There is no hiding from the fact that your business has a digital footprint. No matter how hard you shy away from it, everything is online these days. We shop online, we research online, and we buy and sell things, you guessed it, online. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to you that your digital presence should become more of a focus for your business. You may even find that in time, if not now, that your business has more popularity and sales from online sources than face to face.
So how do you ensure that your digital footprint is valid? How can any entrepreneur take full advantage of the online revolution? The truth is, there are so many ways and avenues to take that it can be hard to focus on every aspect. However, making three elements a priority builds the perfect digital platform for your business. I thought I would share with you the essential tips to help you enhance the digital side of your business.
A blog is a fantastic way to engage with your audience and the best part about it? Those blog posts work hard at any time of day or night to drive traffic to your online website or store. They are a natural backlink that will work for you time and time again. But what makes a great business blog? Here are a few things to consider.
A blog isn’t going to serve you too well if you don’t promote the content you have available to read. Of course, it will serve as a useful backlink to your site. If you include the right keywords for SEO purposes then you may ensure that the blog post is seen online through search engines, but how else do you obtain the readership? Promotion is key, and one sure fire way to do is to utilise your business social media.
We cover a little more about the fundamentals of social media later on in the article, but primarily promoting your current content to your already existing social media audience is a great way to capitalise and, in theory, promote your blog and business. You might also want to use search engine advertising to increase your visibility on platforms like Google. Choosing the best Google ad type is important not just for your business exposure but also for managing your advertising costs; partnering with a google ad agency can help tailor your ad campaigns effectively for the best results. You could also use an email list and send out a newsletter each week or month, depending on how often you want to market your current database, with links to the latest articles and relevant news about your business.
When it comes to your business blog, quality will always win over quantity. A business blog needs to build respect, and if you find that you are drowning the internet with mediocre information that directly links to your business, then it may infringe on the credibility of your business overall. Share what you want to share, but take the time to ensure that what you are sharing is quality content. After all, that is what will bring a reader back time and time again.
Of course, there is no digital presence without a company website, and this is one basic principle that all companies will have these days. But there is a difference between just having a website and making that website work for you and your business.
Branding is a key part of any business, and it is important to ensure that your current branding can be translated into the digital world. Think about the colors you use, the logo and keywords you implement into your company strapline. Good branding will need to work on your website so that you attract the customer or client to read further. After all, whether an individual or multi-million dollar company, you only get one chance to make a good first impression, and often your branding can do that for you. There are many tutorials online to help you distinguish whether you have the right brand for your business empire.
Just like your business blog needs to be quality and have relevant information, your business website needs to follow suit. Any descriptions online should be relevant and current. Any company information and best practice, even how you conduct business should be current and relevant to your operation. This helps to build trust with your customer and client.
These days we want information fast, and if a website is taking its time to load, then we swiftly move on to the next google result from the search. Page loading times or a slow response can be down to your hosting, or it may even be to do with your main servers. You should look at sites like Graphon.com that deliver a webpage and app experience to your customers, whilst ensuring speed and efficiency so your customers don't get bored of waiting. Broadband social tariffs are discounted prices for households in financial difficulty, designed to help them stay connected to the internet. So, if you are starting an online business on a budget a social tariff might be the way forward. Broadband social tariff plans usually offer reduced or capped data limits, and discounted monthly fees. If you want to see whether this is applicable to you thenit's worth checking out the broadband social tariff explained website in more detail. Most broadband social tariffs require customers to provide proof of financial hardship in order to qualify for the reduced price. However, a slow loading site could be as simple as the image that you have on your main home page. Often larger files can take some time to download and can affect people in different ways, subject to their own internet connections and broadband speeds.
There is no hiding from the fact that we live in a world where people use social media at least once a day.
When it comes to social media, then consistency is key to ensure that you stay up to date and remain current. It helps for your reach as well, as this can be one of the easiest and cheapest ways of getting your business in front of the eyes of potential new clients and customers. An easy way to do this is to develop a social media strategy which will help you to stick to upload times. But this will also help to distinguish what posts do well and the best optimised times to post online.
Finally, it is all well and good posting on social media, but if you don’t engage with your audience, reply to comments or direct messages, then you are missing a trick. Many larger corporations are seeing the magic behind humanising their businesses through social media. It gives a business the voice of the people, and it helps to promote even further as commented statuses get seen on other news feeds.
I hope focusing on these three areas of your digital presence will help you to improve your internet reach and focus.