With COVID-19 and the lack of physical traffic into businesses, the benefits of online presence have never been more apparent. Attracting potential customers by increasing your business online presence is now crucial in order for your business to survive and succeed.
With that in mind, many people tend to wonder things like how to improve their business online presence and how to increase their Google search ranking.
These may seem like daunting tasks but simple things like having a neat and highly functional website can help in the long run!
However, there are some important things to keep in mind when doing this! This is why today we are here to alleviate some of that worry and give you some useful tips on improving online presence.
1. Build a Website That Meets Today’s Standards
One of the most important things behind your online presence is having a website. But simply checking off the box of having a website won’t bring you success online either.
When assembling your website there are several factors to keep in mind to keep up with today’s digital standards. Some of these include:
- Keep Everything Consistent
- Keep Everything Aligned
- Keep Everything Visually Appealing
- Keep Everything in a Simple Format
- Keep Website SEO Optimized
Remember that you’re business revolves around the customer and your website should be no different. So here are some simple tips to help you improve your website and your brand!
Keep Everything Consistent
You want to make sure that your website and digital marketing material are consistent with your brand!
You want your audience and Google to know that you have your whole image together. Keeping everything you produce and endorse the same theme can help this out a lot.
Keep Everything Aligned
Your visuals and your general tone should be aligned with your audience and how you want to represent yourself.
For example, if you run a morgue then creating a website with funny GIFs and colorful themes might not be the right fit.
It all depends on the industry and the brand you are trying to push into! Being mindful of things that deal with the continuity of your brand voice should help a lot with connecting to your target audience!
Keep Everything Visually Appealing
Now that you know about brand consistency, let’s talk about pleasing your audience’s eyes!
Having visuals is the KEY to success.
Website’s need to catch the visitor’s attention right from their first interaction. The website’s aesthetic has to be visually appealing for it to be memorable and keep the visitor engaged!
Users recall roughly 65% of details from visual content up to 3 days past exposure, in comparison to only 10% of auditory information.
Take a look at the examples below and think about which website you would spend more time viewing.
Keep Everything in a Simple Format
Another thing to consider is a simple layout. You’re going to want to organize your website in a way that makes it easy for users to find information.
A clean and simple website means a clean user experience!
Having tabs to separate different sections of your website, pointing your users to the right places, and just making everything easier for the user in general through your website structure is important.
Additionally, you want your contact information to be readily accessible.
Have it on your home page and have it within its own tab. Don’t lose out on impatient customers! They are important too!
Like we previously mentioned, you might want to take your audience and industry into consideration with website design and visuals, but as long as you’re careful it’ll be beneficial.
Keep Website SEO Optimized
Finally, you’re going to want to make sure that your website follows important SEO techniques.
A few examples include using readable URL’s, using the right keywords throughout the article and in images, linking to other websites with relevant content and writing unique meta descriptions for every page.
Meta description is the first section visitors see when Google displays search results.
Keeping your website SEO optimized will keep you higher in the ranks for your product or service and drive more organic traffic.
As a fellow internet user yourself, you probably know that users often don’t venture past the first page on Google. Therefore, a higher ranking through SEO optimization is KEY!
2. Consider the Sales Funnel
Giving your audience useful content that is visually appealing is always good for both parties but we know that you are a business that needs to sell.
A tip when constructing your content is to keep marketing and selling your brand in mind. No-one likes a sell-out so you should sell your brand in a way that is conducive to meeting your client’s needs.
Including useful hyperlinks to contact pages, collecting emails, and having calls to action within your content are especially important for your online sales funnel.
We know you need to sell to stay in business so we won’t deny the importance of this end goal.
You want to increase your bottom line, but there are ways to do it without being pushy.
3. Use ‘Google My Business’
The next thing to help reach your audience is managing your online presence through Google My Business.
Google My Business is an incredibly useful service provided for free by Google. You heard that right, FREE! Which means you should be taking advantage!
This tool enables you to promote your business on Google Search + Google maps. Therefore, you can directly connect with your audience and see what people are saying about your business.
You can also update all of the information on your business to make sure that it is accurate.
This is especially useful for having your company show up on Google Search if you operate a local business!
Google My Business also offers other useful services and can cater to various needs. We recommend you check out their website and see what you could potentially gain from their services!
4. Show your Credibility!
Establishing website credibility is very important for gaining your audience’s trust and it comes down to several different factors. Some key factors when building credibility include:
- Using Hyperlinks: Make it easier for the user to verify the accuracy of your site. Cite evidence by using hyperlinks!
- Establish Consistency: With time comes expertise. When you’re consistent in how you write, organize, and format, your visitor’s trust in you will grow.
- Testimonials and Reviews: What do other customers have to say? Testimonials show your visitor’s what it’s like to be your customer, what they can expect, and how you operate. Reviews take it a step further and allow the customers, company, and the community have a conversation.
- Keep the Content Simple: Keep your content easier to consume for all audiences. The easier your content is to understand, the easier it will be for visitors to decide if they want to buy what you’re offering.
Establishing this credibility really comes down to how the user perceives your site! Following the other 3 tips we mentioned will help establish that credibility.
5. Build Engagement With Social Media Accounts
Last but certainly not least, social media!
Ever notice that growing businesses and those that are gaining massive exposure deal heavily with social media? It’s no coincidence that many successful businesses have a strong social media presence.
In recent times, fast food companies like Wendy’s have been quite active on twitter and other platforms.
Why? They are trying to connect to their audiences and provide a more personable experience to their customers.
Even a gigantic fast-food company like Wendy’s has found a way to connect to their audiences through humor.
In doing so, they have not only improved their image as a personable brand, but expanded their business to people that stumble upon their hilarious tweets.
Something to that degree isn’t necessary for every business, but it’s a prime example of reaching wider audiences with your online presence.
Take Your Business Online Presence to the Next Level
Establishing a website and social media handles with easy to consume and visually appealing content isn’t easy. Doing it all by yourself can be rough, but we’re here for you!
Check out some more of our resources on building an online presence effectively or see how we can help your business grow online with our business and marketing strategists. Ask for a free proposal at hola@colibricontent.com!
0 Comments