6 Ways To Increase Your Online Presence

Ivy Attie, Content Manager, Researcher & Author, explains how your business can effectively maintain a strong online presence. 

However, maintaining an online presence is an entirely different ball game for business owners. It’s not just about building a single platform where interested consumers can visit. But more about the collective existence of your business on the World Wide Web that you create to broaden your reach. In fact, statistics state that 76% of consumers look at a brand’s online presence before reaching out. This means that when done correctly, your online presence can play a significant role in spreading brand awareness and gaining more fans, followers, leads, and customers. 

How to start building an online presence?

Despite knowing it’s advantages, many entrepreneurs are lost when it comes to the actual process of increasing their online presence. This is because a lot goes in establishing your existence in the online world. From creating the first website and social media account to figuring out the best way to engage and interact – the work can get quite challenging. To help ease your apprehension, we have compiled a list of tips that will help increase your online presence to the maximum. What are they? Let’s find out!

1. Create an engaging website

Your business needs a website. Period. Even if you have a strong social media presence, you will need a website to direct your sales. Without a credible website, your potential consumers can be sceptical about your business. According to a recent study, 56% of internet users will not trust a business that does not have a website. When creating your business website, make sure it is user-friendly, visually appealing, and has the ability to drive conversions. Keep the layout simple so it is easy to load and navigate. Plus, make sure the website is optimally optimised for mobile users. 

2. Be social

Social media is a great marketing tool to increase fan following and develop strong relationships. And with 4.33 social media users, there is a good chance of your potential customers being on one of the many channels.However, social media presence doesn’t mean you create a profile on every existing channel. Instead, set up a profile on one or two leading channels and maintain consistency by regularly posting a mix of entertaining and informative content. 

3. Understand SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is a tactic that helps your business rank high in search engine results. By nailing SEO, your business has a better chance of showing up in front of potential consumers when they are actively searching for a product/service like yours. To master SEO, the first step you need to take is to create high-quality content. Place keywords that are relevant to your services within the text to make it more search-friendly. You can also work on the user’s experience,  image SEO, and mobile availability to make your website appealing to the search engine algorithms. 

4.Use relevant visuals

You may be writing the best articles or the most engaging social media posts. Still, in today’s competitive times – text is not enough to satisfy the user who craves to consume content faster. This is where visuals come in! They allow communication of information more straightforward and help to increase the levels of engagement. Why? Because the human brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster. And this is the reason visual marketing is a top priority of most (if not all) marketers. 

Include relevant visuals in your website content and social media posts. Take custom shots of your team at work or your product in use to enhance credibility. You can also use photo editing tools to add special effects and make your pictures more unique. And if your photography skills are not at par with the required quality, you can always buy stock photos to match your content. And you can always edit them according to your requirements. 

5. Connect for guest opportunities

Collaborating with existing brands for guest posting can also help get your name and business in front of a whole new audience. With guest posts, you can create brand awareness and bring referral traffic to your website. When searching for guest posting opportunities, look for websites that allow you to offer value to the host audience. You should also look for an audience that would be actually interested in the information you provide via your own platform. You can also aim to be a guest on podcasts and webinars. With the help of these platforms, you can talk about your business, your brand, and your expertise in detail.

6. Give paid advertising a chance

Contrary to popular belief, paid advertising on a virtual medium is a lot more cost-effective than traditional advertising models such as newspaper and TV ads. It is also more powerful and has the ability to earn businesses $2 for every $1 spent. While a lot is dependent on the success of your paid ads, some factors that can help you achieve a lot include:

• Keyword relevance
• Optimized landing pages with persuasive content and clear call-to-action
• Designer-quality ads with visually appealing layout and images

Final words

These were just some tips to get you started on the journey to increase your online presence. But remember that while this may seem like an undemanding task, it will take a lot of patience and consistent efforts to achieve the success you desire. Try out the different things stated above, track your progress, and figure out what works best for you and your business.