You have a website, you occasionally post on social media, you sometimes write and post a blog. Is that enough to give your company a strong online presence? The answer unfortunately is no. But expanding your reach is possible, even for the burdened entrepreneur with little time and resources.
Start with these five quick and easy ways to increase your company’s online presence.
- Get listed: There are countless online business directories where you can list your business and most are free. A simple listing, such as this business profile at Crunchbase, provides a quick and easy way to let users know who you are, what you do and where you do it. Best of all, listings show up in search engine results. An additional step you can take is to claim your business listing on websites such as Yelp and Google. After you claim your business listing, make sure the information is correct and add your own touches.
- Blog more: This is a tough one if you’re time-deprived. Writing a blog post with high quality informative content is not an easy thing to do. It’s time-consuming. And, writing may not be your fortè. But the benefits of consistently writing and posting new blogs far outweigh the difficulty that goes into writing them.
Updating content is essential for a number of reasons, but one of the most important is that Google indexes your site more favorably if you consistently update content. Blogs are also great for keeping website visitors interested and coming back.
OK, you need to blog more. How can you blog more without spending all of your time at a desk trying to come up with something new and exciting? Have you thought about asking partners and colleagues to write a guest post or two for your site? Ask an expert in a field related to your business but not a competitor, to write a guest post for you. It’s a win-win because you get fresh, much-needed content and the expert gets free exposure.
Stuck for ideas? How about asking your customers what topics you should tackle? You’ll get lots of great feedback there. Blogging takes time, but consistency, whether you blog once a week or once a month is key. An FYI — twice a week is optimum blog frequency.
- Actively engage in social media: Social media is one of the easiest ways to engage followers and improve your online presence. Posting on Facebook and Twitter takes a matter of seconds. You can interact with followers while you’re drinking your morning coffee, make a quick check during lunch or answer questions at 2 a.m. when you’re having trouble falling asleep.
- A friendly website is a mobile website: This may not be an easy fix if you haven’t take care of it by now, but you have to do it. Google will penalize your site if it is not easily viewed on mobile devices. There are services you can use to convert your site into a mobile-friendly one. Or, hire a designer. It’s that important.
5. Show you’re an expert: Another quick way to strengthen your online business presence is by posting on related industry and consumer forums. As your contributions grow, so does your expert reputation.