Joey Armstrong is a digital marketing consultant and blogger. In the following, Armstrong explains the top areas businesses should be focusing on to improve online presence.
With so much technology employed by consumers, having a strong online presence is key for success in almost any field. Improving how a brand is seen and perceived can be done in a myriad of ways, many of which only require a bit of time and effort.
1. Optimize Visibility
Joey Armstrong explains that If a business has an excellent website and product but low visibility for customers, it may as well be a dead-end error page. Online visibility is the capability of a business or person to be seen by its intended audiences online. Normally, this refers to how easy it is to find the business on a search engine or through a social media search.
Visibility can be optimized by creating a dedicated following (quality over quantity), engaging with that audience, delivering unique content or products, using hashtags, and, perhaps most importantly, utilizing SEO.
SEO
Most should be familiar with the concept of SEO by now, or search engine optimization, but the execution of it can be elusive. This is the process of getting a business or page to rank highly on a search engine like Google or Bing. Improving SEO is a surefire way to improve online presence, as more people will see your brand when googling something related to your product or services.
2. Scale Social Media
In 2020, over 3 billion people were using some form of social media. This number is expected to reach more than half of the world’s population by 2025, according to Joey Armstrong. If a business is missing out on social media, it could be missing out on billions of customers and followers.
Scaling social media includes choosing which platforms a business will focus on and actively posting on said platform.
Platforms that matter
Top social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. With consistently evolving technology, platforms are sure to appear and disappear over time. Businesses should choose platforms that host the specific audience that they are targeting.
Active posts
Joey Armstrong says that once on a platform, businesses and individuals need to engage their audience through a series of active posts. This includes regularly posting, engaging followers, and creating eye-catching content.
3. Build an Email List
Building an email list allows for further engagement with past clients and potential future ones. You can communicate through this email list daily, weekly, or monthly. Most businesses opt for weekly communications with an option for fewer emails to retain subscribers.
Creating a Newsletter
The most common way to share information through your email list is through a consistent newsletter. Customers can sign up for this newsletter off of your website or through a purchase from your company.
Newsletters should be short, sweet, and to the point. They should relay information that your subscribers will find insightful, interesting, or attractive. Communications to your email list may include sales, updates, recaps, news, or other information your customers may find valuable.
4. Pay-per-click Ads
Moving into the advertising realm, Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are another way to increase your online presence. This method posts your company’s ad on another site, referred to as the publisher. Publishers are sites that have high web traffic, attracting many potential clients.
Every time a person on the publisher’s site clicks on your ad, you will pay the publisher. Think of it as renting out a space on the publisher’s website. This is prime real estate, so you’re likely to get thousands of people who view your ad daily, according to Joey Armstrong.
PPC ads are a good way to increase your online visibility, especially if you can partner with a publisher that caters to the audience you are also targeting.
5. Public Relations
A public relations or marketing specialist is an almost-guaranteed way to improve your online presence. These professionals are trained and skilled in how to create your brand, market it, attract an audience, and retain them as ongoing customers.
Hiring a PR or marketing specialist comes at a financial cost, but it may be well worth the investment if you’re looking to improve your numbers and visibility online.
6. Podcasting
Another popular way to grow your online presence is through podcasting. Podcasts are short series of audio focused on a specific topic or theme.
Joey Armstrong explains that podcasts are a great way to grow your brand and emphasize what makes it unique. You can grow a strong audience off of an informative podcast. This may also lead to networking and collaboration with other podcasters, expanding your audience.
7. Analyze Your Presence
You can’t improve your online presence if you don’t know how much of a presence you have in the first place. It’s important to analyze your online presence and continue ongoing monitoring to see if your strategies are working or not.
Google Analytics is a free and comprehensive system that helps you track who is seeing your webpage and how people are interacting with it. Adobe Analytics, Amplitude, and Mixpanel are other analytic options to track your online presence. Joey Armstrong reports that many major web hosting sites also include their own analytic features.
Growing your online presence is all about trial and error. So long as you monitor what’s working and change what isn’t, you will slowly but surely build a relatable and recognizable brand.
