Web Presence – 8 Steps of Making the Big Shift to Online | The How and Why of getting your business online

What is Web Presence?

Let’s start with this, What do we do when we want to buy something?

It’s simple! We look online. We research specific details of the product on various portals, dig reviews, explore and then buy with confidence. This search, dig and explore phenomenon is happening around us every moment of the day on laptops, mobile phones, and tablets. 

My 7-year-old daughter knows how to look for a dress online for herself or how to find a recipe for her favorite fudge cake. This paradigm change in people’s buying behavior or the digital transformation that we are witnessing is here to stay and is pushing us towards the future, now more fiercely than ever. 

Let’s say that you love to paint and sell your paintings strictly through referrals or word of mouth. So far, you’ve not had a digital presence but now you are looking forward to taking your business online. Now, how will that benefit you? Having an online presence means that you’ll be visible to people when they search for a business like yours. People can learn so much about you and your offerings with the help of a single click on your website’s link.

Have a blog or a youtube channel where you teach people DIY tricks on how they can create stunning masterpieces on their own. The possibilities of them getting to know you, making a connection with you, becoming your customers, and then referring you to others, are virtually endless. You also get to learn about your customers, which content they like, which one they spend more time on, which product or service brought them to your website or blog, etc. This will give you an insight into what your customers want and how to give it to them. 

Exciting, right? But how exactly do we start with this?

Building Your Web Presence

Let’s go back to the painting seller example. The first step that most people would tell you is to start a Facebook page or become active on Instagram and try to sell your stuff through your page to get more visibility and reach. I agree considering the immense reach and popularity of these platforms this should be the first step to take and this might give you a lot of visibility and drive audiences to your brand in a short span of time. But will that be enough?

Actually, NO. Let’s understand, that Facebook and Instagram are also here to make money. So when their AI bots realize that you are using their platform to sell, they would reduce your visibility in your circles unless you start paying them. Moreover, you are still not sure about the ROI even when you pay them. In these circumstances, it’s always advisable to start your blog to build your online presence. 

Here are the steps on how to take your brand to the next level:

Set up S.M.A.R.T goals

Setting a goal establishes a clearly defined path and a thought-out direction which will eventually lead you to long-term success. They help you to prioritize your energies, maintain motivation, build resilience and give you a clear vision of what you intend for.

What are S.M.A.R.T. goals?

This widely used acronym is used to guide people in setting objectives for themselves. Goals should be a clear milestone of what you wish to achieve.

Specific — The more specific your goal description is, the better chance you’ll actually meet it. You’ll have more motivation to take action if you know exactly what you want. 

Measurable — Having a measurable goal will keep you on task and track your progress.

Attainable — Is this goal achievable to you? Your goal should be realistic, but also stretch your boundaries giving leeway for more opportunities to conquer.

Relevant — Ask yourself “what is the significance behind reaching this goal?” You want to make sure that each goal is purposeful in getting them to where they want to be. Is it relevant to their overall journey?

Timely — Establish deadlines to make the goals seem attainable.

An example of a smart goal for an aspiring digital marketeer

List yourself On Business Directories

One of the first steps you should take in establishing your online presence is to make sure your business is listed in popular business directories.

List your business on Google My Business. You can use your listings on these directories to do the following:

• Help customers find your store location
• List business hours
• Provide reviews from past customers
• Feature images of your business

Setting up your social media presence

Having a presence on social media instills trust in your current customers and prospects. Personally, if I see that a company doesn’t have a presence on social media, I lose trust and feel unsure if they even exist.

Plus, social media is a great way to build your credibility and reputation and showcase your brand. When potential customers are researching your brand, the first place they’ll look is social media to see what you’re putting out there and what people are saying about you.

Set up your own WordPress Website or Blog

Creating your own Blog or Website will reap your benefits in the long run. You can design your website the way you want, WordPress offers you complete flexibility and gives you total control of your site. You can build an online store, share your ideas through the blog with high-quality content and unlock the unlimited potential your site has to offer. It gets a bit technical though but you can follow my guide to creating a successful WordPress blog

Make a relationship with your customers through Email marketing

You must start collecting emails from your audiences from day 1 of beginning your digital journey. An email list will help you engage with your customers on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. You can use a call to action on your website and social media pages to promote your email newsletter or an ebook and collect emails. 

Build an online community

Having a digital community i.e, your brand’s FB group or a telegram channel will help you connect with your audiences. You’ll be able to listen to their needs, take action about their grievances, and know instantly about their satisfaction. It also helps improve brand visibility immensely if you are constantly in touch with your customers. 

However, you should focus on choosing the right social media channels

It’s very critical to choose the right social media channels to build your community on. Twitter is a great forum for effective customer support, Facebook helps you cater to a wider audience and Instagram works well if your audience is young and hip. 

Market your online presence

Since you have created your web presence, you need to understand how to show up on search engines when people search for brands like yours. Just creating your website or blog isn’t magically going to bring people to your site. You have to market your site using

• Facebook ads
• Google ads
• SEO
• Content Marketing
• Influencer Marketing

Analyse and Adapt

Track your results using analytics. See what people are doing on your website, what brings them to your site, what actions they perform once they reach your property, and how much they spend exploring which part of your website and adapting to changes in technology accordingly.

Taking your business online does take some effort but in my opinion, it’s completely worth it given the snowball effect it can create for your business. You may consider hiring someone to do this but it’s still essential to that as a business owner you have full knowledge of the concepts.  

Watch this video for a quick outline of the article

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