More and more businesses are adopting different formats of online marketing in hopes of boosting their ability to reach more potential customers. There are many different ways a business can promote themselves online; anything from paid advertisements to posting blogs can be considered types of internet marketing. However, all business owners will want to provide their marketing campaigns with the best foundation possible.
If someone were to show you a half-finished project, chances are you’d be less likely to endorse it than if you had been able to see all of the completed efforts. This is the same thought process that your customers go through when interacting with your online marketing. If something is missing or half-completed, such as your website, you’re diminishing the likelihood that someone will want to spend money with you and keep returning in the future.
To have the best opportunity to impress potential customers with your online marketing, you will first want to tackle these three points to your online presence.
How to Improve Your Online Presence
We always recommend that businesses work to get their online presence looking great all across the web. This means that you should be paying attention to more than just your ad campaigns and your social media accounts, though those are very important aspects to online marketing. There are a few other major components at play which will give your business the authority to convert potential customers into paying ones.
So, what should you be looking at to make sure your business is covered all across the web?
Is Your Website Up to Par?
Your website is perhaps the most important part of your business’s online presence in that it is your central hub. That means that many of your efforts will be trying to accomplish two things: to get people to contact you or to get people to your website, so they can then purchase from you.
That means your website should be in the best shape possible to convince anyone visiting your site to complete whatever goal you’ve set, such as making a purchase or hitting the “contact” button. You can hire a developer for that. On the other hand, if you want to save extra money, website builders might be a great option. And if you don’t know how to choose a website builder, Website Advisor is one of the most useful resources that share information about website builders for free.
Google takes your website loading speed into account when creating search results pages for users. That makes speed a very important part of your website, and it something that you should frequently check. As website servers update or plugins get outdated, it’s possible for your once fast website to begin lagging.
Your website should also contain high-quality content that educates your audience and leads them to making a great decision. Make sure your pages are optimized and have your location information on them so that people have an easier time finding you on the web.
The more you’re able to update your website so that it remains modern and easy for users to use, the better of a foundation it can set for the rest of your online presence.
Make Sure Your Online Reputation is on Point
Another integral part of your business’s online presence is your reputation. This means you should be regularly auditing your business’s online reputation to ensure that you are giving your potential customers enough of a reason to do business with you.
Your online reputation is built out of everything that is available about your business online. Everything from your social media accounts, to a blog that someone wrote about your business years ago, to your website all contribute to your online reputation.
When someone is browsing your business prior to contacting you, they’ll be picking up cues from your online reputation before ultimately deciding whether or not your business is trustworthy.
To best manage your online reputation, first create a list of all of your existing profiles, and if there are any that need to be created, on the major review platforms. Claiming these profiles will give you free access to securing and updating any information that is visible on these accounts. From there, make sure all business information is correct and up-to-date. You can also enhance each profile by updating the images and adding additional information when possible.
These profiles are where the majority of your customers will gather to leave reviews about their experience online. That means you’ll also want to solicit reviews from your current customers to ensure that the reality of your business is reflected properly online.
By continually keeping your website up to date and effectively managing your online reputation, you’ll be doing the best job at supporting your online marketing campaigns as possible.
About the author
Garrett Smith is the President & CEO of RepCheckup, an online review management software used by small to medium businesses. He has been helping businesses thrive through sales and marketing since 1999.
