6 Steps To Build A Powerful Online Presence
Dec 15, 2020
The internet is a vast ocean of possibilities. If you have a brand or a business and haven’t started exploring these opportunities, you won’t have any left in no distant time. With more than half of the world’s population actively using the internet, it’s only logical that you leverage on this massive reach if you must grow your enterprise – even if it’s a traditional brick and mortar one.
But you must stand out to be noticed in the melee. It helps if you have a powerful online presence. An online presence is a measure of how easily people can find your brand online. Suppose your target audience or customer has a problem and searches for relevant solutions online.
Will your website or social media appear in the top results?
Here, we set out some true and tried techniques to make your online presence felt and heard in the din of the world wide web.
1. Start With a Website
A website is the single most crucial aspect of your online endeavors – your bit of virtual real estate. It’s here you build your brand through valuable content – text, images, and videos. Even the fonts and colors on your website serve to represent your brand’s core values and identity.
While social media handles serve to introduce people to your brand, they can really derive full value from your website. Where you set out solutions to their most bothersome problems, it’s here you host all there is to know about your company.
Content Management Systems or CMS such as Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, Blogger, and Hubspot makes it easy to create well-designed and functional web designs in no time. You don’t have to write code or get an expert to design one from scratch.
2. Building an Email List
An easy step to take in developing your online presence is to create and grow an email list. An email list will empower your business to draw in and engage with potential and current clients regularly.
To expand your email list, you can create content that clients need to sign up to access. You can also utilize a call-to-action (CTA) on your site and social media pages, which happens to be a vital digital marketing tool to grow your email list. A newsletter helps you to further boost your email list by attracting more leads and capturing their emails.
You can also utilize tools such as the content management system (CMS) to make forms, slide-in CTAs, or popups intended to gather email addresses. A robust automated email marketing service like MailChimp, ConvertKit, or GetResponse is a must-have.
3. Create Value Even if it Means Paying For it
Any business enterprise aims to rake in cash, and I am sure that yours is no different. To make money, you need to create valuable content and be customer-driven. One approach is by offering free but educated content on your webpages.
By helping clients solve problems for free, you endear them to your brand, and they’ll easily hand over their money when you offer your paid products or services.
Start by identifying a list of your client’s problem areas and then conceptualizing content that would address their questions and inquiries. What content would your clients benefit from? This should be the basis with which you create the content on your webspace.
Another approach to creating valuable content online is to offer guidance. You could do this through guest posting, reacting to remarks and comments, or showing up on a podcast.
If your clients are asking questions on any platform, you should be ready to answer them.
4. Record Your growth, and Improve in Areas That Need Improvement
When you begin with a couple of strategies to increase your online presence, it’s necessary that you break down your results and critically analyze them. I would recommend testing your techniques, so you realize what works and what doesn’t.
To test your results, begin by choosing your measurement scale. In case you’re taking a shot at your SEO, you may follow your web index results on Google. Then again, in case you’re constructing an email list, you may calculate the number of subscribers in addition to your click-through rates.
Remember that these are long-haul procedures, so some may take time to deliver excellent SEO ranking results. Furthermore, some might be difficult to follow consistently, such as brand awareness.
In any case, don’t be discouraged – the fact that results might be difficult to follow doesn’t mean it’s not worth tracking.
5. Have In-depth Knowledge of SEO
The constant change of algorithm means that search engine optimization (SEO) is probably the best strategy to enhance your online presence. The initial step to appearing on the web when individuals are looking is to dominate SEO.
Web optimization consists of two core elements – on-site SEO and off-site SEO:
- On-site SEO is mostly about the content of your website. You’ll need to master the art of keyword research, incorporating inward and outside links to your content, and publishing posts that should target your audience’s brand inquiry on google.
- Off-site SEO focuses on the more technical aspect of your website. For instance, you’ll need to ensure your site is set up effectively, has a straightforward URL setup, and loads on-time. Moreover, off-site SEO likewise incorporates building validity with backlinks.
6. Have a Constant Online Presence
To dominate the web, you must always be active. Not just active, but consistent – consistently putting out the value on your online channels such as your website and social media accounts.
Regularly engage with subscribers and followers on all your social media platforms. Learn to actively engage in topics and trends that relate to your business or niche; it’s a healthy way to grow your network and make it well known.
Conclusion
Stamping your presence on the internet is no small feat – it will take several months of patience and total commitment to making a name for yourself. Still, if you are willing to put in the work, then there is no stopping your dream of being recognized beyond your physical reach.
