In 2024, a strong online presence is crucial. Whether you're a brick-and-mortar business or an online retailer, a strong online presence is key to building brand recognition, reaching new customers and making a profit.
Standing out from the crowd is crucial for any business, and in the online space, there's a lot of competition. Building an online presence can feel like a difficult task, and there are a few factors you need to get right for the best results.
If you want to build a strong online presence from scratch - or to improve your online presence - these are the strategies you have to implement.
Why do you need a strong online presence?
There are several reasons why you should be prioritising your online presence. Having a strong online brand helps to build trust with your audience, increase brand recognition, get discovered by new customers and, most importantly, get more conversions.
How to increase your online presence
- Improve your website
Consumers have high expectations when it comes to websites these days, and ensuring you have a modern, aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly website is key to ensuring you have a solid foundation for a strong online presence. You want to ensure your website doesn't just look great but functions well, too.
Ensure you invest in a responsive website that is easy to use; this is especially important if you require consumers to book appointments with you or if you're an ecommerce business. Having an easy-to-reach website will reduce your bounce rate and encourage returning customers.
- Quality over quantity on social media
Social media is crucial for building a strong online presence, but you don't want to have too many social media platforms, especially ones that your audience just isn't using. Invest your time and energy into the platforms your consumers are using, whether that's Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn or something else entirely.
You should aim to have one or two accounts that have good engagement and quality content rather than several accounts with little to no activity. If you're not sure where to start on your social media journey, enlisting the help and expertise of a social media agency can really help boost your social media accounts.
- Prioritise your audience
When it comes to social media, your online presence doesn’t improve just because you’re gaining followers. If you’re simply trying to gain as many followers as possible in a short time, it could mean you aren't generating a quality following. You want to cultivate a following of individuals who are interested in your niche.
Having a social media page with followers who are actively interested in your products or services is far more beneficial than having a page with a huge number of followers who will never purchase from you.
- Be active
It's the same advice that you've probably heard time and time again, but if you want to create a strong online presence, you have to be active online. You want to ensure you’re publishing quality content regularly. Whether that's content for your social media platforms, blogs for your website, or anything in between, You also want to ensure you're actively interacting with your followers and your audience to create an online community that is built on trust and consistency.
If you can't manage posting across multiple platforms, stick to just one or post informative, high-quality blogs instead. It's better to be active and post high-quality content than to post inconsistent or low-quality content.
- Trial and error is key
When building your online presence, you may have to try multiple strategies before you find something that fits. Don't be discouraged if things don't work immediately; keep trying out different strategies, and improving your online brand. Eventually, you will have an online presence to be envied.
Enlisting the help of marketing experts can help you get the ball rolling if you're not too sure how to get started on your journey.
Copyright 2024. Featured post by Tom Welbourne of The Good Marketer, a marketing agency in London which drives more traffic, generates conversions and increases sales for small- to medium-sized businesses.