How to build an online presence

An online presence for a business or an influencer is no longer a minor addition to their marketing strategy – it’s an essential foundation behind successful promotion.A surprising  46% of small businesses in the U.S. didn’t have an online presence in 2018, missing out on thousands of transactions, customer interactions, and a considerable amount of revenue. This is particularly striking if we take into consideration another survey, showing that  33% of Americans used the internet daily to find local businesses in 2019.
That being said, an online presence is not just about a basic business or personal website anymore – an official site is only part of a broader approach we need to take if we want our company or brand to stand out and reach the maximum number of potential customers.
Website and SEO
The business website itself needs considerable attention to ensure it’s optimised for both search engines and ease of use on the customer’s end. Studies show that before making a purchase, 47% of people visit the company website.The website must not only look professional, be well-designed, and informative – it needs to also be easy to find. To this end, attention to search engine optimization – or SEO – is paramount. The purpose of SEO is to ensure that when a person searches for keywords related to your business or brand, your website (and related sites) appear as close to the top of the first page of results. Using the right keywords in appropriate densities on your site, regularly uploading relevant and well-structured content, and building links to your site from other websites are just a few factors that go into successful SEO.
Wikipedia
We tend to assume that if a business or brand has a Wikipedia page, it must be important – after all, Wiki is an online encyclopaedia, and only the highest significance warrants an entry in such a publication.
In fact, you don’t need to run the next Apple to have a Wikipedia page – most small to medium sized businesses and brands, as well as experienced influencers, can have a Wikipedia page published with the right expertise and help. 
You’ll also notice that during a Google search, results from Wikipedia always appear near the top of the first page by default. Positioning your official website, Wiki page, and social media as the first Google search results ensures you have a monopoly on your keywords – your niche, in other words – guaranteeing interest from potential customers searching for relevant terms.
Social media
You’ve heard it a million times before – and there’s a good reason for that. Social media is the foundation of successful online marketing nowadays, and no business or brand can afford to ignore the impact made on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other outlets.
There’s more to social media marketing, as far as having a powerful online presence goes, than simply having a Facebook page. Regularly posting interactive content of cohesive and relevant tone and style is a must, and requires careful research and a long-term strategy. Being active on the profiles of others is equally important, as it helps to build a following and get your name out there. Social media gives us a custom-made platform for interacting directly with millions of potential customers, so it’s definitely not to be ignored.
To use social media to its fullest potential, it’s worth investing into obtaining an official (verified) status, represented by a small blue checkmark appearing next to your profile name. This tiny, unassuming badge has an immense influence on the amount of trust and engagement you’re likely to see from visitors.
Measuring results
While there are tried-and-tested methods for building a solid online presence in a relatively short time, every niche is a little bit different and every target audience will require a unique approach. When putting online marketing strategies to work, it’s important to ensure that the results of the campaigns are being followed, measured, and used to draw conclusions and make alterations if needed. Even the time of day or the day of the week on which a post is published can have an effect on its performance.
Through carefully measuring factors such as number of engagements through different platforms and the performance of posts and other content, we can gain invaluable insights into making our online presence even more powerful.

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