In 2020, many things have changed. We’ve seen business models disrupted, customer habits and behaviors altered, and small businesses transformed. Many of these changes involved adopting new technologies and using new digital strategies.
Now, let’s see how can you improve your online presence, reach more potential customers, build long-term relationships with your existing customer base, and build brand awareness for your small business.
Here are some tips about how to improve your online presence and increase sales.
Small Business Tips: How to Improve Your Online Presence
- People will Choose Businesses with Useful Online Service
Stats show that consumers are preferring online shopping channels. 67% of shoppers report they are more likely to choose a provider with quality and useful online service.
When asked about their preferred mix between using online channels and in-person interaction, 37% of shoppers prefer to interact through online channels in a post-COVID-19 world.
94% report the overall experience they’ve had with online interactions with service providers met or exceeded their expectations.
Many reports show that people like to use a buy online and pick up system.
No matter what they’re looking for, consumers are turning to the internet to find it.
- How To Improve Your Online Presence
So, if consumers are spending money online, you need to create a robust online presence. Discover how to do that.
Build a professional website
Websites are essential for every business. If you don’t have a website, it’s easy to build yourself or outsource the task to a professional. You’ll need a domain name. Many companies sell domain names, and most are inexpensive.
Your domain name does not necessarily need to match your company name. Instead, you can use keywords describing your business. You can use words that a consumer would search for when looking for a business such as yours.
Reach Your Target Audience on Social Media
Social media usage is growing worldwide. Stats show that there are about 233 million social media users. Also, 75% of consumers follow brands on social media and 97% of these consumers interact on social media with the brands they follow.
You don’t need to be present on every social media site but you need to focus on the ones that are most popular with your target audience.
Build Your Online Store
If you plan to sell products online, you’ll need an e-commerce store or site.
You can build an e-commerce platform on your site by adding e-commerce tools. Many web hosts offer e-commerce packages.
Use a hosted provider, such as Shopify or BigCommerce.
Create a store on the online marketplaces, such as Amazon, eBay, Walmart, or Etsy.
Your online store doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be clear and easy to navigate. 95% of consumers say clear images, product descriptions, and stock availability are the primary factors that lead to an online purchase.
Important Tip: Many consumers are browsing and making purchases on their mobile devices, so it’s crucial your site and online store are mobile-friendly.
- How to Increase Traffic and Sales
You have to drive traffic to your site and raise awareness for your company. There are various ways to do that.
Use an SEO Strategy
You need to optimize your site so consumers can discover you when they search online. Search engine optimization (SEO) is a component of search engine marketing (SEM). Both can get a little complex, so you may outsource this task.
About 93% of online activity starts at a search engine. That applies to online searches for local businesses as well. To optimize for a search engine, use Google’s Keyword Planner tool (free) to find out which keywords are most popular about your business.
It also helps to use those keywords in your website copy, headlines, subheads, and captions.
Use Online Directories
Many consumers are using online business directories. They are an online listing of businesses (the online version of the Yellow Pages).
Start by claiming your free listing on Google My Business. Your business may already have a listing, but if you haven’t “claimed” it, it’s probably not correct or complete.
Use your Google My Business information to create listings on the other search directories and local maps.
Use Reviews
You can use online ratings and review sites. Many consumers “discover” new businesses when looking up other companies. These sites can help you to build your online presence because consumers are using these sites.
88% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses.
74% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written in the last month.
When writing a review, 22% of consumers expect to receive a response within one day.
It’s crucial to respond to every review across these platforms, good or bad. Because customers will see that you are active with positive and negative feedback and you can provide them with excellent customer service.
Use Retargeting Marketing
A small online advertising budget can get you big results and quickly build your online presence and brand awareness.
Consumers need more than one impression to drive a sale. Retargeting ads and retargeting marketing can help you to increase your sales.
Stats show that 47% of marketers say retargeting is one of the most overlooked online marketing methods.
A great bonus of retargeting marketing is that consumers will see your products, services, and your brand name all over the web as they surf to other sites!
Google AdWords is the most popular platform for advertising. Also, you can use Bing or Yahoo. You’ll pay a small fee every time someone clicks on your ads—this is known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising.
Use High-Quality Content
“Content is king” is a well-known phrase and it’s an essential element in building an online presence. The more content you create, the more opportunities consumers and search engines have to discover your business.
You should be adding content to your website and social channels. Also, you can post video content to social media platforms (including YouTube). Even you can use guest posts. Writing for other sites or blogs is a great way to spread brand awareness.
Last Tip
If you want to show up online, and improve your online presence, you need to be present, be active, and engage.
— Free Trials To Make Money Online
How to increase your sales – Free Trial https://www.bestprofitsonline.com/myblog/free-trial
How to transform your content into Great Videos