Your Small Business Online Presence
Your online presence is the practice of drawing visitors to your online brand. For years now, having a website was your online presence – your only online presence. This idea is rapidly changing. Your online presence now encompasses, not only your website, but your blog, social media, review sites, directory listings, podcasts and more. There are many facets to creating a successful online presence, and often times one or more of these are neglected. It is important to think of each of these components as symbiotic pieces that exist separately, but are very much intertwined and reliant on one another for success. You have a great website that allows visitors to learn more about you and can drive a conversion. You blog to create great content for that website. You use social media and review sites to drive visitors to that website. You get listed on directories and review sites to increase your exposure and to let communities of people be your salesmen. All of these pieces are part of the major search engine algorithms and, in turn, influence your listings in the search engine results page, and affect how well your website ranks. Along with mobile compatibility and sensible and ethical SEO practices, these things make up your online presence.
The United States has nearly 263 million internet users and there are nearly 1 billion websites online right now. By 2018 it is expected that 185.5 million people will buy online and e-commerce sales are forecasted to reach $441.95 billion. Mobile traffic makes up over 30% of all organic search engine visits in the U.S. and nearly half of people state they will not return to a website if it is not mobile responsive. Stat after stat indicates why it is so important to focus time and energy on your online presence as your first priority. So lets get started making all of these pieces work for your business.
Your Website
The first and most important component of your online presence is your primary website. This site serves many purposes and is vital to the success of your business.
Domain Name & Hosting
Website Back End
Front End Website Design
High Quality Content
Adding Images and Videos
Link Building for SEO
Required Pages
Social Media Marketing
By now you have heard of the social network craze, but what is it and why should you pay attention? How does it affect your small business SEO? How can you maximize and make money of social media?
Online Reputation Management
Before getting started you must first understand the difference between the two main components of a small business marketing plan-branding and direct marketing.
Directories Paid & Free
Aside from your website you should not ignore the incredible amount of free web space you are probably already listed on. These sites are directories or websites that list businesses by categories similar to the Yellow Pages in the telephone book.