How to Build an Online Presence from Scratch
In this modern digital world, all businesses including start-ups and established companies must consider building their online presence. Connecting with clients online is no longer an option but a necessity for all types of businesses. You may dismiss the idea of building a website or social media accounts if your business has been running successfully without them. However, you may experience a decline in sales in the coming years as more and more clients turn to online shopping. Here is a beginner’s guide for any business owner that wants to build their online presence.
Define your goals
Every meaningful change in your business must start with a clear goal. Before building any website, blog, or social media platform, set your goals and objectives. Otherwise, you will have no way of measuring your return on investment (ROI). You may use online platforms to market your products or build your company’s image. However, you must define the number of potential clients that you want to reach every week or month.
Some businesses use their online platforms as their online stores. Decide from the beginning which type of website will suit your audience’s needs more effectively. The ideal design of a website depends on your type of business.
Build a professional business website
The next step is to design a professional website that will help you reach your goals. The good news is that you do not need prior knowledge of programming to build your website. You can utilize free online tools like Weebly and Doodlekit. Simply drag and drop the elements needed in a prepared template.
Moreover, make use of online tutorials on how to build a website from scratch. Once your website is up and running, you can refine its design and content later as you start to build other online platforms.
Create social media profiles
The next best tool to build your online presence is social media. Start by creating a profile on LinkedIn to connect with other professionals. Create profiles on other major platforms as well including Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Be careful with your bio and cover photos when creating pages or accounts on these platforms. Your social media accounts must reflect the brand image wanted in a specific niche.
You must also be active on social media to attract followers to your pages. Share relevant posts daily and connect with followers. Identify key influencers on social media and participate in their discussions. Do not take shortcuts like buying likes for your pages. Instead, build your followership from scratch to ensure real followers are interested in your business.
Promote your website
You need to get the word out about your new business website. Otherwise, you will have few or no visitors to your site. Social media accounts can help drive traffic to your website. Share website posts on all social media accounts and encourage the audience to share them with their connections. All social media bios should have a link to your website — include the link in all social media posts.
Another way to promote your website is through search engine optimization (SEO). You may need to do some research on this but the idea is to get your website to rank high on search engine results for specific keywords and phrases. Whenever your potential clients search for those keywords or phrases, your website should be among the first ten results. Another effective SEO strategy is to build quality inbound links.
Share useful content
The number of visitors to your website and followers on social media depends on the quality of your posts. Your target audience will only check your pages and website if they value the content. The idea is to share useful posts consistently with accurate, well-researched, and objectified content. Start with three posts in a week but ensure that the information shared is accurate.
Utilize all types of content to reach a wider audience including videos, infographics, photos and blog posts. Create video tutorials on how to use your products or any other topic that is relevant to your industry. Share your research findings on the trends in your industry with your audience as well.
You can build your online presence from scratch even with limited resources. The Internet has tons of free tools and resources to help you through the process. You just need to set a few hours aside every week to increase your online visibility. The benefits of building your online presence in a digital world are worth your time and effort.
