The internet has opened a myriad of opportunities for small businesses. It has greatly transformed the marketing industry. Unlike before when businesses only relied on print and electronic media to advertise their products and services, the internet has led to the rise of all manner of digital marketing strategies.

Considering the fact that more people are connected to the internet, it makes more sense to take your business online as well. Modern business owners understand the importance of having a website and a strong online presence. This is because a majority of people today rely on the internet to search for information about certain products and services before purchasing them. But how do you achieve a strong online presence?

Below are ways to increase your online presence:

Create A Beautiful Website That’s Optimized for Mobile Devices

The first step towards increasing your online presence is creating an official website for your business. A website serves as your online office or store where customers can visit anytime and get whatever information they want about your business. However, having a business website is not enough.

You need to make it as beautiful and attractive as possible. Ensure your pages load quickly, images are optimized with responsive site designs. It is also important to optimize your website for mobile devices. Many people use their mobile phones to browse the internet. If your website can’t open properly on a mobile device, then you won’t have many people visiting your site.

Build an Email List

Building an email list is another great way of increasing your online presence. The first step is to come up with a list of targeted customers and their email addresses. This will enable you to actively engage with them and generate new leads. You can even choose to reach out through social media platforms, for example, you can look into using automate LinkedIn inmail systems if you like to use LinkedIn. 

In case you haven’t launched your website officially, you can create a maintenance plugin with a “coming soon” button and urge users to sign up for your email list. Another strategy to build an email list is to gated content that requires your customers to sign up first before accessing it. You can also start a monthly newsletter to generate leads via your distribution list.

Create Interesting and Engaging Content

There’s no better way of attracting users to a website than creating interesting and engaging content. Do not just post articles that describe your business or products. Try to produce content that makes users eager to read more.

The best way to do this is by creating buyer personas that are in line with the needs and interests of your customers. Create content that triggers certain emotions and answers some of their questions about your business. You can engage customers through question-and-answer sessions, guest posting, and podcasts.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is a technique of increasing a website’s online presence by ensuring that your page is highly ranked in popular search engines like Google. The strategy makes it easy for people to find your website whenever they search for terms related to your business or brand.

For your website to rank high, you must implement two types of SEO: off-site and Onsite SEO. On-site SEO is the process of optimizing elements of a web page so it can rank higher and attract relevant traffic from search engines.

On the other hand, off-site SEO refers to external efforts that affect your search engine rankings (SERPs). It involves improving the perception of users and search engines concerning the popularity, trustworthiness, authority, and relevance of your site. In other words, off-site SEO vouches for the quality produced by your website.

Actively Engage in Social Media Platforms

Approximately 3.5 billion people use social media across the world. If your business doesn’t have a social media platform, then you are missing out. Customers may not know about your existence. Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter can help you reach a lot of people within a short time. It is a cost-effective way to market your brand.

But it is not enough just to have a social media page. You must ensure that the page is active by constantly posting interesting content and engaging your audience.

In general, having a strong online presence can significantly contribute to the growth and success of your business. Building an email list, creating engaging content, having a social media presence are some of the ways of increasing your online presence.