In this digital era of the internet, online presence has become as important as water to survive for businesses. No matter what type or size of business you are running up or how long you’ve been operating it, without an online presence it would be in vain.
According to research, 97% of consumers use the internet to find a business.
This is the reason why it is important to have an online presence.
It helps the audience to find your brand and learn more about your reputation before making any purchase. The more your business gets in front of your target audience, the more opportunities you have to build your brand awareness and increase your reputation.
There are multiple channels or platforms through which people browse, that’s why it has become mandatory for every entrepreneur to spread their web presence across all of them.
But how can you get your online presence?
In this blog, we will tell you some major tips regarding how to achieve an online presence. But first, let me illustrate what online presence is and its importance.
What is an online presence?
An online presence served as a feature of being “browsable”. It is the existence of digital media through the various online search systems. It is one of the most basic and cost-effective forms of digital marketing strategy out there.
In this digital age, it has become an essential component for companies. Having an online presence is more than just having social profiles and websites. It is expanded across multiple channels and platforms on the internet.
Key Factor:
A business with a strong online presence is easy to find through search engines, online directories, social media, and other platforms where the audience can look for your services.
Why do you need an online presence?
According to research, 63% of buyers’ journeys start online. Online presence makes your business available to customers at various points in their journey towards becoming a purchaser, including multiple devices.
97% search online for products before making a purchase. As mentioned earlier, a strong online presence makes it easier for potential customers to find your business, decide whether your business is good for them, and contact you for work.
As 83% of U.S shoppers visit stores based on information they found online. Online presence helps your business to provide all information about business across all the sources customers rely on before making a purchase.
You can learn more about it in our article, Why an online presence is essential for your business?
5 Ways to build an online presence:
The exact ways and strategies of maintaining or building an online presence differ somewhat between types of industries. But still, there are few common and best practices that any type of business can use to revamp its presence.
Build an enthralling website:
A compelling website serves as a foundation of an online presence. Apart from social media, a website is one of the first places people will go to find out more regarding your company.
According to research, 75% of consumers have admitted to judging a company’s credibility based on its web design. This means making a website is not sufficient enough to boost your web presence, but making it more engaging and attractive is the best way among all to build your online presence. Your website provides customers with the information they need to decide whether they should consider you or not. For this you need to make your website mobile-friendly, load quickly, attractive, and professional.
Must read our blog: Is building websites profitable for your businesses?
A website is where you can attract buyers through colors, fonts, content, images, and videos. A website helps clients to learn about your business, get in contact with you as well as provide a platform to present clients’ pain points and solutions to their problems.
Give your business a new enthralling look with Softvira’s website development services.
Have a social media presence:
According to research, there are about 3.2 billion social network users all over the world. Social media is no longer an option for local businesses. It has become necessary for every entrepreneur to run their business with a vast social media presence.
Social media is clients’ favorite way to engage with brands. After following a brand on social media, 91% of consumers will visit its website, 89% will buy from the brand, and 85% will recommend it to their family or friends.
It serves as a key tool to reach your considered audience on several different platforms. By establishing a presence on various social media platforms, you can increase your reach further online but be careful not to overextend yourself. Try to choose the right platform your audience is using.
If managed correctly, social media is the best way to increase trust and credibility among customers. It helps you to build a reputation and showcase your brand. When your potential audience is searching for a brand, the first place they’ll look is social media to see what are you putting over there and what are the reviews. Creating a strong, clear and visibly alluring social media strategy assists us to line up business objectives along with an online presence.
You can hire a trusted agency to help you with navigating social media and rank you and your business at the top of competitors.
Search engine optimization:
If we look around us, only 63% of small businesses invest in SEO and only 47% of small businesses don’t plan to ever pursue SEO efforts. We should always keep in mind that it is our responsibility to introduce our business to a huge range of clients.
Just building a social media presence and website isn’t enough. There is no point in building a website that no one can find. To establish a successful online presence for a business, you need to assist people to find your business online.
The first step to showing up online when audiences are searching is search engine optimization. Utilizing SEO tactics in your online marketing strategies can assist you to rank your website to the next level in clients’ search results. After all, websites don’t appear on SERPs by themselves; they rank because search engines decide which websites have authentic and informative content for the audience searching online for answers.
Read our blog: Why your business needs SEO?
SEO is considered the doorway to getting on the first page of Google or other search engines. It is considered one of the best, simple, and effective tactics to build up your business’s online presence.
Our effective SEO services will help you to make sure that your website is performing well on searches as well as you’re hitting your target market.
Get listed on local Online directories:
There are thousands of review sites and directories audiences are considering when they’re on the search for the local businesses. Creating listings on these sites for your business can help you to appear in more local searches online.
According to Business Listings Trust Report 94% of consumers used an online directory to find information about a new or previously used business because these directories and sites have updated information regarding your business so that when someone wants to work with you, they can easily get to know about you.
Every business category has its specific directories to add information but there are a few prominent directories as well to consider such as Facebook, Linkedin, Yellow pages, and more. Listing on these directories serves as a citation for business, which Google takes into consideration when ranking your site.
When people search for your business on these directories instead of search engines, meaning they’re looking for in-depth customer reviews and a quick overview of your business. Additionally, adding contact information across review sites and directories is also important for your SEO efforts.
Google my business:
Google’s objective is to provide its users with the best possible results for search queries, and if someone is unable to get in touch with local businesses they find on a Google search, it damages their ability to reach that goal. That’s why Google prioritizes businesses to add relevant information such as name, address, and phone number in their GMB.
Google my business profile is the new homepage for your business. It is the tool that allows us to add our business location, phone number, website URL, working hours, and significant information regarding business services or products. It adds all our above information into Google’s directory which helps your business to emerge in the Google search engine for specific local searches.
According to SearchEngineJournal, it is one of the top five online directories. Setting Google my business assists us in enhancing your business’s digital presence and approaching local customers online.
To conclude:
The above-given strategies can help your business to build a strong online presence and create brand awareness. All you have to do is build a compelling, user-friendly, and productive website and choose a platform that is relevant and right for your business goals.
If you don’t have time to maintain or if you’re looking for professionals to build your online presence. Softvira is experienced and professional at creating brand identities and providing digital marketing services.
