How to build your online presence

Have you recently entered the entrepreneurial world or have you just started your own business?

You should know that you need to create an online presence, a space where you build our activity, sell products and make your brand known. 

Non pensare che farlo sia immediato, perché costruire la tua presenza online sarà un'esperienza travolgente che richiede tempo, organizzazione e costanza. Si tratta di un passo immensamente importante per la tua azienda perché consente alle persone di trovare la tua attività, conoscerla, interagire con l'azienda e, soprattutto, fidarsi di te.

Building your online presence is not immediate, it is an overwhelming experience that requires time, organisation and perseverance. It is an extremely important step for your company because it allows people to find, learn about and interact with your activity, but most importantly, people will learn to trust you. 

Not sure where to start building your online presence? You are not alone.

C'è molto da fare per costruire la tua presenza online, dallo stabilire i tuoi obiettivi di business, alla creazione effettiva dei tuoi diversi profili e account sui social media, alla costruzione di un sito web (la tua base di partenza), fino a capire i modi migliori per interagire e interagire attraverso questi diversi mezzi.

There is a lot involved in building your online presence, from establishing your business goals, to actually setting up your different social media profiles and accounts, to building a website (your starting point), to understanding the best ways to interact and engage through these different mediums.

To help you, we offer 6 key points to focus on to start building your online presence right away.

 

1. Build your strategic plan

Understanding what your business goals are, both short-term and long-term, is of paramount importance. Never stop asking yourself how each of your online efforts helps you take a step towards achieving your business goals.

Set your goals and make sure they are SMART, i.e:
Specific 
Measurable 
Achievable 
Relevant 
Time bound 

This way you can measure your progress and ascertain that your choices are taking you towards your goals. Therefore, plan a frequent check-up.

 

2. Create an eye-catching website

A reliable company needs a website in 2021. Even if you enjoy a certain popularity on social media, this will not profit you if you do not invest in a properly made website to which you can direct your potential customers.

An excellent website starts with a catchy domain name, is aesthetically pleasing, easy to use, and good at driving conversions. When creating your website, work with a highly skilled web developer or media agency to create a platform that attracts the attention of the masses.

What can undoubtedly help your new website function at its best includes: 

• The content management system
• Optimisation for search engines
• Optimisation for mobile use
• Fast loading speed of web pages
• Excellent website design (UXD or User Experience Design)
• The creation of an e-commerce

 

3. Design a social media strategy

Setting up a website is the first step in creating an online presence. Your company should also be active on more than one digital marketing channel and in particular on social media platforms, remembering that you need to plan and strategise in advance.

Get your internal marketers together and start working on a social media strategy by planning marketing activities and campaigns. The development of an effective social media strategy contains many nuances: publishing schedules, content calendars, SEO and more. If you cannot employ in-house marketing professionals or your staff is not particularly up-to-date on the latest social media trends, you might consider hiring a reputable marketing agency. It will help you navigate the world of social media and thus improve your brand's online presence.

Lastly, we recommend the following insights:

1. How to grow your business on social
2. The right target audience for each social network
3. The 5 most common mistakes companies make on social media

 

4. Study the Customer Journey

Every purchase starts with an unfulfilled wish or an unresolved problem, and your products could also be the solution when customers discover them.

The Customer Journey, also known as 'the journey the customer takes to make the purchase' can help you, because all potential customers embark on a journey to a product. That journey might only take a few minutes, but it could also take weeks or even years. In that time, users are looking for information to help them decide for or against a particular product.

When awareness about a product is awakened and heightened, customers go through certain stages of their customer journey. There are different models, from three to seven stages, but the most common one has five:

• Awareness: there is a problem or a requirement. A product could be the solution. Interest is aroused.
• Preference: initial information about the product and its alternatives increases interest. Those who are interested know their favourites.
• Consideration: customers consider buying a product. They compare prices and weigh up pros and cons.
• Purchase intention: the intention to buy becomes more concrete. All that is missing is a little encouragement: an offer, a discount or a quick delivery.
• Conversion: the decision is made and the purchase is completed.

Mapping a customer journey is extremely important for both SMEs and large companies. It is a strategic approach to learn more about customer expectations and optimise the buying experience. 

 

5. Invest in Online Advertising

Another way to increase the online presence of your business is through online advertising, i.e. paid online advertisements.

Since the Internet has opened up many new possibilities in marketing, using a well thought-out paid advertising strategy can exponentially increase the visibility of your business. Online advertisements can be much cheaper than advertising through traditional media such as TV, radio or print ads and at the same time lead to better and faster results that organic growth cannot match.

Online advertising is divided into various types of advertising:

• Display Ads
• Social Media Ads
• Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
• Native advertising
• Remarketing/Retargeting
• Video Ads
• Email marketing

 

6. SEO optimisation

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the practice of tailoring your website with the goal of ranking higher in search engine results. SEO is a complex subject and best practices are constantly changing with each major update of search engine algorithms. For now, try some of these tips to improve your site's SEO:

1) Design your site for mobile devices. We have already said it in point 2 and we will never tire of doing so: Google prioritises sites that work well on mobile devices. Experts now recommend designing your website for mobile devices first and then making changes to adapt to larger screen sizes (rather than the other way around).
2) Write customised URLs and title tags: URLs and title tags that use real words perform better in search engine results than URLs that include a mixture of letters and numbers. Customise your site's URLs and title tags and make sure to include relevant keywords.
3) Keep your site updated: sites that are frequently updated perform well in Google. One of the best ways to keep your site updated is to publish a blog. This will not only motivate you to publish new content frequently, but also give you the opportunity to include more keywords on your site.

 

Conclusion

Taking your business online and making it visible to existing and potential customers in 2021 is not a choice, but a necessity. To grow your business, you need to realise that building an online presence is more than creating a platform for consumers to visit and that you need to invest the time and money to do things right.

Read our insights or contact us and start building your strong online presence now.