As a passionate and committed entrepreneur, you’re willing to go the extra mile in everything you do. From quickly responding to inquiries to delivering results well before the deadline, your approach focuses on excellence and compassion. For you, service always comes first. In this digitally-driven age, it’s essential to have a strong online presence. Does your business have it? If there’s room for improvement, here are several effective strategies to boost it.
1. Do Some Research
Check out your peers who have a similar type of business. The idea is not to imitate or surpass them but to learn from their strategies and gain inspiration from their approach. Also, read up on the general topic of cultivating your online presence. Need a place to start? Try a search using terms such as digital marketing to point you in a constructive direction.
2. Identify Your Brand
Branding is much more than a color scheme or fonts. It has to do with alignment between who you are as a person and professional, and how you present this alignment in all of your marketing materials; visual, verbal, and sensorial. Developing your brand is an exciting process of self-discovery, and will help you refine your unique position in the market.
3. Launch a Great Website
Even with the undeniable influence of social media, it’s still important to have a high-quality website. It’s an asset that you own and that serves as the hub for your online presence. It’s possible to have a site that’s both modern and accessible. Use your branding to drive decisions about graphics, layout, and font selections. Select a platform that fits your type of enterprise and is straightforward to update.
4. Optimize Your Social Media
Over the last decade, social media has become extremely influential. It’s a good idea to be discerning when making decisions about how you want to use it. Identify the platforms that your ideal customer uses the most. Observe how they interact on the platform(s). Take a look at how similar businesses use social media, and learn from it. Focus on quality and consistency, keeping in mind your brand identity. Be friendly and interactive.
5. Prioritize SEO
As you build and prepare to launch your website, learn about search engine optimization (SEO) and decide if you want to DIY or hire a professional to oversee it. Good SEO is a key aspect of boosting your online presence. If your business isn’t highly ranked for the keywords your potential customers use, it’ll be an uphill climb.
6. Leverage Video
Increasingly, video is dominating the online landscape. Take stock of your marketing approach, and find a way to incorporate video in a manner that’s comfortable for you and in keeping with your business identity. In the beginning, keep it simple. Most smartphones have excellent cameras that are capable of good-quality video. Make your message pleasing and clear. As you get more used to it, go a bit out of your comfort zone.
7. Make Adjustments
Get feedback from mentors and friends about your online presence. Examine your analytics for both your website and social media, and determine what’s working well and what you need to tweak. How are conversions? At what point do potential customers either engage with you or disappear? All of this information is crucial to know and act upon.
8. Get Offline
This may seem counterintuitive, but it’s essential for your mental health and connection with your community. Take breaks from the computer, relax, and allow yourself to daydream. You’ll find yourself much more creative when you return to the digital world. Also, spend time with peers and mentors IRL. Conferences, casual gatherings, and group masterminds will refresh and inspire you — and give your business more exposure.
Improving your online presence involves taking stock and making marketing decisions that communicate your uniqueness. Consider these suggestions as you fine-tune your digital strategy.
