In this day and age, pretty much every business from the largest corporations to mom-and-pop stores are online. It’s time for you to establish your business on the web. Perhaps you’re feeling a little overwhelmed with what you should do first. That’s completely understandable because there is a lot of areas to cover when it comes to being online. Find out the answer to what is online marketing for small businesses and how you can avoid some common pitfalls.
Establishing a Web Presence
One of the first things you need to do when creating an online web presence is establishing your own website. Some companies seem to think that having reviews on Yelp or other reviewer-based websites is enough of a web presence to let potential customers know about your business. However, for many customers, it can be a bit of a turnoff to look and see if a company has a website only to find that there isn’t one.is enough of a web presence to let potential customers know about your business. However, for many customers, it can be a bit of a turnoff to look and see if a company has a website only to find that there isn’t one.
Focus on Your Website First
Your website should be one of your first efforts online, not an afterthought in addition to reviews and social media. You can include all of your pertinent information that any searcher might need to know without having to call your place. A person looking for a car mechanic open later may skip over your business if they have to call to find out your hours of operation.
Social Media
Social media accounts are another basic business online resource that requires your continued attention. These accounts are free marketing, plus you know your customers are already using them. Making constant updates and interacting with followers is an effective way to generate more leads for your business.
Establish Business Accounts
Twitter and Facebook are two great social media accounts to get started for beginners, especially if you already use them in your personal life. One way to begin quickly with is to check out what your competitors are doing with their social media. This can give you some guidelines and ideas for your own business social media accounts.
Basic Do’s
There is a number of basic do’s that you need to have for your business presence online to get recognized and attract paying customers.
Easy to Find Contact Information
You want your customers to know how to get in touch with you, and to know where you’re located. Even if you do business online, it helps your customers feel comfortable with entrusting you with their business.
Citations
No, you don’t need to write a book with reference citations, but it’s a good idea to have your business noted in other online directories and websites. Think Yelp, TripAdvisor, Yahoo Local Listings, and the Better Business Bureau.
Update Content Regularly
A website that hasn’t seen any revisions or no new blog posts may not get noticed online. A lack of updates might make potential customers wonder if you’re still in business and cause search engines to overlook you.
Natural Links
There can be a right way and a wrong way to go about building links. Some natural ways to build links to your content are blogging, profile, blog comments, social media responses, and directories.
SEO Don’ts
There are a number of things that you could be doing that are SEO (search engine optimization) don’ts without realizing that they are wrong.
Keyword Stuffing
Everyone loves keywords, but you need to use your keywords naturally in your piece. If you have too many keywords, your SEO ranking can drop.
Fluff Content
Your content should add something to the conversation without being overly wordy. Clear and concise sentences with a new spin on a topic are what help your SEO ranking.
Ranking Focused
Being focused on your keyword rankings can also be a trap that beginners fall into because they want to be the best in their categories. The problem is that you may be using the right keywords, but if you’re not getting sales or other positive results. You may be too focused on keywords and not results.
Keeping Track of What Works and What Doesn’t
Following these basic do’s and don’ts of forming an online presence and using proper SEO tactics will get you started. A website and social media accounts are a good jumping off place to being found online. Make sure that you have clear contact information, get citations, update content regularly and build your links naturally to all bolster your SEO. You’ll want to avoid keyword stuffing, fluff content, and staying focused on only your rankings.
If you feel you are more lost than before, there are services to help you establish a strong online presence. We which can help you to get your online presence moving forward with fresh content, relevant links, and social media updates. This also gives you more free time to focus on building your business.
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