Should Your Business Have More of an Online Presence?

Whether you have been in business for many years or are one of the new kids on the block, how much of an online presence does your brand have?

For many business owners, the answer to that question is not much of one.

In order to reverse course moving forward, it is important that you don’t overlook the importance of a strong website in order to promote your brand.

Whether you use marketing content, social media, videos or a number of other promotional tools, a strong online presence is a necessity, not a choice in today’s digital world.

With that in mind, should your business have more of an online presence for the second half of 2016 and well beyond that?

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Worldwide Web Can Be the Difference Maker

So that your brand can benefit as much as possible from a strong Internet approach, keep these items in mind:

  • Promotions – Make sure you are doing all you can with online promotions. This means promoting your brand through banner ads, blog posts, social networking, podcasts, videos and more. If you feel like you lack the expertise for such online activities, hire those who do have such a pedigree. There are countless sites out there from tradebit to mom and pop shops who know what they’re doing when it comes to running organized websites. No matter what items or services these businesses offer, they are able to spell out what they have to offer in clear and concise terms, allowing consumers to download, make purchases and more. Promoting the fact that you have a website with much to offer only helps to enhance your brand;
  • Ecommerce – It is getting harder and harder to find businesses these days without an Ecommerce component to their mix. As an example, you might have a small business that sells office supplies. While you have an actual physical location (perhaps more than one) to sell such goods, having them for sale online too is all but a no-brainier. This way, you can literally take orders from not only the U.S., but many other locations too. What was once a business that strictly relied on in-person purchases can now get consumers shopping with a simple visit to your website. As a result of this, it is important that Ecommerce store is working 24/7. Remember, one of the nice things about having an online store is that consumers can shop whenever they feel like it. That said review the Ecommerce store regularly to make sure it is working without any kinks. One of the biggest gaffes you can have is if your online store either freezes up or essentially crashes when customers go to the checkout cart. Review the process regularly to make sure that is not an issue;
  • Videos – While you might have (and should have) stellar content on your site’s blog and elsewhere online, pictures can truly tell a story. If you have not used videos in the past for your brand promotions, consider doing so moving forward. Even a few customer testimonials and/or videos of your employees and what they do etc. can garner consumer attention. If you and/or your staff is not all that keen or experienced behind the camera, hiring professionals for such needs certainly makes sense. Along with a video component, offering podcasts, white papers and more on your site is great too;
  • Social networking – Finally, the social media component of your online presence is one that should never be overlooked either. With the right mix of social networking, your brand can benefit in a number of ways. For starters millions of consumers use sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and others daily. You can tap into some of those millions of consumers by regularly engaging in social media. One of the many benefits of being an active social media participant is that doing so is essentially free of charge (albeit time and effort). Another important facet of this is that social media can be done literally 24/7/365. That being the case, your business can pick and choose the times it wants to be a most active social player.

With so much to benefit from having a well-positioned website, your business would be literally nuts not to have lots of online energy.