Using the internet is crucial to your business’s success in today’s online market. Digital marketing is the key to getting more clicks, finding new leads, and experiencing growth for your company.
But often, digital marketing can seem easier said than done. Perhaps you have little-to-no online presence. We’ve narrowed down the components of successful digital marketing into seven steps so you can understand how to achieve a robust online presence for your business.
1. Strong Branding
Branding refers to how consumers perceive and instantly recognize your business. Consider McDonald’s and their Golden Arches. Everyone knows when they see those arches in the distance that there is a McDonald’s fast food restaurant nearby. They may think of some of the products available there, even if they choose to keep driving.
Part of standing out online is having strong branding that people can instantly recognize and attach to your business and its offerings. To do this effectively, you need to understand your ideal client, known as a buyer persona, and build your branding to attract them.
Your logo, the colors, and even the fonts you use all come together to create your business’s recognizable branding for your ideal clients. And by staying consistent with these choices, more and more people will recognize you from the competition because of your strong brand image, both online and in the real world.
2. Optimized Website
Imagine a potential customer clicking on your website for the first time. What would they experience? Would they see a jumbled mess of text, low-quality pictures, and an indiscernible main menu? Or would they see clean text, high-quality images, and a clear path forward for what they should click next to meet their needs?
Optimization ensures people stay on your website once they arrive. Your website should be easy to navigate and guide them toward a sale or filling out a contact form. It should be visually pleasing, whether they’re on their desktop or smartphone.
Here are five best practices for optimizing your website:
- Use WordPress to build the site
- Optimize the website for mobile users
- Include several high-quality, informative pages
- Fully abide by your brand guidelines
- Include obvious calls to action to guide the visitor’s next step
3. Google Business Profile
Having a Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as a Google My Business Page, ensures people get quick, easy-to-read-and-use information about your business when they use Google to search for your business online. This helps your business appear official, professional, and ready to meet your customers’ needs.
People looking for business information on the web are getting used to businesses having a GBP to meet their immediate needs. If your competition has a GBP and you don’t, then you will be missing out on potential leads.
Here is some of the information you can include in your GBP to give people immediate information and actions to take:
- A link to your website
- Contact info, including your business phone number
- Reviews
- Pictures of your business and/or products
- Hours of operation
- Address
4. Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is all about getting found by your ideal customer on a search engine when they make relevant queries online. Nearly four billion people use Google for internet searches worldwide, making it the most popular web browsing platform.
Every time someone searches for something on Google, they are greeted by the search engine results pages (SERPs). The goal of SEO is to get your website to the top of those pages to generate more clicks and funnel more leads to your website. But you have to expect that your competition is thinking the same thing.
Most people lack the patience to wade through the search engine results pages (SERPs) to find the information they’re looking for, so they’re going to click on the options that come first. To beat your competition, you need a robust SEO plan that includes an optimized website for both mobile and desktop, educational content with relevant industry keywords, and the patience for your plan to start paying a huge return on your investment.
It can seem a bit daunting, but take heart. A digital marketing company like The Coutts Agency can help your business rank higher in the SERPs through effective SEO strategy and practices.
5. Organic Social Media
Another important step toward a robust online presence for your business is having a strong organic social media gameplan. Nearly 7 out of 10 Americans use social media to connect, pass the time, and receive news content. This makes social media like a field of potential leads ready for the harvest.
The key to growing organically on social media is to gain a loyal following and then consistently engage with that following. Here are some of the best ways to do this with the reasons why they’re so important:
- Using Facebook and Instagram: These are two of the most popular platforms that emphasize images, video, and text. Utilize them to boost your brand image, educate your followers, and engage with potential leads.
- Posting seven times per week: One post per day shows your followers that you’re active on social media. It also pleases the algorithm to boost your posts in people’s newsfeeds.
- Posting daily stories: Stories are another way to engage with your audience, often with a more personal, lively touch. This can help your company feel more human to your followers, causing them to feel like they know you before even making a purchase.
- Quickly answering comments and messages: We live in an age of quick responses and speedy transferring of information. Your followers will expect this of you if they have a question or concern. By responding to comments and messages quickly, your audience will begin building trust for your company and your brand.
6. Google Paid Ads
If you want Google searchers to find your business even more easily, you can opt for Google Ads. With these, Google ensures your business’s ads appear before consumers who are likely to take an interest in your goods or services.
The ads can appear in a variety of places, including the Google SERPs, YouTube, and across the web. Wherever your ideal customers are browsing online, Google can place your ad in front of them using their robust algorithm. Of course, using Google Ads costs money, but it can help you maximize your marketing budget and give you a good return on your investment.
7. Paid Social Media
You can also use paid ads on social media to help contribute to your robust online presence. Facebook and Instagram make the process easy. If you have quality content to include in the paid ad, then you’ll be on your way toward using paid ads effectively. Here are some of the benefits of paid social media ads:
- Accelerate page growth by reaching a wide, targeted audience
- Drive more traffic to your website by including a link to your site within the ad
- Collect lead information
- Keep your business at the top of people’s minds
Partner With The Coutts Agency to Experience a Robust Online Presence for Your Business
Now that you know why the above steps are so important, it’s time to put them into action. But building a robust online presence takes time and effort. As a small business owner, chances are high that you’re already filling your schedule and devoting your skills to other matters.
Let The Coutts Agency handle your online marketing needs. We specialize in effectively implementing the above steps so you can focus on what you do best.
