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The Internet is the biggest thing to happen to Business since business. When it comes to how the public perceives a company, it is absolutely imperative that they have an online presence. It doesn’t matter if you are a cobbler, a multinational corporation, or a contract writer in a far off land. You need an online presence. Whether or not a person actually remembers who you are, is less dependent on how well your pitch is, and more dependent on if they save the name of your company in their notes app.
That is the reality of the day, and if you’re not up to speed, here is a way to really get the ball going on your online presence.
Make a website
If you do not have a website, no one is going to know who you are. Even if you’re a grand fathered in the business like the solid tire business, eventually the new breed of customers are going to want a clear and concise website. This is true on every single level, and not just the front-end retail. Even back-end, and warehouse operations need a public resource via the Internet. The first thing you need to do is find affordable web design services that can help with all the details necessary to form a good website. With the abundance of good designers out there, it’s important to look for easy payment structures and fast communication. There are companies like Hedge Studio that make it easy on the books, as well as provide great design services. Mind you, not all businesses are going to be as easy to work with. It’s important to find the one that fits your personal needs.
Master social media
Your next step in having adequate Internet presents, is social media. Social media are getting a bad rap these days. But the truth is, social media is used by everyone across the demographic spectrum. Social media is as amorphous as the populations that it serves. When you engage in social media marketing, what you are doing is looking to target the demographic you want to engage with. With the analytics that come along with social media, you can pinpoint who is looking and who is clicking. After you figure out the people that are visiting your website via your social media, you can start directly influencing that group with targeted ads. There really isn’t anything inherently wrong with using social media, we just tend to have a strange visceral reaction to the word. Aside from that, it is the most influential and potentially helpful tool in your arsenal, second only to a website. You should get on it.
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Implement SEO practices
The third element in this trifecta of online influence, is search engine optimization. When you talk about search engine optimization, or SEO for short, what you’re doing is making your website the first to pop up anytime somebody searches for a set of terms related to your business. This may be simple enough on paper, but it is one of the most sought after and cutthroat aspects of online influence. Having a presence in a world where everybody has an online presence is not easy. And figuring out your niche in all of this is what separates your business from those on the 15th page of a Google search. Now, when was the last time you went to page 15 of a Google search? Exactly. You might start out there. A lot of people back there are just starting out. But if you can target the keywords and you can pump out as much good content as you can, and with the help of professionals that know how to boost your search engine optimization results, you can get to the top five pages. Who knows, maybe if you have enough good content, you’ll be on page 1. Page one is like the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, and World Cup rolled into one in terms of the chances of getting up there. All you need to do is be smarter than the competition.
Having a strong online presence may sound cutthroat, and sometimes it is. But the reasons behind having any of this lies in the genuine need to reach the people that you know you can reach. It’s just an extension of standing on the soapbox, yelling out how great your company is. It is the age Old world of marketing wrapped up in the overly complex world of the Internet. In the end, do what you believe is right. Nobody else knows their audience better than you. So go out there and let yourself be known. Your customers are waiting.
