Grow your Business/Profession with an ONLINE PRESENCE

What is an online or web presence ?

Having an Online Presence means existing in any of the available online platforms or mediums. And it applies for an individual as well as a business. People will be able to search you online if you have a presence there. In the real world, we are very conscious about our presence or appearance, online presence has same significance because it helps you grow as a professional and as a business. To make your web presence more attractive to users you use relevant, good and useful content.

You can create a web presence not only by developing a website, but there are many other ways. And you probably are using many of them or aware of them. But first, take a look at many benefits of it.

So what are the benefits

According to latest research data, more than 90% people use online search for a product and more than 70% buy online. As I said earlier you too are aware of or using online platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, E-mails, Snap-chat, Online shopping websites, apps etc. So in this digital age it is essential to have an online presence. Because,

Everyone is looking for something using internet, so it will be easier for you to be found if you are there.
You can reach out to more number of people as whole world is connected through internet.
You don’t need to go place to place for marketing, as there are many ways to do digital marketing like Social media marketing, E-mails, Search engine optimization(SEO), Blogs, Websites, Apps and there is much more into all these.
Cost effective as you don’t need to spend on buying or renting an office. Just show and offer your products or services using many online mediums.
Easy to sell products and manage payments using E-commerce websites and apps.
You can gain more credibility and add value to your business or profession by using online reviews posted by real customers and users.
Internet is easily accessible with smartphones, so you can reach out to more potential customers and eventually gain more sales by creating mobile friendly websites and apps.
The more you serve the greater you gain. It is a 24/7 thing, you can add that in your working hours.
And many more other benefits as you keep on working online.

How to create an online presence

Now you have got to do it. It’s all online out there. You have the best option to boost your gorwth.. Going digital is the best way. And it is not that difficult. Here are are some ways to do it.

REGISTER WITH LOCAL ONLINE DIRECTORIES – You can list your business/profession in an local online directory. There are many like Google my business, Yellow pages, Just dial Facebook, Bing etc. This is very important, if your business relies on local customers. You don’t need to have a website for that. You will be visible on website pages of those directories. All you need to do is add address, contact details, location on map along with description of services or products you are selling. So this way you will create both local and online presence. It also improves credibility because you can engage more with people and improve your local visibility.
DEVELOP WEBSITE – Local businesses with a website are more credible to the people. It is like an online store where you can showcase all of your products and services. You will not rely only on local customers as a website will be visible worldwide. By including high quality images and videos of your products and adding detailed description with them makes it easy for customers to decide on purchasing. Your entire online presence like social media accounts, E-mail accounts can be embedded in your website. You can let people buy directly from your website. Apart from that they can directly engage with you using website features like chats, reviews, calling, form fill ups. That way you build more trust among your community. To develop a website you need online space and a web hosting company. After registering your domain name with a host you can create an eye-catching, well designed professional website which will help your business grow. Make your website mobile friendly(optimized for mobile use). It will help a website rank better for an online search(SEO). More users are going online using smartphones than using computers. And that’s why Google has been consistently preferring to have a mobile friendly site.
MOBILE APPS – To go further with creating a user friendly online presence, develop a Mobile App. By making a more engaging, easy to use, well designed app you can target your audience more directly. A website is more informative about your products and services and attracts more potential customers. While an app helps you to covert them in to potential buyers. It pursues them to take actions like shopping, buying, make bookings, making appointments etc. with easy to use layout and features. You can create different ad campaigns, promotions and offers targeting particular user base using apps. Above 50% of internet usage is from mobile devices. And according to many experts from digital world, we are already in the mobile era. So using apps for your business is inevitable.
SOCIAL MEDIA – Out of total internet usage, social media acquires 25% of it. Social media platforms are many and you can use them to enhance your overall online presence. You can provide very good, relevant and useful content to your social media community about your product or industry. You can personally engage with your customers and provide them customized services and support. It will further add trust to your name and help establish a brand. You need to create an account to be active on a particular social media platform. Different platforms can be used differently. Facebook is for sharing content like ads, videos, news and other information with your community. Out of all social media platforms Facebook has the largest number of users. You can also create a page there which will be attributed specifically to your business or profession.This page will be used to share content related to your products, Services or ind LinkedIn is for professional networking. It is widely used by employers and job seekers. Twitter is a micro blogging site. Tumblr is also a popular micro blogging site. Instagram, Pinterest and Snap chat are mainly used for sharing images and videos. –YouTube is for videos. Most of the users love to see videos. It is the second largest search engine. Creating and sharing meaningful and relevant video contents adds lot of benefits to your online presence. There are many more social media platforms which i have not mentioned here, but can be used effectively also.

What next?

First of all you need to define the GOAL. And understand your potential customers. Then slowly work upon the strategy created based on your research. Which will be the best way for yourself or business? Which social media platforms are suitable to enhance your presence. What kind of digital marketing strategies should be used etc.

You will have ample of opportunities to put yourself on the online landscape. First you need to make a decision, and start exploring viable options to begin with.

Create great content. Relevant, useful and informative content always brings more people to your doorstep.

Embrace the digital world to excel as an individual, as a professional and as a business.