How To Start an Online Presence For Your Small Business Today

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to start your online presence but you do need more time.. 

I’m sure you’ve had plans to build your website, start your business blog, start your social media posts, the whole 9 yards. The reality is that there’s a lot of time that goes into starting a business. 

Your online presence takes a back burner to current projects, client estimates, you name it. I’m sure something has gotten in the way of an Instagram post, or carving out time to write a new post for your business’s blog. 

We have distilled the process to getting started and some basic ongoing activities that will help keep your business on-track.

What is an online presence?

An online presence is the way your business is represented on the internet and how easily future clients can find you through a search.

You’ve probably heard your friends say how their company has been successful without an online presence; now imagine if they had one. 

If you’re always in a time crunch, we offer all of the services below. We’ll save you time and provide project updates.

Ways to start an online presence :

Finding your domain and starting your business website

I won’t over complicate this section because we plan on writing about this more in depth in the future. So here are the basics : 

• Find a host like one of these three SiteGround.com, Hostgator.com, WPEngine.com
• To make things easy, pick their WordPress hosting or just click the links above
• Wordpress will be automatically installed and you can begin installing themes, plugins, changing text, adding pages, etc. 

Imagine going to sleep and having a 24-hour employee.. When a business website is done right, that is what you’ll get!

Setup or claim your Google My Business Account

Your Google My Business Listing could possibly be the most important step of them all. Why? Because results for simple searches like “ dentist near me” or “[company name] phone number” all get pulled from this listing.

We can optimize your listing later. The steps to get up and running are found on Google’s website and can be done in 15 minutes or less. 

They’ll have to verify business by physically mailing a confirmation letter to your address even if your business doesn’t have one. Once you receive your letter, follow the steps and your listing will be verified. 

Some times Google will automatically find your business and list it for you, even if you haven’t claimed it yet. Google your business to find if they’ve done that already.

Below is an example:

Social Media is as important but not for every business model

We get a question like this all the time, “What should I do about social media?”

The quick answer, get started and be consistent. But like the section says, it’s not as important for every business model.

The goal of social media is to provide some type of value to your customers. Whether that’s photos of delicious looking pastries from the local bakery or a time lapse video doing a bathroom remodel. 

We are visual creatures, processing and making decisions with our eyes. Customers want to see what you’re doing and what they’re going to eventually buy.  

The best way to decide if social media will impact your business is to sit back and think about what value it will bring to future customers?

Get Serious about SEO ( Search Engine Optimization )

“Start a blog!” is the advice we hear from our fellow business owners and entrepreneurs. While they’re not wrong, we want a calculated approach to growth. 

Is your business local? Is it national? Do you sell products? Are you looking to provide an informational resource for your visitors? All of these questions(and more..) are important to ask yourself and change the overall SEO action plan for your business. 

The Google Map Pack is the top 3 listings you find when you search for “ [industry] near me “ or ” [industry] [location]”

As you can imagine, the businesses here receive a bulk of the calls when looking for your industry. Some companies use an SEO strategy, while others don’t. 

Getting your business in the top 3 Google Map Pack is doable with consistent effort and time.

For Local Businesses focus on these here:

• Getting setup with your Google Search Console and Google Analytics account

• Getting proper and consistent citations of your businesses Name, Address, and phone number across all online listings
• Optimizing all of the information on your Google My Business
• Having a website to further describe your services and target specific keywords
• Having local links back to your website like your chambers of commerce, etc.
• Staying active on your Google My Business page replying to reviews, good and bad
• Utilizing Google Posts within your Google My Business page

Think about it like a sales employee who works around the clock and steadily improves their sales techniques. With each link back to your website, with each keyword ranked for, your website will continue to grow as your business does. 

Every business needs a Search Engine Optimization strategy. It provides your marketing a steady, long term growth. We have a 6 month SEO sprint we use to get our clients results.

How does an online presence benefit your business?

Creating and maintaining your online presence is one of those “punch the clock” tasks that you won’t realize is working until you’ve got a whole office full of people answering the phones with customers referred by your website. 

Our best advice, make a calendar and carve out time for the tasks we spoke about in this article. It takes patience and consistency to see the results from your online presence. 

If you’d like us to take the lead on this or simply ask for advice on the next steps for your business. Get in touch with us and we will be happy to give you a couple pointers.