With more and more businesses moving online this year, it's more important than ever to make sure that your business and brand stand out from the crowd. Why should they seek out your particular services, over the hundreds of others available? Perhaps you're thinking that now is the time to make a change, and start pushing your online presence to the next level. Here are five tips to help you build the reach and scope of your business online.
Branding
Your brand is basically the total sum of how your business is presented to the world. It's your color scheme and your logo. Your website and your social media pages. But it's also the tone you use (friendly, professional, dorky) and the values you have vowed to stick to. Your brand is the first thing that will attract prospective clients. If they like what they find, they'll keep coming back. Brand awareness is one of the first steps to successfully promoting your business online. If you're looking to make a change, consider sitting down and figuring out how you want your business to appear. Who do you want to attract? Finding a professional strategist can help you create the business you want to have.
Redesign Your Website
A step that goes hand in hand with branding is redesigning your website. Your website is your storefront or place of business, and it is often the first thing your potential customers see of your business, so it is important that you give the right impression. Your website is where you want your brand to shine through. Your logo, color scheme, images, and content must work together to showcase your business. A professional website design company can help you with this.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization
You may have an amazing website (or you've recently rebuilt your website to be amazing), but that doesn't matter much if your audience can't find you. With billions and billions of websites and links on the web, how do you get your page and brand in front of the right people? Social media marketing is one option (and one that we will go into later) and while it is important, studies show that SEO (search engine optimization) drives 1000% or more traffic to your website. SEO is beyond the scope of many people, so don't be afraid to get professional help.
Build Email List
An email list is one of the best and most reliable ways to build a base of customers. If someone gives your their email, it means they want to hear directly from you. Though social media marketing is also necessary, an email list gives you direct access to your potential client's inboxes. Have signup forms on your website and social media pages, and ask people to subscribe for more information. You can offer a free giveaway of a small item, downloadable booklet, or access to exclusive free information as an incentive. Your email marketing is another place to have your brand shine through, to keep it consistent with your website and social media marketing.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is essential for getting your business's products or services in front of your prospective clients and audience. Social media goes beyond making you a few sales. It helps you to build connections, friendships, and partnerships with your clients and other businesses. This helps you to grow your business itself, gain a larger reach, and a large base of repeat clients. Though you don't have to be active on every single social media site there is, it is important for the sites you do use, to be consistent and post regularly. Find out where your clients and audience hang out - whether it's on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter - and begin building a presence there as well. And make sure to drive traffic to your website and email list to build more lasting connections.
Building a brand, redesigning your website, optimizing your SEO, building an email list, and managing your social media marketing strategies are the five best ways to develop your online business and take it to the next level. Contact a social media marketing agency, or your local website design agency to help you build your business presence online.