Diversifying Your Online Presence
Why Your Business Needs a Strong Online Presence
1 | Most people use the internet to find a business that will solve their needs.
If your business isn't on the list, it simply won't be chosen. If it does make the list, it needs to stand out!
Consider these stats:
93% of online experiences begin with a search engine - Blue Corona
87% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses in 2020 - up from 81% in 2019 - Local Consumer Review 2020
93% of consumers used the internet to find a local business - Local Consumer Review 2020
55% of people will search online for reviews and recommendations before making a purchase, with 47% visiting the company website - KPMG
2 | Establishing your business online will build your brand's reputation and authority.
Businesses with an established online presence stand out as leaders in their industry. They populate search results and provide their audience with information on what they do and what they can provide.
3 | A larger online presence will increase your visibility.
Some level of online presence is essential for any business. The more online channels you use, the more ways your audience can find you. By diversifying your online presence, you give your business more opportunities for exposure and growth.
4 | Use your online presence to showcase your business as an expert in your industry.
Show up and share what you know. People want to buy from businesses that look confident, know their industry, and have useful knowledge to share.
5 | Build trust with positive user reviews, authentic and consistent brand representation, and a secure user-friendly website.
With a growing level of uncertainty online, people want to know if your business is safe and legit. By displaying some social proof, such as customer reviews and testimonials, you assure people you are an established business that can be trusted.
Another important way to establish trust is with a consistent branding message. Your business should be represented consistently and fluidly across all your channels so as not to cause confusion or misunderstanding. When your brand is recognized and viewed repeatedly, it starts to make lasting impressions.
And finally, a well-designed, secure website gives people peace of mind they can freely use your website without any issues or privacy concerns. If the URL bar is displaying a warning sign signaling the site is not secure, visitors are more likely to have doubts about legitimacy or safety, and leave.
Why You Need To Diversify
Your target audience, no matter how specific, is never in one place.
If you only focus on one or two methods of finding them, you'll miss out on a good percentage of that audience. For example, it’s likely that a good percentage of your clientele may not be active on Instagram so, if your business is only posting on Instagram, you’ll be missing a lot of opportunities.
Having multiple channels means you can use them to promote each other.
There are many ways to integrate your digital channels. For example, blog posts can establish your business as an expert, build credibility on search engines, and increase website traffic, which you can then use your social media channels and email newsletter to promote, increasing awareness and exposure! Your email newsletters can share social media updates, and your website can include links to any digital channels.
Never depend on one digital channel - always diversify.
Social media platforms are great, but if you rely solely on the community you've built on Instagram, you leave yourself vulnerable. There is a very real possibility of your account disappearing (I've seen it happen to many businesses - always use two-factor authentication!). It's also possible a platform could tweak its algorithm, it could entirely implode, or it may just fall out of trend. You just never know. If you leave everything you've built on one platform you could end up needing to start over someday.
Other examples of factors that could hinder your digital channels:
A couple of bad reviews on Google = your Google Listing will need time to recover
Google Search changes its algorithm structure = you may lose some of your best organic traffic
Facebook changes its ad policies = your product may no longer qualify
Managing Your Channels: Monitor, Measure, & Analyze
Research The Right Channels
While it's important to have a diverse online presence, it's also important to choose the right channels for your business. Learn about what your options are and conduct research on every channel before using it.
Maintain Your Channels
If you're going to use an online channel, be sure to put the time and energy into using it well. There's nothing worse than a poorly managed social media account or an outdated and ill-maintained website.
More Channels = More Analytics!
Diversifying your online presence means you have more channels to provide useful analytics which you can use to learn from your audience. Use these analytics to see how your audience may be changing, find new ways to target your audience, discover how they are finding you, and decide what content they may be interested in.
Monitor Every Digital Channel You Use
Which ones are you more active on? Are there channels performing better than others? How much time and effort are you investing into each channel? Is your Facebook group bringing in leads? Is your email list growing? Which blog posts are performing better than others? If one method isn't working, find out why and decide if it's worth keeping. Learn from the content that performs well and use that information when creating new content.
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Having an optimized online presence means staying engaged, keeping on top of trends, and getting creative. If you're not regularly trying new things, you're probably falling behind. Learn from your competitors and find new ways to research your industry and niche.
7 Digital Channel Examples For Growing Your Online Presence:
1) WEBSITE
EVERYONE Should Have a Website
Whether your business is based online or in person, people will be looking for your business online. Consider these stats from Blue Corona:
70-80% of people research a company online before visiting it or making a purchase
Less than 64% of small businesses have a website
In 2019, 58% of small businesses without websites plan to create one.
Your Website Should Be Your Main Hub for Content
All other channels should inevitably direct back to your website. It's the channel you will have the most control over. If you sell products or services online, your website is where your sales are made. If you are a brick-and-mortar business, your website informs people of who your business is, what your business provides, how to contact the business, as well as directions to the business if necessary. You can include all these details in a Google Listing, but ultimately your website will be more detailed and should authentically represent the branding and personality of the business.
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Important things to remember: Your website must be mobile-friendly, load quickly, have click-to-call or email buttons, include any-and-all essential information, be populated with relevant keywords and search terms, look good and authentically represent your branding, and have no broken links or misinformation.
2) SHARING CONTENT
Blogging
Great for generating leads, improving website SEO, and building your online presence.
Blog articles can be used to define a brands voice, build trust, and establish authority
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If you've developed some great content for social media posts, consider repurposing some of those high-performing posts into blog articles. Having original content on your website is great for SEO, meaning it will help you rank higher on search engines and make it easier for your audience to find you online.
Videos
Video content creation is an ever-evolving and rapidly growing method of digital marketing. Whether it be for entertainment or education, people love to watch videos and will often favor a business that provides videos to share their brand message, products, or services. Here are some intriguing stats from JLB Media.
While online searching for local products or services, 44% of people viewed an online video
53% of those viewers then contacted the business after watching the video, with 51% visiting the company website, and 33% visiting the physical shop
4x as many people would rather watch a video about a product than read about it
Create videos with YouTube or Vimeo. You can use YouTube to build a following, or you can share those videos on your website or in emails, as well as on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram
Other excellent methods of content creation:
Podcast
Infographics
Case studies
eBooks
Online courses, workshops, or webinars
3) GOOGLE LISTING
A properly managed Google Listing is essential for all businesses. It's simple to manage, free for any business, and helps improve your business's rank on Google.
Managing your Google Listing means you can control the information displayed, engage with customers by replying to reviews and enabling direct messaging, gather and obtain data on customers clicking on your business, boost your website's SEO, and more.
Make sure your Google Listing provides the information people are looking for, represents your business accurately and authentically, and always keep it updated.
To learn more about how to manage and optimize your Google Listing, read this article:
4) SOCIAL CHANNELS
Use up to two (or more if you're able to properly manage that many)
Engaging and building community on social media is an excellent way to grow your online presence. However, only take on what you can effectively manage. These channels can be exhaustingly time-consuming and a poorly managed account can have adverse effects on your online presence. Focus on a couple of channels, make them great, and keep them current!
Choose wisely
There are is a lot to consider when choosing social media channels for your business including, how much time you have to commit to managing the channels, where your target audience is active, and which channels best represent and align with your core values and branding. Find the ones that work best for your business niche.
The big ones include - Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Snapchat, and TikTok (however, this list is ever-evolving)
Always provide engaging, relevant content
Seek to inspire and engage your audience. Keep things exciting and your followers will keep coming back.
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Use the 80/20 rule when creating content. 80% of content shared should be useful to your audience. Meaning, 80% of your posts should entertain, educate, or offer free advice or solutions. At most, 20% of your content should be promoting your business, such as showcasing a product or service, promoting a sale or event, or sharing successes or customer reviews. Any more than 20% and your viewers may be put off.
5) GUEST POST
Write for other businesses or organizations
Writing for other businesses or organizations with high-traffic websites is a great way to build credibility and increase exposure. Having another site that may have more traffic than yours share your business name and website link will inevitably direct traffic to your site.
Build up backlinks
When your website links are included on other websites, especially high authority sites, your website SEO performance is improved. They're called backlinks (aka inbound links or external links), and they tell search engines like Google that your website is both trustworthy and popular! Plus, it's just another avenue for people to find you.
6) COLLABORATE WITH LIKE-MINDED BUSINESSES
Work with businesses that have a similar target audience
Partnering with a business with a similar audience is a useful way to find new potential clients or customers. Host an online event together, team up on a giveaway, agree to spotlight each other in an email campaign or on your social media, guest post for each other's blog, or highlight each other on your websites. However you choose to collaborate, get creative and have fun with it. The idea is to mutually benefit from working together. You may even make a new friend or learn a few things.
7) EMAIL MARKETING
Email marketing is still the most powerful form of online marketing
Did you know, 60% of consumers subscribe to a brand’s email list to receive promotional messages compared to 20% of consumers who will follow brands on social media to get deals - OptinMonster
Also, the first thing 58% of people check in the morning is their email - OptinMonster
According to the Harvard Business Review, professionals check their email an average of 15 times per day or every 37 minutes. - Harvard Business Review
When people sign up for your newsletter, they are likely genuinely interested in your business and the content you promise to provide
You're collecting a list of people who match your target audience! Furthermore, when they receive regular emails from your business they are constantly reminded that you exist, even if they don't open your emails.
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Get creative and strategic with asking people to sign up for your newsletter. Since just about every website offers a newsletter sign-up, find a creative way to make yours stand-out. Offer some value or an incentive for signing up such as an eBook or discount. When you are creating your newsletter, be sure to provide relevant, valuable content your audience will be excited to receive. And always follow that 80/20.
Evaluating & Optimizing Your Digital Channels
Building and maintaining your online presence can be overwhelming but, if you take the time to do it well the benefits will be entirely worth the effort! It's all about understanding your audience, choosing the right channels, getting creative, keeping things updated and current, monitoring, measuring, analyzing, and consistently improving.
