There are over 4.39 billion internet users worldwide as of late 2018, according to We Are Social’s “Digital 2019: Global Internet Use Accelerates” report. You can’t just rely on the power of traditional media or word-of-mouth today. If your business isn’t online, you’re missing out on a lot of engagement.
The same report said that the average American spends about a quarter of their day on the internet. That’s six hours of screen time you should be maximizing. Here’s how you can jumpstart your business’ presence on the world wide web.
Get an Updated Website Design
While a lot of the old trends are coming back for clothing and interior design, it isn’t the case for websites. According to web design awards authority Awwwards, the most significant trends for 2019 are maximalist and filled with user interaction. This is a far cry from the minimalist and monochrome resurgence we’ve seen so far.
If you’re offering a service, a simple animation of how you serve customers can give people a fun glimpse into your business process. For products, a large in-your-face gallery of your collection is a great way to grab your market’s attention and lead them to engage with your product pages. The challenge, however, is matching these styles with your brand’s identity. Work closely with your web designer to see which trends can catch your target audience’s eye and clicks.
Go On Social Media, But Limit Your Platforms
If you’re a frequent user of the big three social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram), you may be following a few of your favorite brands’ official pages. Companies like Domino’s Pizza and agencies like NASA are doing great on social media. The impressive content they post on their pages is just half of the equation, though. The other half are the platforms on which they share it. Domino’s has a bot that you can order pizza from just by sending them instructions on Facebook Messenger. NASA, on the other hand, provides tidbits of news about their projects on Twitter and breathtaking cosmic imagery on Instagram.
B2B companies shine on social media, too. Energy management and automation company Schneider Electric has gained a healthy 1.5 million followers on LinkedIn with its meaningful video content and links to its engaging articles and whitepapers.
These examples have shown that your platform depends entirely on your field. If you’re working directly with customers (fashion retailers, restaurants, magazines), then your audience is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or even Pinterest. If you’re serving businesses, LinkedIn should be your go-to choice. Facebook is also viable, as evidenced by networking hardware giant Cisco’s 1.6 million likes due to its interesting videos, and memes every IT professional can relate to.
Boost Your Search Rankings
When you can’t think of a place to eat on a night out, you likely use the Google search app on your phone to give you a list of restaurants near your area. Sometimes, these come with reviews and menus. You’ll notice that some restaurants are at the top of the actual search results. Apart from being near your location, these restaurant websites use search engine optimization (SEO) to get there. A study on the impact of SEO on businesses found that those who primed their websites for search engines had an increase in overall sales revenue. This is because of the stronger web traffic they got by being at the top of results pages.
Whether your digital marketing agency is doing their SEO in-house or using white label outsourcing, their primary goal is to get your business website as high on the search engine results as possible using content like blogs that have keywords relevant to your products and services. Make sure you’re clear about your brand messages when you speak with your agency to make sure the content matches the people who will click on your site on Google.
Having an online presence is paramount if you want your business to succeed. Give your website a proper facelift, use the right social media platforms, and strive to be on top of search results. At this day and age, it’s but natural to go digital.
