that when 78% of consumers are shopping online they can find you and be persuaded that your business is the right fit. Building a successful online presence is the marketing tool no business can live without.
Where To Start
You may have heard a lot of buzz about local SEO, which is highly important to create a successful online presence, but we talk about that further down. Your very first jumping-off point in creating a successful online presence is to start with a professionally designed website.
A highly functional website that is visually stunning, and easy to navigate is the foundation of creating a successful online presence. Everything that you do online to create your presence will tie back to your website.
Here are some website tips every small business owner should use:
- Invest in a professional web designer. Your website is your first handshake with consumers. You want your website to look great, be customized to your business, and always be highly functional. Studies indicate that visitors will navigate away from your website in the first three seconds if it takes too long to load or there is a function issue.
- If you currently have a website in place and it is older than three years old have an audit. Technology changes quickly. If your website is three years old or older it may have some outdated features that need upgrading. It is a worthy investment.
- Make sure your website is easy to navigate. There is no quicker way to lose conversions than to have a website that is difficult to navigate.
Whether your business is an orthodontist office, or you sell umbrellas, a successful online presence will start with your website. It is important that your website gets the energy it deserves. Invest in a professional service to create or fine-tune your website so you can stay focused on your core business obligations.
Relevant Content
One of the mistakes small business owners make is not focusing on relevant content when they are trying to build a successful online presence. For example, if you have a greenhouse online, you want to keep your content focused on industries that are relevant to a greenhouse.
You can link your relevant content to other online flowers type businesses, have content like “how to’s” for managing a greenhouse, and other relevant content. Relevant is the keyword. Keep your other passions separate. For example, if the latest political mess has you in a tizzy, go write about it on your personal blog, not on your business blog. Do be careful about what you put out there in cyberspace. You never know how things will be connected back to you and affect your business.
The golden rule of never discussing politics or religion with friends or neighbors, holds very true when it comes to business. If someone does not agree with your personal views do you really want to lose their business? Of course not. Money is green regardless of what the owner’s belief system is. Putting your personally held beliefs out there for the world to see can affect your ability to build a successful online presence.
Here are some tips for posting content:
- Assert your authority in the industry. Share information and assert your authority as an expert in the industry by delivering content that is valuable. How-to videos, links to other sites that provide information, and more can help to assert your authority as an expert.
- Keep it simple. Unless you are speaking to an audience that understands technical industry language, keep the content easy to read. You will reach a wider audience by making your information easier to digest. Of course, if your business is a B2B model and you want to detail architectural visualization then by all means have at it. Know your audience.
- Remember your content is used to sell something but it should not be overtly advertising your products. Engaging content that is entertaining and provides valuable information is the most appreciated and sought after content.
Making sure that your business is associated with engaging, informative content will help you to build a successful online presence for your business. It is the way to drive positive traffic that is ready to convert into sales.
Keeping Everyone Safe
A successful online presence is not only about what you do but is also about what you do not do. For example, not letting a data breach occur is critical to building a successful online presence. Guaranteeing data privacy lets people know that they are safe with your business.
Consumers trust businesses with a lot of their information. It is the duty of the business owners to take the steps that are necessary to protect that data. Data security has to be a priority for any business owner that collects information about their customers or clients.
A data breach where information is stolen is a quick way to really damage your online reputation. It is a blow that can be really hard to come back from. Put data security measures on the top of your list of things that are important when you are trying to build a successful online presence.
Use Social Media Wisely
Social media marketing has tremendous benefits when it comes to building a successful online presence, but it can backfire if you do not use it wisely. There is an entire formula to how often you should post, how quickly you should respond to consumers, and what type of content you should post.
There are several different social media channels out there like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Your first step in creating a successful online presence using social media is to decide which channels are where you will find your audience. You do not have to post on all the channels.
You have two options for deciding which channels you will use. You can do the research yourself. There are tons of statistics online that will tell you which demographic is most likely to be found on which social media channel. You can do what many small business owners have done and hire a marketing agency that specializes in social media marketing.
There are clear benefits to hiring a firm like not having to dedicate the time to create a successful online presence through social media because it is done for you. Going with the pro’s can be an affordable option that really takes the guesswork out of the process. Of course, if you think you can go it alone, follow these tips to get the most out of social media:
- If you are using social media, make sure you are responsive. Consumers report that they expect a company to respond within three hours to their social media inquiry.
- Keep it light. Use social media to announce sales or share industry information. Don’t use social media as a personal platform, unless of course, you being you is your business. For example, you are an entertainer, you are working toward becoming an influencer, but not if you are selling something or providing a service.
- Don’t oversaturate with posts. Post no more than twice a day.
It is a lot easier to hire someone to take over your social media management than it is to try to manage it on your own. It can turn into a full-time job and you already have one of those. A strong social media presence can easily translate into a successful online presence. Weigh your options carefully this may be a great opportunity that you do not want to blow by not getting professional help.
SEO
We briefly touched on local SEO. What is local SEO? If you have spent any time at all researching online marketing you should know that SEO is an acronym for search engine optimization. SEO is what gets the attention of search engines like Google, Bing, and others to direct traffic to your website. Local SEO takes it up a notch.
The best way to describe local SEO is to ask you to consider how do you search for things online. When you pull up a search engine and are looking for an attorney to help with business litigation do you type in “find a business litigation attorney” or do you type in “find a business litigation attorney near me”? Likely the latter. Local SEO uses language that helps local consumers find your business.
It should be a part of your content plan. It is how search engines work through the millions of businesses just like yours and return results that are more in tune with what the user is looking for. Building a successful online presence using local SEO will provide you with more leads that are ready to purchase.
Again, the best way to manage all your SEO needs is to connect with a marketing agency that specializes in supporting small businesses. They have the skillset to deliver the success you are hoping for.
Reputation Is Everything Online
Once you build a successful online presence the goal is to hang on to that presence and keep it positive. About 78% of consumers surveyed said that they read reviews about a business before they make a buying decision.
Let’s say you have a home additions construction business. You get five-star ratings from almost all your clients, but there are always that handful of clients you are never going to make happy. The latter bunch gives you a couple of three stars. That handful of people can really put a dent in your online reputation.
How do you address reputation problems? Follow these tips:
- Get services from an online reputation repair company. If your bad reviews just keep on popping up, consider hiring a team that can make them go away.
- Bury the reviews. With enough content, the bad reviews will wind up pages deep in search results. About 96% of people never go beyond the first page of results. Just keep generating high-quality content to cover all the bad up.
- Don’t let anyone tag your business in content unless you know what the content is going to be. It is not just bad reviews that can dent your reputation, bad content can do the same. Know who you are linking with online. Tighten up social media security so others cannot tag your business without permission. Better safe than sorry.
Other treatments for hiding negative content about your business include making a request to have it removed. You can reach out to a website like Yelp and ask to have the content removed, sometimes they will, most of the time they won’t but it is worth a try.
A successful online presence can really take a hit from negative content whether it is bad reviews or being associated with an inflammatory post. Consumers check everything out before they make buying decisions, they even check out the charitable organization they are considering contributing to. A reputation mark can be painful, do what it takes to keep that five stars rated reputation.
In today’s market no matter what industry you are in you need to build a successful online presence to ensure that you can reach your target audience. People shop differently today than they did even a decade ago. Whether you have a brick and mortar shop or not you still need a successful online presence. When asked 73% of consumers responded that they would expect to find information about a business online, and more importantly, 80% said they would not do business with any business that did not have a successful online presence. Put some energy into developing your business’ online presence you cannot afford not to.
As a small business owner you have to make sure that you are putting your energy to good use in building your business. One area that you should put some energy into is creating a successful online presence. About 51% of smartphone users report that they have found a business or service through online mobile searches. The question you need to be asking yourself is “can consumers find you?” and when they do “are they impressed by your online presence?”.
Creating a successful online presence means that when 78% of consumers are shopping online they can find you and be persuaded that your business is the right fit. Building a successful online presence is the marketing tool no business can live without.
Where To Start
You may have heard a lot of buzz about local SEO, which is highly important to create a successful online presence, but we talk about that further down. Your very first jumping-off point in creating a successful online presence is to start with a professionally designed website.
A highly functional website that is visually stunning, and easy to navigate is the foundation of creating a successful online presence. Everything that you do online to create your presence will tie back to your website.
Here are some website tips every small business owner should use:
- Invest in a professional web designer. Your website is your first handshake with consumers. You want your website to look great, be customized to your business, and always be highly functional. Studies indicate that visitors will navigate away from your website in the first three seconds if it takes too long to load or there is a function issue.
- If you currently have a website in place and it is older than three years old have an audit. Technology changes quickly. If your website is three years old or older it may have some outdated features that need upgrading. It is a worthy investment.
- Make sure your website is easy to navigate. There is no quicker way to lose conversions than to have a website that is difficult to navigate.
Whether your business is an orthodontist office, or you sell umbrellas, a successful online presence will start with your website. It is important that your website gets the energy it deserves. Invest in a professional service to create or fine-tune your website so you can stay focused on your core business obligations.
Relevant Content
One of the mistakes small business owners make is not focusing on relevant content when they are trying to build a successful online presence. For example, if you have a greenhouse online, you want to keep your content focused on industries that are relevant to a greenhouse.
You can link your relevant content to other online flowers type businesses, have content like “how to’s” for managing a greenhouse, and other relevant content. Relevant is the keyword. Keep your other passions separate. For example, if the latest political mess has you in a tizzy, go write about it on your personal blog, not on your business blog. Do be careful about what you put out there in cyberspace. You never know how things will be connected back to you and affect your business.
The golden rule of never discussing politics or religion with friends or neighbors, holds very true when it comes to business. If someone does not agree with your personal views do you really want to lose their business? Of course not. Money is green regardless of what the owner’s belief system is. Putting your personally held beliefs out there for the world to see can affect your ability to build a successful online presence.
Here are some tips for posting content:
- Assert your authority in the industry. Share information and assert your authority as an expert in the industry by delivering content that is valuable. How-to videos, links to other sites that provide information, and more can help to assert your authority as an expert.
- Keep it simple. Unless you are speaking to an audience that understands technical industry language, keep the content easy to read. You will reach a wider audience by making your information easier to digest. Of course, if your business is a B2B model and you want to detail architectural visualization then by all means have at it. Know your audience.
- Remember your content is used to sell something but it should not be overtly advertising your products. Engaging content that is entertaining and provides valuable information is the most appreciated and sought after content.
Making sure that your business is associated with engaging, informative content will help you to build a successful online presence for your business. It is the way to drive positive traffic that is ready to convert into sales.
Keeping Everyone Safe
A successful online presence is not only about what you do but is also about what you do not do. For example, not letting a data breach occur is critical to building a successful online presence. Guaranteeing data privacy lets people know that they are safe with your business.
Consumers trust businesses with a lot of their information. It is the duty of the business owners to take the steps that are necessary to protect that data. Data security has to be a priority for any business owner that collects information about their customers or clients.
A data breach where information is stolen is a quick way to really damage your online reputation. It is a blow that can be really hard to come back from. Put data security measures on the top of your list of things that are important when you are trying to build a successful online presence.
Use Social Media Wisely
Social media marketing has tremendous benefits when it comes to building a successful online presence, but it can backfire if you do not use it wisely. There is an entire formula to how often you should post, how quickly you should respond to consumers, and what type of content you should post.
There are several different social media channels out there like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Tik Tok. Your first step in creating a successful online presence using social media is to decide which channels are where you will find your audience. You do not have to post on all the channels.
You have two options for deciding which channels you will use. You can do the research yourself. There are tons of statistics online that will tell you which demographic is most likely to be found on which social media channel. You can do what many small business owners have done and hire a marketing agency that specializes in social media marketing.
There are clear benefits to hiring a firm like not having to dedicate the time to create a successful online presence through social media because it is done for you. Going with the pro’s can be an affordable option that really takes the guesswork out of the process. Of course, if you think you can go it alone, follow these tips to get the most out of social media:
- If you are using social media, make sure you are responsive. Consumers report that they expect a company to respond within three hours to their social media inquiry.
- Keep it light. Use social media to announce sales or share industry information. Don’t use social media as a personal platform, unless of course, you being you is your business. For example, you are an entertainer, you are working toward becoming an influencer, but not if you are selling something or providing a service.
- Don’t oversaturate with posts. Post no more than twice a day.
It is a lot easier to hire someone to take over your social media management than it is to try to manage it on your own. It can turn into a full-time job and you already have one of those. A strong social media presence can easily translate into a successful online presence. Weigh your options carefully this may be a great opportunity that you do not want to blow by not getting professional help.
SEO
We briefly touched on local SEO. What is local SEO? If you have spent any time at all researching online marketing you should know that SEO is an acronym for search engine optimization. SEO is what gets the attention of search engines like Google, Bing, and others to direct traffic to your website. Local SEO takes it up a notch.
The best way to describe local SEO is to ask you to consider how do you search for things online. When you pull up a search engine and are looking for an attorney to help with business litigation do you type in “find a business litigation attorney” or do you type in “find a business litigation attorney near me”? Likely the latter. Local SEO uses language that helps local consumers find your business.
It should be a part of your content plan. It is how search engines work through the millions of businesses just like yours and return results that are more in tune with what the user is looking for. Building a successful online presence using local SEO will provide you with more leads that are ready to purchase.
Again, the best way to manage all your SEO needs is to connect with a marketing agency that specializes in supporting small businesses. They have the skillset to deliver the success you are hoping for.
Reputation Is Everything Online
Once you build a successful online presence the goal is to hang on to that presence and keep it positive. About 78% of consumers surveyed said that they read reviews about a business before they make a buying decision.
Let’s say you have a home additions construction business. You get five-star ratings from almost all your clients, but there are always that handful of clients you are never going to make happy. The latter bunch gives you a couple of three stars. That handful of people can really put a dent in your online reputation.
How do you address reputation problems? Follow these tips:
- Get services from an online reputation repair company. If your bad reviews just keep on popping up, consider hiring a team that can make them go away.
- Bury the reviews. With enough content, the bad reviews will wind up pages deep in search results. About 96% of people never go beyond the first page of results. Just keep generating high-quality content to cover all the bad up.
- Don’t let anyone tag your business in content unless you know what the content is going to be. It is not just bad reviews that can dent your reputation, bad content can do the same. Know who you are linking with online. Tighten up social media security so others cannot tag your business without permission. Better safe than sorry.
Other treatments for hiding negative content about your business include making a request to have it removed. You can reach out to a website like Yelp and ask to have the content removed, sometimes they will, most of the time they won’t but it is worth a try.
A successful online presence can really take a hit from negative content whether it is bad reviews or being associated with an inflammatory post. Consumers check everything out before they make buying decisions, they even check out the charitable organization they are considering contributing to. A reputation mark can be painful, do what it takes to keep that five stars rated reputation.
In today’s market no matter what industry you are in you need to build a successful online presence to ensure that you can reach your target audience. People shop differently today than they did even a decade ago. Whether you have a brick and mortar shop or not you still need a successful online presence. When asked 73% of consumers responded that they would expect to find information about a business online, and more importantly, 80% said they would not do business with any business that did not have a successful online presence. Put some energy into developing your business’ online presence you cannot afford not to.
