Online promotion is a necessity for almost any business
these days. If you are a new business, or one with a low advertising budget,
navigating the many options available to you can be daunting, especially when
you are also concentrating on other day-to-day business needs. However, major
search engines, social media, and advertising services have made it easy to
promote your business online. In many cases, services are free or low-cost.
Give your customers what they want by having a sound presence online.
WESITE
Create a website. A visible online business presence
requires having a website that users can visit for information. Luckily, you
don’t have to be an experienced web developer to create a website for your
business.[1] •Many services (such as Wordpress and Wix) make it easy for you to
set up a business website using simple, guided steps.
•Google has partnered with local business services through
the Get Your Business Online (GYBO) program to help businesses create websites
and promote themselves online in other ways.[2]
•You can also work with a company (such as Go Daddy) to
purchase a website domain name. Many of these company also offer services to
help you build the website, or will create one for you. These services usually
have a low monthly fee.
•Try to make your website’s domain name one that matches
your business name, or, if that is not possible, one that describes what
products or services it offers.
Build content on your website.
Once you’ve created a basic website, you should start
filling it with useful information. Think about what potential customers would
like to know about your business, and make sure that the information is easy to
find. You can include:[4] •Location
•Hours of operation
•Contact information (telephone, email, etc.)
•Information about products and services that your business
offers
•Descriptions of any special offers
•Your business logo, prominently featured
•The history of your business
•Testimonies or reviews from past clients/customers
Share your URL.
You want every customer
to be able to find your website easily. While search engines can make this
possible, you should also seize every opportunity to share your website’s
address (URL). Print it on business cards, invoices, brochures, promotional
materials, etc. [5]
Choose a blogging service.
Many companies also like to share information with customers
by writing and posting regular news, stories, and offers online. You can
incorporate a blog into your website using help from a website set-up service
or program. You can also create a blog on a separate website with help from a
blogging service, such as:[6] •Blogger
•Wordpress
•Tumblr
Blog regularly.
Blogs can be used to show the world what your business
offers or cares about. The important thing is to update frequently—if your blog
hasn’t had new content in a while, people might think that your company not
active. On the other hand, avoid updating your blog so frequently that
subscribers are annoyed with the inundation of information.[7] •It is a good
idea to create a backlog of content that is ready to go up on your blog at any
time. That way, if you are too busy to create content from scratch, you can
pull something from this pool of material.
•List posts (Like “Top 10 Customer Favorites”) or roundups
(“Highlights of 2015”) can be created quickly, and will pull users deeper into
your blog, if you link to older blog posts or other areas of your website.[8]
•Make your blog content shareable. Most blogging services
already have this feature built in. This allows users to repost your content on
their own websites or blogs, easily promoting your business more widely.[9]
Learn about Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
If you are serious about promoting your business online, you
will want to learn how to maximize opportunities for users to interact with
your online content and site(s) through major search engines (such as Google,
Yahoo!, and Bing). You can learn more about this technique, called SEO, by
reading tips online, or taking an online or in-person course. Marketing companies
can also work with your business on SEO matters.[10]
Make your website mobile-friendly.
An increasing amount of online traffic comes from users of
mobile devices. To make websites easier to read (and less taxing on users’ data
plans), they should be optimized for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile
devices. Some website services and programs incorporate mobile optimization
automatically, but you should frequently view your website on a variety of
devices to make sure that it is user-friendly.[11]
Promote your business using a variety of social media.
Many potential customers are on social media, and your
business should have a presence there, too. That way, you will maximize the
number of opportunities to share information about your business and to connect
with the public. There are many social media services available that you can
sign up with, and each one has distinct features. Major services include:
•Facebook
•Twitter
•Instagram
•Pinterest
•YouTube
•LinkedIn
•Google Plus
•Foursquare
Use the social media that make most sense for your business.
You don’t have to spread yourself too thin by trying to be
active on all social media. Make sure you have a presence on the largest
services, and then tailor your online presence with more specific ones. For
instance, a restaurant may definitely want to have a Facebook account, but it
may then be more important for it to have a presence on services like Yelp and
Open table rather than an Instagram account.[12] •Make sure that your social
media profiles link back to your website, to make it easy for customers to find
it.[13]
Network with customers and other businesses.
LinkedIn is probably
the most popular social networking service for professionals and businesses,
but all social media offer ways to connect with customers. Make sure that you
are connecting with customers, vendors, and even competitors on all of your
social media accounts.[14
Respond to people on social media.
Take the time to
connect you’re your customers via social media. For instance, if a customer
says something great about your company, repost, “like,” or “favorite” the
comment. Likewise, if a customer asks a question, answer it online. Your
customers will appreciate the attention and feeling like they can reach out to
your business.[15]
Post multimedia content.
Online promotion provides lots of opportunities to share
information about your company in audio-visual formats. You can post material
both on your own website and via social media services like YouTube, Pinterest,
Instagram, Vimeo, and Flicker. Content might include commercials, promotional
videos, and photos of your products, projects, services, etc. [16]
Use social media for press releases.
Customers spend lots of time on social media, and you will
want to connect with them meaningfully. Anytime your business has notable news
(a new product, a special offer, an award, an event, a contest, etc.), post
something about it on every social media service it uses. [17]
Decide how you want to advertise your business online.
In addition to a
website and social media content, you can promote your business by placing ads
on other content. The process of creating and placing advertisements online has
been streamlined by search engine and social media companies. Look into their
services for business to find out more about options like: •Banner ads that
display across websites that users visit.[18]
•Pay per click (PPC) advertising, which generates revenue
when users click on sponsored links to or ads for your content while browsing
online.[19]
•Google AdWords, which offers PPC and other advertising
options.[20]
•Ads placed in social media, such as Facebook and Twitter.
Register with location listing services. Major search
engines have services to make it easier for your business to be found by
browsing customers using maps and other location-oriented tools. Typically, all
you have to is register and the service will verify your business. Common
services of this type include: [21] •Google Places
•Yahoo! Local
•Bing
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