You’ve probably seen it a million times.
A business decides to put up a website to check if it brings in any new customers — and then it doesn’t update anything for the next four years.
The truth is that today’s digital marketing climate requires far more than just being online to be successful.
Creating a powerful online presence across multiple channels is the only way to build trust with your customers and improve sales.
In addition, using content marketing to stay in front of your ideal audience is also necessary.
To help you get started in crafting your company’s winning strategy, we’ve put together this guide with ideas on the best ways to get the attention of the right public.
Let’s jump in.
1. Develop a Consistent Brand
The first step to creating a strong online presence for your business is to develop a consistent brand.
This means making it easy to see that your social media pages are linked to your website and offline marketing in an immediately recognizable fashion.
Consistent color schemes, logos, imagery, and voice are all crucial parts of this process.
After all, the average consumer can see a company’s branding several times before correlating them.
In short, you want a potential customer to see your company in multiple places and understand that it is all the same organization.
2. Create Value That Lasts
Today’s consumers have a lot of options when it comes to who they spend money with.
That said, they want as much value as possible from the businesses they do support.
Creating value that lasts goes far beyond creating a durable product or offering exceptional customer service.
You need to be ready to go above and beyond in little ways that make the buyer feel as though they made the right decision.
Some marketing experts even go as far as to explain this as giving them the “warm and fuzzy” feeling of being valued and appreciated.
While the actual steps in this process vary depending on your niche, it all comes down to ensuring your target customer never has to question why they made a purchase from your company.
You want them to always see you as the best (and only) choice for fulfilling their needs.
3. Understand Your Audience
Knowing and understanding your audience is absolutely vital if you want to increase your online presence.
By taking the time to learn about those who would most benefit from your product or service, you’re able to craft a marketing message that specifically resonates with their needs, motivations, and desires.
In turn, this gives you a higher chance of making a sale and moving that buyer through the sales funnel process.
Think of it this way, people buy from companies they like.
When you take the time to get to know who they are, they’re much more likely to make a purchase as they feel you truly understand where they’re coming from.
4. Design the Best Website Possible
Most people will tell you that they’re incredibly picky when it comes to websites.
If a company they’re considering buying from has a poorly designed page, they’re likely to select a competitor that’s spent more time creating a better page.
For those that aren’t savvy when it comes to web development, hiring an outside expert or agency is a wise idea.
After all, first impressions matter and you want to ensure you’re putting your best foot forward.
5. Improve Your Content Creation
Remember when we mentioned those companies that launch a website and then don’t update it for years?
You definitely don’t want to be one of those.
That’s why improving your content creation process is vital to your online presence.
In order to get noticed by potential customers, you need to release exciting and engaging content on a regular basis.
This isn’t just vital for piquing the interest of your customers, either.
It is also highly important for search engine optimization (SEO), which can increase your organic traffic well into the future.
And always make sure the content you’re publishing is as polished and top-notch as possible.
After all, this is representative of your entire organization, so you want it to really reflect your company in an accurate and professional manner.
6. Optimize Your SEO Strategy
Of course, SEO isn’t something that you do once and then wait for it to finally take root in months or years down the line.
Instead, you should be optimizing your overall strategy on a regular basis.
Pay attention to analytics data to see what keywords you’re ranking for and create additional content to boost those pages.
Furthermore, regularly review your website to ensure you’re optimized for the best keywords possible and have covered all on-page best practices.
You should also stay up-to-date with the latest best practices, as Google algorithm updates can cause your tactics to change dramatically over time.
7. Pay Attention to User Experience (UX)
Remember when we mentioned that having a good website was important?
Having an excellent user experience (UX) is also critical.
When customers or leads make it to your website, you want to make sure they find it easy to navigate.
Furthermore, you’ll need to guarantee it adheres to any Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) laws that reflect how those with certain disabilities are able to access your page.
But, you should also remember that UX for your brand goes beyond just what they see on a screen.
Always ensure you offer exceptional customer service and make buying from your brand a highly pleasant experience to give them a reason to keep coming back.
8. Be Social (and Active!)
Social media is definitely a fact of life these days.
In order to build a powerful online presence for your business, you need to adopt use of the most popular platforms in your niche.
In addition, you should have a schedule to post new content at least every few days or several times per week.
Many companies have a bad habit of slacking off on this practice when things get busy or sales pick up, which can greatly affect momentum in the future.
Instead, have a dedicated content calendar that explains when you’ll post certain content pieces and what they’ll include. Often, it is easier to forget when you’ve made a very clear plan far in advance.
9. Adopt a Review Strategy
Customer reviews are a very important part of any brand’s online presence.
Most consumers today know that leaving a review — good or bad — is the easiest way to get in touch with a company.
Your business needs a plan for two things:
- Asking for that positive review.
- Addressing all feedback that is left on popular review websites.
Make sure you’re thanking those who’ve left good comments and handling those negative ones immediately.
Some brands take this practice so seriously that they even have dedicated team members who spend an entire day interacting with customers via review pages and social media platforms.
10. Try Out Guest Posting
If you want to gain traction in your niche, consider trying out guest posting.
This is where another blogger or company offers you a chance to write a post for their page based on the subject you’re most knowledgeable about.
Not only does it open you up to recognition within a completely different audience who might not already be aware of your brand, but it can also be a good idea for off-page SEO when you link back to your website.
Wrap Up: Increasing Online Presence for Your Brand
Building a powerful online presence for your brand doesn’t have to be a difficult task, as long as you’re taking a very comprehensive approach like we’ve discussed here.
With the tips we’ve included, you should see a spike in popularity soon after you begin implementing each one.
Are you ready to learn more about how a positive content experience can greatly boost your brand identity?
We cover it all in the latest issue of the Rock Content Magazine!
