Featured Client Beneficial Article Tips SD Entertainment altstrategies.com    
  Tips
Taking Your Small Business Online
By Colette Mauzeralle Media Relations Coordinator
         
 

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (commonly referred to as SEO) is a powerful tool in improving your business' search engine rankings. Done right, it practically ensures your company will be listed when consumers search online for your genre of business. The first page of search results is the most viewed of all pages, and its contents are much more likely to gain Internet traffic. It is rare for consumers to click over to even the second page of results, and in most cases, page three and beyond are never viewed. This is why SEO is so important; there is no point in having your business online if nobody but yourself will ever know that it is there.

Social Media

These are two words that seem to be coming off of every business owner’s lips. And for good reason. The truth is, if you aren’t engaged in social media, you’re falling behind. You are also missing out on a whole new world of potential consumers. Start with the basics: put your company on Facebook, link it to Twitter, and communicate through these outlets on a regular basis. Embedding links to your social media pages on your business' Web site will ensure that everything becomes effortlessly connected.

Social media outlets allow for increased informality with your posts and comments, so feel free to let your company’s hair down with fun status updates, engaging pictures, and even videos about what your business does. Anything goes, as long as it remains appropriate to the public and consistent with your business' marketing strategy.

Keep It Clear and Consistent

Do not overdo your Web site. Limit your copy and design so that it is appealing, not annoying. If consumers feel like they are swimming through text or overwhelmed by images, they will most likely revert to the “back” button and find another page to browse; one that they can process with less thought.

Also, ensure that your Web site is in touch with your overall marketing strategy. Use your company’s colors and logo, of course, but also consider the brand of your business. Your site should reflect the main message that your business aims to send every consumer it comes in contact with. Are you a fun and active company? Focused and trustworthy? All of the above? Find a way to creatively express that online.

Bring In the Blog

Adding a blog to your small business’ Web site adds a personal, human-to-human touch to your online existence. Blogs provide consumers with a way to interact with your company even before they decide to do business with you. This, however, adds a high degree of responsibility. Your blog will be the first impression that a blog browser will have of your customer service. Responses must be timely and accurate in order to remind customers that that is also how your company works.

Blogs also provide written examples of past customer experiences. Future consumers can see how past consumers have been treated, responded to, and other details regarding their experience with your company. An open forum for discussion on your blog site also shows confidence that your small business is great at what it does. You are vulnerable, which makes consumers trust that you know how to keep your customers satisfied.

Give It Time To Grow

Creating a Web site for your business doesn’t automatically mean increased sales and automatic success rates. Treat your page like a fragile new plant; it needs consistent attention and maintenance. It may be young and weak, but after time, care, and patience, it blooms, and the branches eventually begin to support each other. The same is true with your Web site. First, you will be the sole contributor to the page, updating promotional offers, adding links, and creating new pages. Eventually, if the proper steps are taken, other people will become aware of your site, and thus, your company. They may add posts to your blog, suggest links for your page, and order from you online. The plant becomes maintained by the very audience you aim to reach.

Reach Out

Reaching out to potential consumers is what will bring increased traffic to your Web site. Try promoting the page from inside your business by offering a perk, such as a free consultation for those who visit and fill out a survey about your site. Another example: give out coupons that can be fulfilled when a customer 'Likes' your Facebook page, such as a cupcake shop that gives coupons for free treats to new Facebook friends. Keeping it fun and rewarding will naturally attract your target audience.

Not only can you reach out to consumers, but reaching out to other businesses can be beneficial as well. Make connections with other local businesses and discuss linking to each others' pages. That kind of team effort can only benefit the both of you, and it shows that you truly care about satisfying your customer, not just that you aim for profit.

Following these simple steps will help increase your company’s chances of success as it moves to the realm of the online world. Much of the online learning process is done along the way, but one fact remains true: a Web site can only benefit your small business when it is properly managed and consistently updated. Find your place on the World Wide Web, and watch your small business grow as it begins to reach for the stars.