How To Improve Your Company’s Online Presence
As digital transformation progressed, carving out an online presence was top of mind for businesses. Recent events have accelerated the need for companies to improve their presence online, irrespective of industry. From sharing testimonials and case studies to engaging regularly with your audience, your online persona is key to solidifying your brand and executing strategic marketing efforts.
What does a “good” online presence mean?
Building the best online presence for your business can mean a few things. It could mean how “searchable” your brand is, or how easy it is for users to find when they search relevant keywords. It also encompasses how users are able to regularly interact with your business, whether they become buyers or simply keep up with the content you make available.
Globally during the pandemic, a lack of access to in-person experiences made individuals interact with brands almost strictly online. Many businesses with physical “brick and mortar” stores had to invest heavily into moving their commerce online and becoming virtually accessible in order to survive. The brands who were easier to interact with online were better positioned to reach customers and sustain profitability.
Moving forward, the need for a strong online presence will only grow as technological advancements continue. Now is the time to create a place for your business in our virtual ecosystem. If you’re already in the process of improving your presence online, there are always new and exciting ways to continue.
How to build a better online presence
Depending on where your business stands in its online journey, there are a few ways to go about investing in a platform that is easy to interact with and helpful for your customers.
Place your work front and center
Your first priority is making sure the work you do speaks for you. It is important to showcase your products and services in the most unique and effective way possible. Using an aesthetically-pleasing and interactive gallery portfolio can capture the attention of prospective customers within their first few minutes of interacting with your website.
This may lead to sustained engagement and give them a better opportunity to explore your offerings. Curating your own gallery or portfolio allows you to position yourself how you want your audience to see you, similar to styling a physical showroom. If one of your pain points is making sure clients can explore your work in one easily-accessible place, Squarespace is an online solution to tackle that.
Make SEO work for you
Search Engine Optimization may seem like a hurdle, but small fixes across your website can combine to make a significant difference in your site's organic search visibility. With the rise of social commerce, over 80% of people search online first for products and services. SEO helps search engines understand and surface a wide range of online content and is key for enterprise companies to master.
Think of what keywords your audience may be searching as they look for products or services like yours. Keep your target personas in mind and what solutions they seek that may be related to what you’re offering.
This should manifest in your content strategy and the topics you choose to write about on your site. You’ll need to consistently incorporate identified keywords, internal and external links, and create educational content that matches up with your target audience’s search queries.
See here for how to maintain your existing SEO ranking on Squarespace
Get your team involved
Content development is only stronger when different stakeholders within your business are represented. Various perspectives can bring your business to life in a way that customers find interesting. As people seek to interact with brands more authentically and integrate them into their lifestyles, strategic thought leadership is invaluable for cutting through the noise.
Perhaps you’re challenged with the task of creating content at scale. In our social media age of short-form content and even shorter attention spans, you’ll need to keep content fresh and consistent. Many businesses opt for hiring freelancers to produce content periodically, but it’s worth considering that your best candidates to develop content are already in-house.
Since members of your team are already well-versed in your business and may interact with clients on a daily basis, having them contribute to your content creation shares the load. It also empowers their professional development and increases team participation, which is always desirable. Your team members are likely already writing internal content, making presentations and advocating for your products and services — so why not explore their interest in doing so externally?
With Squarespace you can invite individuals within your organization as content contributors, giving them access to log in, edit and post content while maintaining oversight permissions. You can also manage sites with multiple contributors in bulk.
Use video content to captivate
Whether you’re managing an e-commerce site or an online hub for clients, showcasing your offerings via video is key. Video is a digital marketing tool that can be used on a variety of channels from your website to paid ads to social media platforms.
Producing high-quality video content allows users to get a great sense of who you are and what you offer without physically interacting with you. Video empowers you to promote your brand and drive revenue, as a large number of people decide to buy a product or service after watching videos.
Production of video advertisements may seem like a large investment in terms of cost and labor. However, with Squarespace Video Studio, you can create, launch, and share high-quality video ads in as little as a few minutes. Some ideas of video content you can develop for your site include product tutorials, client testimonials, special offers and even homepage background videos.
Keep in mind that effective videos are succinct. They should be entertaining while only providing the essential information your visitors need to become intrigued about your product or service.
The need for a strong online presence has grown exponentially within the last few years and will only continue to increase. As you navigate strengthening your business and how it appears online, be sure to:
Create unique portfolio galleries to showcase content
Tighten up your SEO strategy
Maximize your video content and advertisements
Involve your team in content creation and strategy