The pandemic changed the face of businesses across the planet and has led to massive digitalization effort. Because of safety and health reasons, conducting business transactions face-to-face became fell out of favor for digital interaction.
According to experts, 29.7 percent of business was conducted over the internet or online in 2022, not far behind the 30.8 percent recorded in the previous year. This means that becoming more assertive online is no longer and option but a necessity, especially for small businesses.
If your small business needs to revitalize itself, establishing a robust presence on the internet can be the first step into a secure future.
Below are five ways you can explore to enhance your business’s online presence.
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Build a Website
The first step to any successful online initiative is creating your own website. A website acts as your business’s digital storefront, allowing customers from across the world to see your products and order them. It is also essential for reaching out to them effectively since you will have full control of the platform.
Thanks to multiple website hosting platforms, it is now more affordable than ever to make your own site. Many tutorials and guides exist online that could help you set up an appealing and functional website for your business. If you feel intimidated by the prospect of building and maintaining your own site, you can always partner with digital marketing services.
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Start a Blog
Blogging remains one of the most popular methods for disseminating information across the internet. Millions of people still follow websites for their informational blog pieces and as a small business, you can offer a unique perspective into your field.
For example, if you run an accounting firm, you could publish different ways entrepreneurs can effectively manage small business finances. The popularity and utility of a business blog usually relies on both the writing style and the aspect of business you’re writing about.
Avoid offering opinion pieces unless they are review articles about products related to your field. Try to keep blog posts succinct and always share them across social media and promote them on your website for higher engagement.
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Make Videos
Aside from blogs, videos are another great way you can establish an online presence quickly. Videos are trickier to produce because you will need good equipment, a great script and editing skills to pull them off effectively. But their benefits are quite tangible.
First, videos are more shareable than blog posts because humans are naturally visually oriented creatures. Second, video sharing platforms like YouTube can be another arena where your small business can establish a presence.
If your videos are well-made and well-received, you could be looking not just at another way to get new customers but another revenue stream altogether. If you want to start making videos, you must get great equipment such as a microphone, a reliable video camera and a laptop to use for editing. Topics you can explore should be related to your field, just like ideal blog posts.
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Encourage Online Reviews
Consumers perform research on businesses just like with every other aspect of online interactions. But users are more likely to look for customer reviews since these are effective methods for judging whether they want to patronize your business.
Many experts have explored the impact of online reviews on customers and the results claim that any review, positive or negative, have a large impact on what they think about your business. For this reason you need to encourage satisfied customers to leave glowing reviews on sites or on your own page.
Great customer reviews can almost act like recommendations and referrals. Put up your business information in different review platforms like Yelp or Google My Business to make it easier for customers to do so.
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Engage with Users
Consumers value authentic interaction with brands, and they like it when businesses don’t seem like monolithic enterprises. According to research on consumer preferences, users say they feel comforted when business owners engage with people on social media. This is because it humanizes the brand associated with the business owner.
Studies also show 64 percent of consumers want businesses to interact with them and digital platforms make this very easy. Use the comment sections on your social media pages or websites to gather user insight. Hold contests on your sites and talk to people. Feature user-generated content on your blogs. The possibilities are endless and you can greatly improve not only your presence but also your image.
Establishing an online presence is no longer and option but a necessity for small businesses everywhere. If you want your enterprise to not only survive but thrive in today’s digital economy, get to work on creating a great online brand for your business today.
