How to develop your business presence online

How to develop your business presence online

Digital marketing have grown exponentially over the last few years, these days the majority of Big companies have already developed an online presence and tapped into social networking in one way or another, big companies can be found everywhere over the web, if your company is considering to get on the web as well and take part in the conversation, these are 6 ways you need to develop your online presence.

1. Website: your company website must be centered on your users, researchers have found that 61% users will leave if they have a bad web experience therefore your website must be designed in a strategic manner with a clear call for action, Avoid the use of flash in your website and choose HTML5 for coding. 
2. Social Networking: you need to determine the best social networks for your business, this highly depends on your target audience, networks like LinkedIn are good for B2B business, networks like Facebook and Twitter are better for B2C business, other platforms like Instagram and Pinterest are good too for B2C as well as E commerce, all your platforms must be designed in one integrated communication theme that also reflects on your offline activities, you want people to perceive you in a certain image and you do not want to risk being perceived as inconsistent. Be careful, once you go on social networks you are obligated to continue to produce content that adds value to your audience, if you stop generating content you may be perceived as weak or worse; a slacker, so sometimes not being in at all on social networks is much better than starting and stopping.
3. YouTube: the most preferred search engine for many people, you should consider developing a few short 1-2 minute videos about your business, products, operations, projects and expertise that will further enhance your position within viewer’s mind, these videos are useful as they can be embedded on your website, they can be used in future training seminars, exhibitions or conferences as they convey a stronger message than any written word.
4. Blogging: hiring bloggers to write articles and reviews about your products, services or solutions is one way to increase your brand presence and awareness over the web, blogs are a good way to generate content and channel traffic to your website, these articles can be shared with other business and news websites which will increase your reach further and allow word of mouth to spread among readers and their network.
5. Search Engine Optimization SEO: Optimizing search engines to your advantage is a continuous process, it has now become well known to many that the majority of people will not check the second or third page on google, therefore you need to ensure that whenever someone within your target audience uses google, Bing, Yahoo or whatever search engine of preference searches for keywords that relates to your business, you are always there on the top of the search results page.
6. Frequently asked Questions FAQ’s: More and more online users are no longer using Keywords when searching for a certain topic, life is too short and they require a quick answer, so they ask the question directly to the search engine, (e.g. what is the best car to drive in the Middle East? Which is better for hot climates a Mercedes or a Toyota? Etc.). This is where you should be to intercept, with a continuously updated FAQ’s page on your blog integrated with your website, you can be there whenever someone is asking the question related to your products or service to answer it, this would drive more traffic to your website and portray you as an expert reference to your followers and readers. 

The advantages of Web 2.0 will not be quick to gain, however on the long term it will help you build a strong image among your network.

Want to know more about Marketing? check out this article Why the 4E's of Marketing are replacing the old 4P’s? 

Do you know other ways to enhance Online presence? leave your comment below so we can share the knowledge.