Maintaining a solid online presence is an absolute must for any enterprise that wishes to remain solvent in the digital age. However, a staggering number of small businesses have yet to maximize their respective online presences. For many of these companies, irregularly-updated websites and ineffectually maintained social media accounts represent the extent of their digital footprints. Fortunately, bolstering your online presence isn’t nearly as complicated as businesses like this make it seem.
Devote More Attention to Social Media
While it’s true that social media has become an essential tool for promoting businesses of all sizes, not all enterprises are equally adept at using it to their advantage. After all, there’s a significant difference between updating your various social media accounts once in a blue moon and providing followers with consistent updates on a daily basis.
To maximize your success with social media, determine which platforms are best suited to your business and target audience and make those the key focus of your efforts. For example, if your desired audience trends younger, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube may be the best platforms for your business. Conversely, if you’re hoping to reach a middle-aged or older audience, Facebook and Instagram are likely to prove more helpful.
You should also update each of your accounts on a daily basis. Additionally, since there’s generally no harm in reusing posts across multiple platforms, you needn’t necessarily think up original posts for each individual account. In order to grab people’s attention and encourage audience engagement, include eye-catching images in your posts and welcome feedback from your followers.
One of the best things about social media is being able to instantly reach out to a wide assortment of brands, businesses and public figures. As such, it’s reasonable to assume that some of your followers will send questions, comments and concerns your way. When responding, make an effort to do so in a timely, courteous and all-around professional manner. Knowing their feedback matters will make followers feel more personally invested in your business’s success.
Update Your Website on a Regular Basis
Obtaining a favorable search ranking can do your business a world of good. Since Google and other prominent search engines have become people’s preferred tools for seeking out new businesses, you’d do well to make getting their attention a priority. One way to do this is updating your business’s website on a regular basis. Regularly posting new blogs, feature articles and other informative content will put you in a good position to receive positive attention from the web’s most popular search engines.
When creating content for your site, make a point of utilizing keywords and phrases that your target audience is likely to search for. For example, if your business is centered on web design, something along the lines of “professional web design in Raleigh, NC” or “Raleigh web design” may help generate the desired results. However, take care to avoid overstuffing your content with keywords, as this stands to place your search ranking in jeopardy.
If neither you nor any of your team members have much experience with content creation, consider outsourcing this job to seasoned writers, photographers and other freelancers. While this may entail spending a little bit of money, the positive effects it stands to have on your digital marketing efforts are well worth this small expense.
Use a Mass Texting Service
In addition to winning over new customers, it’s important to keep existing patrons in the know. If you lack the time or resources to contact these individuals one by one, consider using a mass texting service. This will ensure that you’re able to keep past and present patrons aware of assorted promotions, sales events and other breaking news concerning your business.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a successful enterprise that lacks a robust online presence. Even if your small business has been able to stay afloat without promoting itself online, you’re essentially leaving money on the table by ignoring the digital space. Although it may seem as if creating a strong online presence for your business requires an advanced level of technological knowhow, this is far from the case. If a heightened online presence for your small business is what you seek, just remember the pointers discussed above.
