How To Increase (And Improve) Your Online Presence
Understanding how to increase your online presence is one of the most crucial things you can do for your business. Your online presence communicates many different important things to consumers.
Ultimately, your online presence could affect the following things if you are a business:
- Your sales
- The people who choose to use your services
- Your image and the way customers see your business
If you are a person, your online presence can also impact many things including:
- Career progression
- Relationships
- Employment
Whether you’re a business or a person, consideration of your online presence should be taken very seriously.
Using social media is a great way to boost your online presence that anyone can do!
Improving Your Presence Online Is Vital
Your online presence is a vital element to your existence. Whether you’re a business, a person, or an entity, your online presence likely affects many different things.
Making improvements to your presence on the internet can lead to a more happy and fruitful life. Whatever your situation, you should put some time and energy into improving your presence online.
What Is An Online Presence?
Your online presence is made up of many different things. But to fully understand you online presence, you must do a little research.
TRY THIS: If you are a person or a business wondering about how you appear online, do a search on Google! Just type in your name or the name of your company, and press enter!
However, your online presence isn’t only understood by how your name (or company name shows up online. Check out the example below.
If you are a dentist located in Parsippany, NJ, you would want potential new patients to be able to find you online. Additionally, a new patient would probably not type the name of your dental practice into a search engine search bar.
Businesses That Want To Boost Online Presence
If you are looking to increase your online presence as a business, answer these questions below:
- What phrases might potential customers type into the search bar to find your business or service?
- What are the areas of service for my business?
- Do I have a business website? If not, why not?
- Does my business have a social media presence? If not, why not?
- Am I represented properly in all of my areas of service, or is there more focus on some areas and not enough on others?
- Are there any out of the box questions people often ask me that relate to my business or service? Are these questions answered on my website?
- Do I have a Google My Business (GMB) listing? If not, why not?
Read this great article on why use Google My Business.
Once you have answered these questions in detail, you can better understand the current state of your online presence. Additionally, you can do the following:
IF YOU ARE A BUSINESS LOOKING TO INCREASE YOUR ONLINE PRESENCE, TRY THIS QUICK TEST:
- Go to your search engine of choice. We recommend Google as it’s the most widely used search engine.
- Type in a search phrase or keyword a potential customer might use to try to locate your business. (Example: if you are a dentist in Parsippany, type in the keyword phrase “dentist Parsippany”)
- Hit enter and view the results that populate. Can you find your business?
Take a look at the example below:
Chances are, if you’re reading this post, you probably want to get your business online. Additionally, chances are high that you might not be able to find your business by doing the test above.
BE AWARE: Most people do not search beyond page 1 in the Google search results. For this reason, it’s crucial to improve your online presence so that you are on page 1!
In addition to this, if you’re not on page one with a few of your most significant keywords, you probably don’t have much of an online presence at all. Improving your online presence is the #1 best way to get more web traffic. So, it is vitally important.
Where Can Your Online Presence Be Found?
Now to the next questions you are probably wondering. Where can your online presence be found. I’m going to try to answer it as best as I can, so listen up!
Your online presence can be found in a multitude of places. If you are a business, your online presence should be represented first and foremost by your website. However, you will also have an online presence on other sites too!
Some of the things that contribute to a business’s online presence:
- Website
- Social media
- Third-party sites such as review sites
- Engaging with others online
Benefits Of Having A Good Online Presence
The benefits of having a good online presence are massive. Since most of the world is online, it’s vital to your business to develop a strong online presence.
It’s also important to maintain a good online presence by providing excellent customer service, being the best you can be, and in some instances, investing in reputation management services. You can learn more about online reputation management in our ultimate guide here.
Some of the benefits of maintaining a strong, positive online visibility include:
- Enable you to showcase your products or services
- Help customers find your business
- Engage with customers in a positive way
- Boost credibility and authority in your niche
- Develop relationships with potential customers
- Educate customers on your products or services
- Improve sales and business revenue
Reasons A Business Might Want To Improve Its Online Presence
There are many reasons a business might want to focus more on its online presence. Perhaps a business had a few negative interactions with a customer that have impacted customer patronage. That’s just one of the many reasons for renewed focus on improving online visibility. And this happens all the time.
However, most of the reasons for increased focus on developing and maintaining a positive online presence can be represented by one of three reasons. These three main reasons a business may want to improve and increase its online presence are:
- To grow the business
- To change any negative PR
- To make more money
Doing SEO is one of the main ways to increase and improve your online presence!
Ways To Improve And Increase Your Online Presence
There are many ways a business can improve its online presence. Below we will go over the top 8 ways to start doing so today!
8 Actionable Steps To Grow Your Online Presence
STEP 1: Create A Website
No matter what type of business you have, you need a website. Your website not only contributes to and improves your online presence, but it is the face of your brand. Without it, you would barely exist!
Read more about why it’s important for your business to have a website here.
In today’s day and age, a business without a website is like a chef without an oven. Ok- I know. This isn’t the best example. But bear with me…
Your website is a vehicle for your business in so many ways. Some of the reasons you need a website include:
- A website can communicate information about your business that customers need to know
- Your website will increase your brand’s reach and exposure
- Additionally, your website makes you more credible as a respectable business and/or business owner
Any business that tries to skip this step in improving their online presence won’t ever have a chance. This is the most important step to increasing your online visibility, so be sure to find the right web design agency. We strongly recommend Bizmap LLC!
STEP 2: Get On Google My Business
Next on the list is Google My Business (otherwise known as GMB). This is free, so you literally have no reason to not have a GMB account!
Google My Business is a great tool to boost your online presence. You can post your business information, showcase customer reviews, show up on Google maps and more.
Besides your website, if you have a location, Google My Business should be your number one priority! It’s easy to sign up and doesn’t take a lot of time or skill to set up a profile. While we recommend having an expert optimize your listing to maximize its potential, it isn’t necessary right away. It’s just important that you have a GMB listing if you’re a business.
a snapshot of Google My Business platform during the sign-up process
Google My Business will improve your online presence in the following ways:
- showing people your business if they are nearby
- give important information to customers such as business hours, phone number, address
- showcase customer testimonials and show how you respond to negative critique
- show customers photos of your business, services and other relevant information
It’s certainly crucial that you have a Google my business listing. So get started today and sign up already! You can read this helpful article on listing your website with Google. Additionally, you can read this article on how to get a business on Google Maps.
Visit this page here if you want Bizmap LLC to setup and optimize your Google My Business listing!
STEP 3: Post On Social Media
Posting on social media is an effective way to get your business online for free. It also improves your online presence dramatically.
By creating social media accounts and using them in an effective and consistent way, you can put your brand or business in front of people who might be interested. Additionally, it doesn’t cost a penny to get started so you really have nothing to lose.
Some of the important social media accounts for businesses and owners include:
KEEP IN MIND: Different niches have different needs and do better on different platforms. A medical office might not do well on Instagram but may be better represented on more professional networks. Retain and fashion related businesses, influencers, and anything where the point of sale can be augmented through images will likely excel on Instagram.
STEP 4: Link Social Media Accounts
Linking your social media accounts together and to your web properties will be beneficial and improve your online presence dramatically. In addition this is something you can do pretty easily that you may not have been aware of.
In addition, creating an IFTTT network can help with posting automation and create more authority for your brand. Doing this, you will likely need the help of an expert but it’s something to keep in mind.
The signals that are created through social media posting are multiplied by linking your accounts. So why not get started and link a few of them now?
STEP 5: Start A Youtube Channel
Getting your business on YouTube is a great way to boost your online presence. It doesn’t take a lot either to start posting videos.
Selfie videos are a personalized and easy way you can connect with your customers. Posting to YouTube augments all of that and is very effective.
Some tips when using YouTube for your business:
- Plan your videos in advance
- Wing-it sometimes when appropriate
- Use quality equipment (don’t worry- it’s not really that expensive!)
- Make sure lighting is good and video quality is good too
- Have a strategy for your YouTube videos
- Embed your videos into your website to boost SEO
Now listen. I know we’re not all influencers and on the same level as Gary Vee. However, it is possible to make YouTube work for your business in one way or another. It’s a crucial part of boosting and growing your presence online and it’s highly recommended that you do it.
In addition to this, using YouTube in conjunction with your website is a highly effective way to boost online visibility. By embedding YouTube videos into your web pages, you create greater interest, improve conversion rates and rank higher in the search engines. It’s a major win-win!
STEP 6: Submit Your Business To Directories
Submitting your business to online directories is a great way to boost your local SEO and thus increase online presence. Although it would be best to hire an expert, submitting your business to a few relevant directories can be done right away by you.
In addition to all of this, most of the time it’s free to submit your business to an online directories. In some scenarios, for enhanced visibility and marketing, there is a charge. However, a simple submission should be 100% free. And it’s really up to you what you want to spend in this area.
screenshot of the Yelp.com homepage
Some of the online directories that are great for increasing your online presence include:
When you submit your business to online directories, be sure to follow these important suggestions:
- Make sure your NAP (name, address, and phone number) is consistent across all directories
- Include a link to your website
- Write a description that includes your main keywords and important information
- Upload photos and your logo
STEP 7: Use Paid Advertising
Paid advertising is a great means to increase web presence and overall online visibility. Paid advertising can be done in the form of PPC ads, Facebook ads, or anything else really.
With paid advertising, you are paying a platform to put your business online and in front of consumers in an ad that you create. It’s a reliable way to increase your online exposure. However, you will want to be sure to hire an expert to run your ad campaigns for you.
A lot goes into paid ads. In order for them to truly be successful, you need to understand your target market and how they respond to different triggers.
An understanding of the different platforms, keywords and niche is also crucial. But don’t let this stop you. Hire someone to run your paid ads today and you can rest assured they are in good hands.
STEP 8: Do SEO
Step 8 is the final step for improving your online presence. It is to do SEO, and it can change your business dramatically.
If you want to learn more about SEO, please check out these valuable articles and video posts. I’m not going to go into everything in this post, but it’s important to get some background info before you read on.
Helpful Information On SEO:
SEO stands for search engine optimization. It a complicated process that definitely requires an expert who specializes in agency SEO or enterprise SEO. However, when done correctly your online presence will benefit ten-fold.
With SEO, you can expect to see the following:
- increased traffic to your website
- more phone calls
- organic leads
- increased online visibility
- improved online presence
Finding the right SEO company that can get you results is important. You can learn how to choose the best SEO company at this link here.
Conclusion
With the multitude of things we discussed in this post, you are well on your way to increased online visibility. The key is to know that at some point the best option just might be to hire someone to do all of these things professionally.
Your business is an investment into your future and the growth of your business. As you know, you need to spend money to make money. Furthermore, hiring the right team for SEO and other digital marketing strategies is crucial to growing our presence online.
We hope you have learned how to increase your online presence and wish you the best.
