Times have changed from the days of relying on print advertisements to help promote your business. In the past, it would have been efficient to pass out fliers, pay for a billboard, or even put an ad in the paper. Nowadays, businesses get most of their customers and clients online. Because this is the case, your business must adapt and have a strong online presence in order to grow and thrive.
Here are a few of the ways your small business can get noticed in today’s internet-driven world:
Modernize Your Website
Do you have a website that hasn’t been updated since 2010? Your website is an online representation of your brand, and without an aesthetically pleasing and coherent website, you will miss out on a lot of business opportunities. Customers will be quick to turn away from your brand to find one that seems more in-tune with modern technology. It takes the average consumer about one-tenth of a second to formulate an opinion about your website, so make sure it’s a good one by ensuring that it:
- Is up-to-date and modern in structure.
- Uses the latest in web design technologies.
- Is visually appealing with optimized images.
- Accurately represents your brand in an enticing way.
Create the Best Mobile Experience for Customers
In addition to having a visually pleasing website, your website must be mobile-friendly as well. People are always on the go and use mobile devices to do the majority of their online searches and shopping. Your business can be losing out on plenty of sales if potential customers are finding it difficult or impossible to explore your business’s website from their phone.
Having a mobile-friendly website means that customers don’t have to zoom in to read the text, the links on the website are laid out to optimally fit a phone or tablet screen, and customers can click on links easily without accidentally clicking the wrong one. The mobile-user experience is one that sometimes gets forgotten when creating websites, and this mistake can be significantly damaging to your brand.
Maintain Your Social Media Presence
Approximately 223 million Americans use some form of social media. However, even though there is an abundance of people on social media websites, you must determine what social media platform your target customers are most active on. Once you determine which platform(s) is best for your business, create a profile and be sure to use your business’s social media page efficiently.
Engage with customers, be responsive to those who have questions, and ensure your services or products are clearly posted on your profile to gain customer interest. By having a strong social media presence, your business gets more exposure, more traffic to your business’s website, and you gain valuable market insights that you can’t find anywhere else.
Share Relevant and Engaging Content
Once your business establishes a social media presence, make sure that the content being presented on the social media platform is top quality. This is a necessity, as quality content has a high probability of being shared throughout the social media world by users, and that means that your business will stay relevant in the minds of your current and potential customers. Ideally, you should have a mixture of original content that was created by your business for your business and shared or user-generated content that is relevant to your business.
Consider Pay-Per-Click Advertisements
Using pay-per-click marketing is another way to market your business and increase brand awareness online. These branded advertisements appear at the top of Google search results pages by using keywords relevant to your business in order to attract a higher number of customers. Paid advertisements are a great way to gain traffic to your business’s website and increase the likelihood of consumers purchasing your products or services.
Ready to Get Your Small Business More Attention Online?
If you’re ready to elevate your business’s online presence but don’t know where to begin, Advantage Internet Marketing can help get you started. We offer a wide range of services that can get you the optimized website and increased brand awareness your small business deserves. Contact us today to get started!