5 Effective Ways to Build Your Online Presence
An online presence can be defined by how easy it is to find a brand or company online. It's important for building your brand's reputation, increasing brand awareness, and providing visibility to your products or services when users are searching for related keywords.
1. Build an email list
One of the top ways to build your online presence is to create and grow an email list. An email list will enable you to engage with current and potential customers on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
To grow your email list, you can create gated content that users have to sign-up to receive. Additionally, you can use a call-to-action (CTA) on your website and social media pages to promote your email newsletter. With a newsletter, you're able to collect leads' emails -- additionally, it shows your leads and customers are interested in your content.
You can use tools in your content management system (CMS) to create forms, slide-in Call To Action (CTA) , or popups that are designed to gather email addresses.
2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
With algorithms changing every day, search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best tactics to build your online presence.
The first step to showing up online when people are searching is to master SEO. It can be divided into two categories -- on-site SEO, and off-site SEO.
On-site SEO is all about the content. You'll want to use keyword research, including internal and external links, and create educational content that likely matches your target audiences' search queries.
With off-site SEO, you'll pay attention to the more technical side of things. For example, you'll want to make sure your site is set up correctly, has simple URL structuring, and loads quickly. Additionally, off-site SEO also includes building credibility with a backlink.
Lastly, if you want to show up on Google, create a Google My Business account, and use Google's keyword planner.
3. Social Media Marketing
Being on social media is a necessity in this day and age. In fact, in 2019 there are now 3.2 billion people on social media globally, so social media is a key tool for reaching your intended audience on whichever platforms they prefer.
Having a presence on social media instills trust in your current customers and prospects. Personally, if I see that a company doesn't have a presence on social media, I lose trust and feel unsure if they even exist.
Plus, social media is a great way to build your credibility and reputation and showcase your brand. When potential customers are researching your brand, the first place they'll look is social media to see what you're putting out there and what people are saying about you.
4. Make a website
Not to be repetitive, but again, to show up online, you have to have a website online. Besides social media, one of the first places people will go to find out more about your company is your website.
Your website is where you can show off your brand through colors, fonts, text, video, and images. You'll appeal to your buyer persona's pain points and present a solution to their problem. To make a website, there are many CMS sites you can use, including GoDaddy, Bluehost, etc.
5. Automate your process
Lastly, building an online presence includes a lot of tedious tactics.
In order to ensure the system runs smoothly, automate some of your processes. For instance, you can schedule your content to go live on your CMS and social media.
Additionally, you can curate other people's content, which enables you to provide valuable resources for your audience without constantly creating fresh content.
You can also plan your email marketing newsletters in advance, and set up email sign-up forms on your site that show up automatically.
These marketing strategies can help you build your online presence, create brand awareness, and develop a strong reputation. Building an online presence requires effort, but over time it will pay off with increased sales and better brand awareness in your industry.
