Creating an Effective Web Presence in 2021

Your web presence is how your business exists, represents itself online, and builds up its online footprint.

Businesses need to build a strong digital presence for awareness, reaching potential customers, engaging target audiences, and driving growth as online channels expand.

In this post, I will go into more detail about website optimization and look at ways you can improve your website’Œ ‘Œpresence.

What is a digital presence?

You can think of digital presence as to how your business appears online. The web presence of your business includes several different aspects and can be summarized as a combination of your website, content, social media accounts, search engine results, and other digital channels.

Your website and blog might get stumbled upon by people looking for a related product, service, or information. Some other people may stumble across your Twitter profile or an advertisement paid for by you while browsing Facebook.

Regardless of the case, potential customers are engaging with your digital presence.

What makes up a digital presence?

As I’ve mentioned, digital marketing channels are numerous and continuously growing in number these days. Therefore, the development, implementation, management, and refinement of a business’s digital presence across these channels must be aligned within a comprehensive marketing strategy.

So, here are the pieces of the puzzle that make up most of your web presence:

According to Internet Live Stats, 3.5 billion Google searches are made every day. Statista reports that 90% of searches made on desktops are done via Google. Thus, an effective digital presence begins with your company website. Your website is usually the first place customers visit when they want to learn more about you or your business. As a result, everything from your About page to the landing pages for your products and services must be optimized and refined.

Additionally, a high-quality user experience requires that the website is consistent, contains helpful information, has intuitive navigation, and has a responsive design (so your website works properly on all devices). When you have these qualities, you can shape your business’ reputation as both authentic and reputable, thereby making a significant impact on your online audience.

Search Engine Optimization

Once you have a website, it’s important to get it found in search engines. Customers use search engines to research products, services, and businesses. It is important, therefore, that you take search engine optimization (SEO) into consideration when developing your website.

Here’s a quick overview of what SEO is, how it works, and why it’s important:

• Who: Any business that has information that people want to find on the internet should be using SEO techniques.
• What: The goal of search engine optimization is to enable search engines to find your website and to list it in organic search results (as opposed to paid).
• When: SEO is a continuous process. Maintain your website’s content and ensure it is accurate and up-to-date. New content is also very attractive to search engines, which is what makes blogging so beneficial.
• Where: Search engines including Google, Bing, Yahoo, and more. People all over the world use search engines to find the content they want, from products, services, and information.
• Why: Since people tend to trust search engines, ranking higher in result pages is more likely to drive more traffic to your website.
• How: Using search-engine friendly methods to improve your website, such as implementing the proper Schema.

Social Media Marketing

Having a presence on social media is vital for digital marketing today. You can use social media to humanize your business and broaden potential customers’ awareness of it. Each post you make on Facebook or Twitter is an opportunity to engage followers, as well as project the type of identity you aim for. As you establish your social media presence, you can also enhance your digital footprint in a variety of ways, such as personalized customer service and building authority when you trend and go viral.

Search Engine Marketing and Paid Advertising

Customers often find your website after searching for your business or making a query about your products or services. Your web presence is determined by how you appear on search engine result pages (SERPs). The results that show up at the top of both general or local searches are the ones that get the most clicks, and therefore the most business and trust. If your website and content are well optimized, then you have a greater chance of ranking well.

You can also advertise your web presence with paid advertising to reach target audiences and potential customers. Search Engine Marketing, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads, display ads, and social media ads can be useful tools for raising awareness of your business online.

Content Marketing

Content marketing involves creating online content such as blog posts, images, videos, infographics, etc. This content should benefit the user and not be a distinctly branded advertisement. Create relevant content to generate interest in your products or services.

Your content will be your most powerful resource for defining and enhancing your online presence. You can use high-quality content to rank well on keywords, engage prospects, nurture leads, and establish yourself as an authority in a particular subject matter.

Going back to keywords, you’ll want to focus on what’s called ‘œlong-tail keywords.’ Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keyword phrases that visitors are more likely to use when they’re closer to a point-of-purchase or when they’re using voice search.

Take this example: if you’re a company that sells comic books, the chances are that your pages are never going to appear near the top of an organic search for “comic books” because there’s too much competition. But if you specialize in, say, rare Marvel comic books, then keywords like ‘œrare Marvel Captain America Comics #1’ are going to reliably find those consumers looking for exactly that product.

How Does a Strong Digital Presence Stand Out?

Developing a digital presence requires refinement. A business’ digital presence, such as the elements listed above, forms a large part of customers’ perceptions and preferences. If you want to achieve the desired results, make sure your digital presence follows these practices:

• Web presence must be unified and consistent. An effective online presence makes business more visible and easier to remember. Use the same color scheme on your social media profile and in your content assets as you do on your website. Across all digital marketing platforms and channels, key items like taglines, imagery, tone, and style must be aligned.
• Consider physical interactions. In addition to digital, physical interactions with customers can have an impact on your online presence. Consider showrooming or interactive retail. These strategies integrate a physical presence with a digital presence. Moreover, interactions with customer service can influence user-generated reviews, and in turn, that can either strengthen or weaken your web presence. To build a resilient business, you will need to consider all such digital and physical intersections.
• Have mobile optimized content. Even carefully crafted digital presences can be negatively affected by poor performance on mobile. Having web pages that aren’t optimized for smartphones and tablets can cause customers to become frustrated. Nevertheless, mobile also presents opportunities, rather than just challenges, particularly with respect to apps, local search, and social media presence.

5 Tips to Improve Your Web Presence

Keeping up with your web presence takes constant attention. Making the most of your resources and building a strong online presence can be accomplished by focusing on areas of improvement. You can do so by following these 5 tips:

1) Don’t Ignore The Small Things

The optimization of your website will take a great deal of effort, and it deserves it. However, don’t neglect other components of your digital presence as a result.

Online search engines & directories, such as Google, Bing, and Yelp, need to display accurate information about your business hours, locations, and contact details. Having outdated or incorrect information present to customers can then negatively impact their experience with your business, which ultimately deteriorates and undermines your digital presence.

2) Think Beyond The Basics

It’s important not to forget the small things, but also to try to go above and beyond. If you’re going to do content marketing (and you should), you shouldn’t just stop at blog posts.

When it comes to getting your online presence up to snuff, think about guest blogs that can expand your marketing reach and show your authority as well as thought leadership that resonates with customers. Email is no different. Newsletters can set you apart from the competition by adding value to your customer’s inbox.

Consider looking into Marketing Automation to make your life easier. I am an ActiveCampaign Partner and we love their platform. However, AWeber. Constant Contact, ConvertKit, GetResponse, MailChimp, and SendInBlue are also excellent alternatives.

3) Utilize Visual Content

You need quality copy that is optimized so that your website can rank for your targeted keywords. But it could also benefit from well-produced visual content that describes your business’ philosophy, mission, and messages to potential customers in more detail.

Content assets such as infographics and videos can be very impactful, as well as shareable on social media. Integrating your business’ imagery, iconography, and colors into your digital presence will convert your audience into instant brand advocates who can instantly distinguish you from your competitors.

One invaluable resource for this is Canva.

4) Participate On Multiple Social Media Platforms

When it comes to social media, you need to be active on more than just Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Aside from these platforms, there are a number of others you can utilize to develop your digital presence.

In order to reach your customers, you must identify the platforms they use most. In the case of B2C brands, Pinterest or Snapchat profiles may be desirable; for B2B companies, a LinkedIn profile is a good idea, while an authority spot on Quora may also be beneficial.

To manage your social media accounts, you may want to look into solutions such as Publer, Sprout Social, RADAAR, and HootSuite. Buffer is a great, free alternative.

5) Be Dynamic

It is impossible to grow a business with a static web presence. Your business needs to keep up with changes in search engine algorithms and customer preferences to remain relevant online. Keeping up with user experience (UX) trends and other development related to mobile and web design is crucial to staying relevant.

Digital presences flourish when they are given the proper attention and care. Creating an online footprint over time will make your business stand out to customers or help you appear in search engine results.

Questions or Ideas?

If you have any questions or have any additional tips for creating a superior web presence, please comment below.

Thanks for reading,
AJ