How to Build Your Online Presence and Get Ahead of The Competition
As you know, having a strong web presence is no longer optional if you want to succeed in business. It’s an absolute necessity. Your web presence is, more often than not, an individual's first impression of you. Regardless of your industry, your business or your size, you need to be ahead of your competitors online in every way.
Countless potential clients will first come into contact with you via your online presence – so you have to make sure that they can find everything they’ll need to know about you easily online. But doing so can be a time-consuming and complicated process. So, what are the things you absolutely should have? How do you build your online presence and get ahead of the competition?
Website
Your website is where it all starts. If you’re doing all the right things to be found on search engines, your potential customers will find your website and begin looking through the pages. What they find will likely determine whether they decide to go with you or your competitors. So, what does your website need to beat the competition?
Comprehensive Pages
This means not only a standard “About Us” and “Contact Us” page, but also pages with customer testimonials, a complete list of your services and a FAQ page. You need to be sure that anything your leads need to know is available to them and easy to find.
Integrated Social Media
This can be a ticker on your page with your most recent tweets, buttons that invite viewers to follow your social media profiles or simply having your social accounts linked with icons – whatever you choose, make sure that viewing, liking, following and subscribing are easy to do.
A Blog
Blogs are the goldmine for SEO and content. Don’t have a lot of content for your site? Here’s where you make it up. Have a ton of content? You should still have a blog! Make sure you write articles that provide value and post frequently and regularly. This ensures your blog stays updated with wanted and well-written content.
Strong Home Page
Whatever your business, make sure your home page is sleek, modern and engaging. Integrate branded imaging, video and strong copy to make sure they don’t flee your site. Remember, SEO matters greatly on your home page so it can rank on search engines, make sure to have written content integrated in the design.
Social Media
Regardless of your industry, you should create a social media profile for your business. There are many benefits to social media. We recommend creating a presence on the big three: Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But, if you’re in an industry that is heavily reliant on photographs, Instagram may be a good place to showcase your work.
Post Often
Nothing screams apathy about your online presence like a neglected Facebook page or Twitter profile. Be sure that your pages are regularly updated with relevant and interesting information.
Consistent Branding
Social media is easy to stumble across (especially with featured or suggested profiles), so be sure that everything you post establishes your brand.
Metrics
SEO
You need to have a website that is ready for SEO – especially your blog. This strategic use of keywords will drive viewers to your content. More often than not, potential customers will land on your website from a blog page than a service page. Long-tail keywords drive traffic to your website.
Analytics
Knowing whether your content is converting, what your click through rate is and more can help you improve any weak points in your online presence. This is crucial! Equip your site with strong metrics to know how to strengthen your site.
There are, of course, countless other things you can do to make your online presence more effective – but this will get you started. If you don't begin with these things, your competition will have a leg up on you. If you don’t think you can do it on your own, Virteom can help! We help our clients grow with easy to use technology, it’s our mission. We’re here to help you get ahead.
If you’re ready to lead the competition and level up your web presence, contact us today! We’d love to talk more about how your company can become a leader online.
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