In the digital age, every company has an online presence. In fact, most have more than one: a website, a slew of social media profiles, and a number of other virtual networking forums. But it isn’t enough to simply stitch together a few web pages and call it a day. Your online presence is one of the biggest tools in your marketing arsenal—and it’s also very often the first touch point your audience has with your company’s brand.
Here are 4 ways you can improve your company’s online presence and set yourself up for success:
Regular content
As they say, content is king. No matter what industry you’re in, it goes without saying that your aim is for your company and its leaders to become the go-to experts in the field. One of the easiest ways to do this is by producing rich, engaging, and educational content that helps your audience solve a problem.
Not only are you establishing your company’s expertise on the subject when doing this, but you’re also building a relationship with your potential customers and clients and warming them up as they make their way through your business funnel. Equally important, you’re also making your website more visible to sites like Google, which helps improve your ranking when people use search engines.
An easy user experience
According to Forrester Research, nearly 50 percent of visitors leave sites when they cannot find what they are looking for. “Online consumers are demanding and have little patience,” writes Peter Daisyme of Entrepreneur.
“They are not prepared to hang around and wait for websites to load, and they won’t spend time searching for something they cannot find within a few clicks. User experience has become the No. 1 priority for search engines, which means it should be at the top of your to-do list as well. The information architecture of a website has to be easily understood. By studying data analysis and using heat map technology you can determine how visitors are using your site and highlight areas for improvement.”
Social media visibility
Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter (just to name a few) are powerful assets to have when it comes to your company’s online identity. Just look at these figures:
- Facebook currently has over 2 billion active users (active users being defined as those who’ve logged onto the website within the past 30 days)
- LinkedIn has over 500 million active users
- Twitter has over 300 million active users
Now imagine capturing just a fraction of those numbers and directing them to your company’s products/services. Plenty of brands do it every day. “Social media can be a highly effective way to improve your visibility and reach new customers,” says SEO for Growth. “In addition to posting useful articles and offering expert insights on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, you should also solicit and respond to comments on your posts. It’s not just about visibility, it’s about accessibility. Accessibility builds trust and credibility.”
Directory listings
“Get listed on key directory sites,” suggests Dennis Ottey of Dott Digital Marketing. “Often, especially for local searches, these sites rank at or near the top organically. There are many directories for specific industries, but there are more than 60 search engines and directories where your business should be accurately.
“These include Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Mapquest, CitySearch and many more. Google has clearly stated that they use these multiple listings to aid them in ranking your website. You can run a free scan here, to verify your listings and accuracy on all of the relevant engines.”
Your online presence is very often the first impression your potential customers and clients have with you. For that reason, it’s essential to fully optimise it and ensure that you’re doing everything you can to make your company visible online, establish its authority, and connect with your customers and clients in a user-friendly way that equals brand loyalty. Which of the five strategies above will you implement this week?