If you are new to the world of online marketing, you may not be familiar with the term web presence. Essentially, your web presence is how your brand is perceived on the web and how much exposure your business receives. There are a lot of different working parts that directly effect how your business is reflected online. For those that want to increase the chances of running a successful business online, I suggest you learn more about web presence and how to create and develop it.
Growing Your Web Presence
Expanding your web presence is a major part of online marketing. In fact, the goal of most forms of online marketing and search engine optimization is to build better brand awareness and attract potential customers. You want to be able to reach as many people as possible or at least as many people in your target demographic as you can. In order to do this, you need to pay attention to several different factors:
- Your website
- Search engine optimization
- Social media posting
- Email marketing
- Free giveaways
Building a Website
In this day and age, every business should have a website. This is the core of your web presence and provides an online location that can always be used to give your customers additional info on your products or services. There are a couple different routes that you can take when having a website built – you can create the website yourself using website builder software or hire a professional web designer to build a site that represents your business. If you plan on adding your own blog articles, using a platform such as WordPress can be incredibly helpful. A professional web developer can get the website up and running and then you can continue to update it by releasing new blog articles on a consistent schedule.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of ensuring your website appears in search engine results pages. When a user searches for a specific keyword, search engines then provide them with a list of websites that, according to their search engine algorithms, the user will find most relevant. Above all else, content is the number one priority when it comes to SEO. Search engines want to provide users with information that they will actually find useful.
Another aspect of SEO includes focusing on a specific keyword or keyword phrase throughout the content of a web page or blog article, while making sure that the keyword appears in the content in a natural way and is not over-used.
Those are just a couple of the main parts involved in good SEO; though, you or your web development team may also seek out quality backlinks, add meta data to a page or post, and submit sitemaps to search engines.
Social Media Posting
There are a lot of options when planning social media posting. A general rule that I use for all forms of marketing is the 80/20 rule. I seek to connect and educate my target audience 80% of the time and then offer solution based products 20% of the time. This same rule should not only be applied to social media posting, but any form of marketing, including emails and blog articles. Consumers want helpful information and by providing informative content 80% of the time, you can begin building trust with your potential customers.
Using Email Marketing
Email marketing can be incredibly effective, as long as you take care not to spam your potential customers. These are not unsolicited emails. The people that opt-in to your email list should perceive a real value in what you send them, otherwise, they may be likely to send your emails to the spam folder or request to be removed from your email list. Try to avoid pressure selling or filling up your target audience’s inbox with constant emails. As with any other content that is delivered through your business, ensure you are sending out useful information.
Offering Free Giveaways
Offering stuff for free has been a staple of marketing and promotion since businesses first began promoting themselves. People enjoy receiving free items and are more likely to visit a business, either in-person or online, when they have received a free giveaway. This same technique can be used online, by offering giveaways that have a real value for the type of customer that you want to attract. This can include free PDFs, instructional videos, or even free services. Requiring users to opt-in to your email list before receiving the free gift is also a great way to start building your targeted email list.
Integrity, Openness, and Honesty
With all aspects of your online marketing, you should be focused on integrity, openness, and honesty. Consumers are intelligent and know the difference between informative content and pressure selling. Remain open and honest with your customers. Provide them with real facts about your products or services. Your #1 priority is to build trust, credibility and authority in you niche. If you do this, your services will sell themselves.
As you can see, a lot goes into managing the web presence of a business, and we haven’t even covered everything that is your disposal. While there are many ways to increase and manage your web presence, it does not have to become an overly complicated task. In the end, remember to treat your customers with respect and honesty. Whichever aspect of online marketing you are working on, stick with the thought process that you should be providing relevant information that you customers will actually find beneficial.
Thanks for taking the time to learn more about building a web presence for your business. If you want further information on online marketing, SEO, email lists, or any of the other topics discussed, check out some of my other articles or send me a message.