The modern corporate world is much more competitive and harder to be successful in than ever before. The only way you’re going to make your small business a success is by making sure that it is as visible as possible. Visibility means more customers, and more customers can translate into higher profits and more sales. There are several ways you’re able to market your business, but that’s where the Internet comes in.
Here are 10 tips on how you can improve your small business visibility on the Internet!
1. Create a website
If you’re a small business owner, it’s wise to know and understand the value of having a website. After all, if you don’t have an online presence, how do you plan on getting your name out there?
If you’re wondering how to create a website, we’re here to help. This article will help you understand the importance of having a website as well as give you some tips on how to create one for your small business.
Why do I need a business website?
You may be wondering if it’s worth the time or money to create a business website. If you’re still skeptical about investing in one, consider the following reasons why it’s important for your small business:
It’s where people go when they want to learn more about your company. When people are interested in doing business with you, they often search for you online. Having a website allows people to get all the information they need about who you are and what your company is about.
It lets people find your products and services easier. Your website can also act as an online store where customers can purchase products or services from you without even leaving their homes or offices, which makes it much more convenient for them to buy from you.
2. Work on your SEO
SEO – or search engine optimization – is a term we all hear thrown around, but what does it actually mean? And more importantly, how can you use SEO to improve your visibility online and generate more leads for your business?
Essentially, search engines use keywords, content and other factors to determine where your site should rank in search results. If a searcher sees your site up there near the top of the results, they’re more likely to click through and visit your site. If they don’t see you in the first page or two of results, they may not ever find you at all.
Being visible online means being on the first page of search results for keywords that are relevant to your industry. But how do you get there?
Create great content
One of the most important factors Google uses when determining where to put web pages in its search results is content. The more high-quality content you create for your website, blog or social media profiles, the more likely you are to show up at or near the top of search results. This is especially true if you’re writing about topics that people are actively searching for online.
For example, let’s say you run an ecommerce store selling hiking equipment
3. Write blogs
Blogging has become the voice of the internet. With millions of blogs on the web, it can be a great way to improve your business visibility online. Blogs are a must for small businesses, especially if you’re hosting one on your own website.
Here are three reasons why blogging is important in today’s business world:
- Improves search engine optimization (SEO): Search engines love content. Therefore, blogging helps your SEO. By providing information on specific topics and keywords, you increase your chances of ranking higher in search results. This gives you a greater opportunity to connect with people searching for what you have to offer.
- Provides valuable information for customers: Blogs are not about advertising, but about providing useful information for readers and potential customers to enjoy. Blogs offer an opportunity to share new ideas and solutions that help readers solve problems or find solutions to their questions. Remember, once you’ve captured their interest, they might be more likely to check out the rest of your website and learn more about your business offerings.
- Boosts social media presence: Using social media can help increase traffic to your blog and enhance your visibility online. Sharing links to your blog posts via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn can drive people back to your site so they can read the full post
4. Use social media
Social media is the main source for people to get their information and news. With more people using their phones and computers to get the latest trends, social media has become a very important part of marketing. Social media can give you a platform to engage with your customers directly and allow them to learn more about your company.
To use social media effectively, you will need to know what kind of platforms are available and how they can benefit your small business.
Social media platforms that have become popular in recent years include Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube. The most beneficial aspect of these platforms is that they allow you to create content that will stay on their website indefinitely. This allows you to create brand awareness and establish yourself as an authority in your industry.
Facebook is one of the top social media platforms in the world with over one billion users worldwide. It’s also the most popular platform for small businesses because it allows you to create pages for your business that are easy to manage and monitor.
Twitter has more than 300 million active users which makes it a great way for small businesses to reach out to their target audience. By creating a profile for your business on Twitter, you can post updates about new products or services as well as share links to blog posts or
5. Create video content
Video content is a great way for small businesses to improve visibility online. But before you start filming and uploading, you need to make sure your business is putting its best foot forward.
Here are some tips to help get you started:
Know your audience: Your audience should be the deciding factor in every decision you make about video content, including what type of videos to create. Think about who you’re trying to reach — their demographics, interests and online habits — and then create a plan that targets those people.
Become familiar with video platforms: Before creating any video content, learn how the different platforms work so you can make sure your videos are reaching their intended audiences. Each platform has unique features that make them more suitable for some types of videos than others. YouTube is the most popular platform for general-purpose videos, but other popular sites such as Instagram and Snapchat employ unique features such as integrated messaging and live streaming that may be useful for some businesses.
Add value: Don’t just create videos because they’re trending on social media. Make sure each video offers something of value to your audience, whether it’s an educational tutorial or entertainment that helps build brand awareness.
6. Take advantage of email marketing
Email marketing is an excellent way to help small businesses increase their visibility online. A well-crafted email can improve brand awareness and sales, but it also has many other benefits, including:
Building customer loyalty – Email marketing is a convenient way to reach out to your customers and provide them with value-adding information, such as updates about new products or services you have available. This regular interaction can help develop a loyal following for your business.
Gaining new customers – As well as retaining existing customers, email marketing can also be used to generate leads from potential customers. You can include obvious calls to action in your emails and use your brand’s voice to create an engaging message that will hopefully encourage the recipient to engage your small business in the future.
Increasing website traffic – Including links within a personalized email will directly increase traffic to your website, which will help boost your search engine ranking.
Email marketing was once considered an outdated practice, but it continues to deliver results for businesses today. While you may think that social media platforms are more effective for reaching out to potential customers, statistics show that email marketing still has the highest ROI of any online digital marketing channel.
7. Create a Google Business profile and get more reviews
Although you may already have a business website and a Facebook page for your company, Google is still the place where most people turn to find local businesses. That’s why it’s important to establish a Google Business profile and make it as complete as possible to improve your visibility online.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a free tool that allows business owners to promote their companies on Google Search and Maps. Having a Google My Business listing not only helps customers find you, but it also helps improve your SEO efforts. When people search for your business on Google, your listing will appear along with information like your address, phone number, website, and reviews.
Creating a Google My Business profile
There are three ways to create a Google My Business profile:
Set up using google.com/business
Sign in with an existing account (e.g., Gmail) or use another email address
Fill out the required information – name of your business and location (if you have multiple locations, you can add those too)
Verify the profile by phone or email
8. Focus on user intent with keywords
It can be difficult for small businesses to remain competitive in the online marketing space. If you’re a local business, not only are you competing against other local businesses, but also national chains and brands with high-powered ad budgets. However, there are many ways small businesses can compete with larger brands and reach potential customers online without breaking the bank.
One of these ways is to focus on user intent. Knowing what people are searching for, and what they expect from their search results, is a key component of effective online marketing.
For example, if a user searches “bike shop in Seattle,” it’s likely they’re looking for a physical store location. They probably want directions to that bike shop or maybe the store hours. On the other hand, if someone searches for “best bike shops in Seattle,” they may be looking for a list of the top-rated bike shops in Seattle so they can visit them all before making a purchase decision.
Knowing what your potential customers are searching for will help you provide them with relevant content that matches their needs. Google has also recently started providing search users with more information than just a link or description snippet — such as reviews, opening hours and contact information — based on the keywords they’ve searched.
9. Optimize for voice search
If you’ve been online in the last year, you’ve undoubtedly heard of a voice search. Maybe you’re even using it yourself on your phone or computer. And if you’re a small business owner, chances are good that you haven’t done much to optimize for voice searching.
This is a big mistake. That’s because voice searching isn’t going anywhere — and if your business isn’t set up for it, you’re going to lose out on a lot of potential customers.
According to Google, over 20 percent of searches on mobile devices are voice searches. Of course, this number is likely to increase as more people use smart speakers like Alexa and Siri to find what they need online.
You want your business to be easy to find when people search for it online — but this becomes significantly more complicated with voice search. With the majority of traditional searches today, users know the exact word or phrase that they’re looking for. But with voice searches, users tend to speak full sentences or even questions into their devices.
For example, when I’m looking for a fitness class in my area, I might type “fitness classes near me” into a traditional search engine. But with voice searching, I’d say something like “What fitness classes are available near me”
10. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly
In order to reach customers, small businesses need to make sure their website is mobile-friendly. A new report from Google found that 61 percent of users are unlikely to return to a mobile site they had trouble accessing and 40 percent visit a competitor’s site instead.
The findings come from Google’s 2015 Consumer Barometer, which asked more than 51,000 Internet users in 51 countries about their mobile habits and behaviors.
Small businesses can learn a lot by reading the data and seeing how consumers are using their smartphones. For example, the survey found that people use mobile devices for research and discovery, product comparisons and reviews and making a purchase.
One thing to keep in mind is that consumers want information fast. If you fail to load your website quickly on a smartphone or tablet, you could end up losing customers. When asked how long they wait for a page to load before abandoning it, 60 percent of consumers said they would stop waiting within three seconds.
Takeaway: You can improve your small business visibility online by following these ten tips!
So, as you start your journey towards improving your small business visibility online, it is best to remember that you don’t really need all the bells and whistles. All you really need is a few techniques to get customers to notice you. For small businesses without fancy marketing budgets, these techniques can be just what they need to succeed!
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