Online presence has become must for any business to survive these days. We have far evolved from just creating a website for your business and wait for opportunities to come and knock at your door. There is always a competitor for any business and for you to sustain in this digital world your only chance is to make your web presence stronger each day. The best way to achieve that is to promote business online. If your online presence is appreciable then the trust factor will be automatically injected into the nerves of online searching community. So lets get into some major things which you should follow to survive in this ever evolving digital world.
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Create a website for your business
The first and basic thing to do is to create a website of your business. Whatever you do without having a fully functional website may not turn fruitful. The website should briefly describe about your business, what you offer to the world and how to contact you. So if you have a running website you are good to go. Now it is time to promote business online.
Use business listing services
Register your business in Google’s local business listing service. This service is absolutely free and wont take too much time. Registering your business with Google Places allows it to be found more easily on Google searches and it also shows up on Google Maps. A great percentage of people uses google to search their needs. So it is important that your business should be present in google listings. Fill out the details of your business in the form and then register in google. There will be a confirmation process either via phone or mail. That’s all and your business is listed in google.
Same service is also available for Yahoo and Bing. Register your business there and you are good to go. Similar free online business listing directories are available in plenty. Browse through them and add your business there. This process also helps in better ranking of your website.
Promote business online via social media
If you thought social media can only be used for entertainment, you are completely wrong. Social media sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are powerful tools to promote business online. Create a page/account for your business. Start posting relevant contents regarding your business in a simple yet descriptive way. Make sure that your post is worth reading. You can also inform the crowd about any new offers you are planning to give out or any additions you are taking in for your business. These announcements will reach quickly to people in a way you can’t even think of.
A great advantage of social media is that you can always interact with people who may become potential clients of your business. You can always answer their queries at any given time.
Promote business online via blog
When you create a website for your business,make sure that you also create a blog along with that. A blog not only helps your company get its name out through followers, but is a way to connect with your consumers more directly. Post articles relevant to your business frequently in your blog. Share these articles in social media. By this you can drive more traffic to your website too.
SEO your business website
Search Engine Optimization cannot be described in a simple way. It takes time and effort to make your website SEO friendly. Optimization of your site for relevant keywords is an important aspect of promoting your business online. So it is always better to study about the same online or ask someone who knows how to SEO your website. To mention a few, pay attention to things like website’s speed, mobile usability, meta descriptions, reading level, citing of sources, content quality and so on.
Always keep in mind that SEO is not a short term process. So if you don’t get the desired result quickly there is no need to worry. But continue working for that.
Create video and post on YouTube
YouTube offers a great resource for marketing your business on the web. Over 4 billion videos are played on YouTube daily and these numbers are increasing day by day. Create a video showcasing your business or product. If you can get a testimonial from any of your client add that too. These videos appear in search results too giving more visibility for your business/product. YouTube is also a powerful tool to promote business online.
Join online communities like reddit, quora and answer the questions
Lot of online question and answer communities are present in the web. Main ones being Quora, Reddit etc. In these communities lot of people will be asking questions and those who know the answer explain them to the people. So if you see any question regarding your business you can answer them and you can even give a link which takes them to your site or blog or any article you wrote. By this people will be able to see and understand your business. Also make sure that your content is keyword-centric, insightful, unique and adds a lot of value.
Promote business online via email and sms marketing
Email and sms marketing are old online business promotion methods but may be helpful depending on your business. Personally I do not recommend these techniques as no one likes marketing mails and sms flooding our phone or email. But you can collect the details of those who are interested in your business/product and you can regularly update them about any new offers or additions you are planning.