Online presence is imperative for business growth and scaling. Whether you are a new business or an established business looking to be more than just a blip on Google Maps, there are many ways to build an online reputation.
Over 97% of consumers search for a business on the internet before contacting or visiting. Not having a good online presence and reputation will turn down many potential customers before they even get to know your business.
However, you need to use reliable methods to build that online presence. After all, you have limited time and resources, so you need to make sure they are spent on the most effective methods.
That’s why I bring you some straightforward and effective methods that are perfect for businesses just starting to build an online presence. Let’s get started!
Benefits of Building an Online Presence
Simply saying online presence is important isn’t enough. You need to know why exactly it’s important and how it benefits your specific business. Knowing its benefits, you will also be able to create strategies that are most effective for your business growth.
Below I am listing the most prominent benefits businesses enjoy when they have a strong online presence:
- Customers can quickly learn about your business and its offerings without needing to call or visit.
- Helps reach a global audience without any physical constraints or geographical barriers.
- Makes business accessible 24/7 which leads to more opportunities for sales and engagement.
- Positive reviews and active social media profiles build trust and credibility.
- Provide convenience to customers to browse and make purchases from the comfort of their homes, enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Introduces more ways to have direct communication with the customers and promote a sense of community.
- Opens up more methods to run marketing campaigns that are usually more cost-effective as well.
- Give a competitive edge as customers are more likely to prefer a business with a good online reputation.
- Opens up more ways to gain insight into customer behavior, preferences, and trends to create data-driven strategies.
- Gain access to more platforms to sell your products, such as online marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy.
Now that you know how beneficial it can be to have a good online presence, let’s see the most reliable methods to build it:
Have a Proper Business Website
First and foremost, you need to have a website that will be your online storefront and act as a central hub for all your online activities. People will be able to both learn and make purchases directly from your website. It needs to be well designed, too; 75% of users have admitted that they judge business credibility based on their website design.
Building a website is easy, you can even use a website builder to make it a snap. What matters is the type of website and the content inside it. Since that depends on the nature of your business, below I am listing some common business types and the website features they should have:
Local Service Business
If your business mainly provides on-site services instead of tangible goods, then below are some things to consider while creating a website.
- The landing page should give a proper introduction to the service along with links to detailed descriptions of each service.
- The geographical area where your service is available.
- Contact details along with service hours.
- Client testimonials showing feedback from satisfied customers. Maybe images of previous work projects as well.
- If pricing is fixed, have a dedicated pricing page with the price of each service. Not mandatory, though since most service-based business prices are based on work required by clients.
Niche Products Retailer
If your business sells a specific product or type of products, then below are some vital website aspects to consider:
- Product catalog, along with high-quality images and detailed descriptions.
- Clear pricing and information about supported payment methods.
- Call-to-action buttons to buy the products with a step-by-step ordering process.
- Business contact information, along with the geographical location of the store.
- A page with a clear warranty and returns policy.
Retail Business
For retail businesses, I will recommend using a reliable e-commerce platform like Shopify or WooCommerce. These platforms give all the tools you need to create an e-commerce website that can list a massive number of products for sale.
Here’s a complete guide to creating an e-commerce store. It has everything you need to know to sell retail products online.
Optimize Google Business Profile
Google Search is the go-to search engine for most people and your Google business profile is the first thing customers will see when they search your name. An active and well-managed business profile will not only give credibility to your business but also make it rank higher in search results for related queries.
Create a Google Business Profile
You need to either create a new Google business profile or claim your business if it already has an entry added on Google Maps. Here’s how:
Go to Google Business Profile and enter your business name. If it is already added, it will pop up with the name and address. Click on it, and it will first ask you to review the information and then verify that you are the owner using different methods like text verification on the business number, a video of the business, or a letter with a code sent to the business address.
If not, you can enter your business name, and Google will ask for its details and owner verification. Once registered and verified, you can manage it from the Google Business Profile page or the Business tab on the Google Maps app. You can also use a third-party app like Business Profile Manager that offers lots of tools to manage your business on Google.
Also Read: Google Business Profile Optimization: Crafting Listings That Rank and Convert
Managing Google Business Profile
A strong Google business profile with lots of positive ratings/reviews is very important for a good online reputation. Below I am providing some tips that will help you create an optimum Google business profile:
- Provide as much information as possible, including address, phone number, website, business hours, and any other field Google provides.
- Write a concise and informative business description. Many businesses don’t even fill that field, it’s a great space to tell customers why you are unique to get an edge over competitors.
- Consistently add photos and videos of the business to help people learn what you have to offer. It’s also a great way to keep people up-to-date with the latest events.
- Reply to both positive and negative reviews and avoid using copy/paste template text for replies.
- Encourage customers to leave a review on Google both in-store and online platforms.
- Take full advantage of the Posts section to update about upcoming offers and events. The Posts section content is also shown in search and Explore section results.
- Timely reply to questions in the Q&A section and be friendly and informative. It’s also a good place to advertise more about your product/service if you sneak in related information.
- It also has a section to list your products or services. If applicable, take advantage of it.
- Keep track of analytics provided by Google Business Profile to know how users are interacting and strategize accordingly.
Most important of all, stay active. A visitor should be able to see at least one activity from your end, whether it’s a new photo, a reply to a review, or a direct update from your business.
Social media presence is an integral part of building your overall online presence, and you need to know how to do it the right way. Since there are too many social media platforms, I am not going to dig deep into the technical side of this. Below I am adding the most important things to consider when building a social media presence.
Choose Fewer Social Media Platforms
Managing a social media platform takes a lot of time. Having a strong presence on a few effective platforms is better than a weak presence on many. I recommend choosing 3 social media platforms max. Using the right social media strategy and tools, you can easily stay active on 3 platforms and keep them updated.
Choose the Right Social Media Platforms
Since you have limited platforms to choose from, you need to choose the most effective ones. Each social media platform has its own unique engagement approach and audience, so how effective they can be for you depends on your business nature. Below are some examples:
Instagram/Pinterest: They are ideal for businesses with visually appealing content or businesses targeting a younger audience, such as beauty, fashion, lifestyle, etc.
LinkedIn: B2B businesses and businesses offering products or services to professionals should prefer LinkedIn.
X: Suitable for real-time updates and engaging in direct conversations with a broad audience.
Facebook: Generally works for all types of businesses due to a diverse audience of different ages and backgrounds.
Post Timely and Consistently
Most social media platforms provide analytics tools for business profiles. Use them to find the best time when your audience is most active and post at that time. Be consistent in post timings so your audience may expect an update. A post-scheduler tool like Buffer can help make this process easier.
If you are having trouble coming up with post ideas to keep your profile up-to-date, you can also try using AI social media post generators.
Encourage Audience Participation
You should encourage your audience to engage with your business to create a sense of community and a stronger connection. User-generated content also signals algorithms that your content is valuable. To do this, you can ask thought-provoking questions, host contests and giveaways, request the audience to create content around your products to be recognized, host live Q&A sessions, etc.
When they do engage, make sure you acknowledge their participation and directly comment.
Promote Online Reviews
Reviews, whether positive or negative, are beneficial for your business. Positive ones increase credibility and convert leads, and negative ones, when addressed politely, showcase responsiveness and improve customer satisfaction. You need to encourage your customers to provide feedback, and then you need to make sure new customers can read those reviews.
Below are some practices that will ensure you increase your online reputation using reviews from real customers:
- Ask for reviews using different methods like directly requesting on the business site, via post-purchase email or SMS, adding review links on the website/social media, and giving minor incentives to review like loyalty points or small discounts.
- Encourage customers to review by showcasing detailed ones on the website and promptly replying to reviews.
- Claim your business on Yelp, Tripadvisor, Foursquare, and other review websites to manage the listings.
- Use a review promoter and management app like Birdeye Reviews to showcase your reviews on different channels.
Create Content for Marketing
Although a bit advanced method, I am still adding it here because it’s the most reliable method for long-term gains. Creating valuable content around your products and niche has many sustaining benefits. Such as more business traffic, giving business credibility and authority, increasing conversion through education, and, most important of all; improving SEO.
There are different types of content you can create and promote as a business, I am listing the most effective ones below:
Blog posts: You can create tutorials, news, stories, and information posts around your business to gain more traffic and build customer trust. The content can be hosted on the business website and shared on social media.
Video content: You can promote your business on video platforms like YouTube by making videos related to your products. This also includes behind-the-scene videos of your business to humanize your business.
Interactive content: Quizzes, contests, and live streams can be hosted on your website or social media platforms to encourage user engagement and generate both business and user content.
Social media content: This mainly includes quick and short posts giving insights on business operations, comments on related latest events, or infographics revealing interesting information.
Build an Email List
Building an email list is the single most beneficial thing you can do for your business. Many of your advanced marketing and online presence activities will depend on this. The sooner you start building a list, the better.
An email list directly fuels email marketing, and it has a bunch of benefits for online presence that I am listing below:
- It cuts through the noise and directly engages with the customers, unlike depending on algorithms or SEO.
- Email lists can be segmented to create personalized strategies for each segment for maximum impact.
- Regular direct communication fosters trust and converts subscribers into customers and brand advocates for further increasing online presence.
- Keeps your brand consistently in front of the customers.
- Email marketing tools like Mailchimp have robust analytics tools to learn more about your customers to create strategies to attract more customers.
Ways To Build an Email List
Honestly, there is no such thing as utilizing too many resources when it comes to building an email list. You should utilize everything at your disposal to capture users’ email addresses because every email captured is a possible customer. Below are the most effective methods:
- Offer incentives in exchange for email addresses like discount codes or early access to products.
- Host contests and giveaways where customer email is required to enter.
- Strategically place an opt-in form, like showing it on important pages of the website, in social media descriptions/bios, or as pop-ups on your website. An app like OptinMonster will help with this.
- Encourage the use of digital receipts in the physical store that requires customers to provide their email.
- Ask current subscribers to refer family and friends to your email list in exchange for an incentive.
Ending Words
The best advice I can give for overall online presence is to be always active. No matter the method you are using, make sure you are actively providing updates and engaging with the audience.
Other than these methods, I’ll also recommend you look into ad networks to run mass ad marketing campaigns. It’s a bit advanced method that also requires capital, but it’s definitely the most effective one for building an online presence.