18 Effective Strategies to Boost Your Small Business’s Online Presence
To elevate the digital footprint of a small business, we’ve gathered eighteen valuable strategies from industry experts, including founders and marketing directors. From collaborating with micro-influencers to automating workflows for online growth, these insights offer a comprehensive guide to enhancing your online presence. Discover the full spectrum of advice to propel your business forward in the digital realm.
- Collaborate With Micro-Influencers
- Boost Visibility Through SEO
- Engage Audiences on Social Media
- Cultivate a Strong Brand Identity
- Partner With Industry Influencers
- Secure Media Features for Growth
- Optimize Your Google Business Profile
- Leverage Content Marketing Platforms
- Amplify Reach With TikTok
- Create Original Data-Driven Content
- Build Trust Through Community Service
- Host Informative Online Events
- Connect With Local Podcasters
- Incorporate Gamification on Your Site
- Focus on Mobile User Experience
- Monitor and Respond to Customer Reviews
- Sponsor Teams for Social Engagement
- Automate Workflows for Online Growth
Collaborate With Micro-Influencers
Leveraging micro-influencers in your niche is an often-overlooked way to improve a small business’s digital presence. These influencers provide your business with authenticity and credibility because of their smaller, but active, following. By collaborating with them on promotions or reviews, you can expose your goods or services to a certain market and increase visibility and trust.
Their sincere relationship-building with followers can lead to more engagement and conversions, hence broadening your online audience. This inexpensive method leverages the potential of specialized communities, making it an important resource for small companies looking to expand their online presence.
Ella Miller
Founder, CEO, CoalaHola
Boost Visibility Through SEO
Implementing search engine optimization (SEO) on your business website can help boost your online presence. More people can see your brand while searching online at Google Search when SEO is implemented successfully. One success story of ours is a waste oil management company that received an additional 30% of inquiries after ranking first for the keyword “waste oil collector.”
Mei Ping Mak
Director of SEO and Web, Weave Asia
Engage Audiences on Social Media
A simple but very successful strategy for boosting a small business’s online presence is to consistently engage with your audience on social media.
Regular interactive posts, responding to comments, and creating content that resonates with your community go a long way in boosting brand visibility online.
Small businesses should pick the social platform where they think most of their audience is active—for example, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.—and take time to engage with them there. This approach isn’t just about posting often; it’s about fostering a genuine connection with your audience, which can take time and effort. Therefore, it’s important to focus on only one social media platform at a time.
Luke Glassford
Marketing Director, Gambit Partners
Cultivate a Strong Brand Identity
One strategy I recommend to boost a small business’s online presence is to make sure they have a strong and consistent brand.
No matter how many people you have on your staff or how much money you have in the bank, your brand is what’s going to make or break you. Your brand is what you stand for, what you’re known for—whether it’s quality products, excellent customer service, or something else entirely. You can’t afford to let your brand slip because that’s how people will see you, and that’s how they’ll judge your entire business.
So even if this isn’t something that comes naturally to you (and it doesn’t come naturally to me), it’s worth taking the time to figure out what makes your business unique and why people should choose it over its competitors. What do you have that no one else does? What do customers appreciate most about working with you? Asking questions like these will help guide you in figuring out what makes your business special.
Kiran Lachwani
Head of Marketing, Power Your Curls
Partner With Industry Influencers
Collaborate with influencers in the industry. Influencers have a high following on social media or other online platforms, which can help broaden your reach and promote your business to their audience. Make use of influencer marketing platforms like BuzzSumo.
Explore relevant hashtags on social media to identify potential partners. Reach out to them and propose a collaboration. Offer incentives like free products, exclusive discounts, or affiliate commissions.
Conduct thorough research to select influencers with a good reputation and ensure they have relevance to your target audience. Start with micro-influencers. With time, progress towards those with larger followings.
James Koskela, Founder and Owner, Zero Day Gear
Secure Media Features for Growth
The best strategy to grow an online business is simple: a media feature in a large publication.
As a journalist of 15 years, I’ve found the best way to get featured in a big publication is to have an actionable, service-based media pitch. What this means is your media and story pitch must have takeaways that the readers can learn from your piece. It also has to be timely. In addition, it’s important for entrepreneurs to network and make connections with journalists.
Journalists are more likely to feature entrepreneurs and individuals who have made a genuine connection. The best way to do this is to reach out to journalists who cover stories in your space on LinkedIn or other platforms and start a genuine conversation with them. Journalists are less likely to accept pitches from individuals they don’t know personally.
Mercedes Barba
PR and Media Coach for Small Businesses, Mercedes and Media
Optimize Your Google Business Profile
To boost a small business’s online presence, various strategies are important, like SEO, social media, and content marketing. Yet, the most impactful action a business owner can take is setting up an optimized Google Business Profile.
For small, often local, businesses, this is vital for ranking in Google’s map pack, directing potential clients to your storefront and goods and services. It not only enhances visibility but also builds your brand in the local community’s mind. When customers see your physical location and brand in search results, it reinforces trust and recognition, key elements in establishing a strong local brand identity.
Seth Beaty
Digital Marketer, Rank Right SEO Company
Leverage Content Marketing Platforms
Content marketing elevates your small business’s digital footprint. With its transformative strategy, quality content helps a great deal in creating an impact for small brands. It is one of the most cost-effective ways to generate leads and increase the volume of quality traffic effectively.
One of the key advantages of valuable content is its ability to engage with customers and enhance brand credibility. Start by identifying your audience’s pain points and tailor your content to address those needs. This will leverage diverse platforms for maximum reach.
My go-to content-creating platform is Paperflite, which helps me create interactive content. The customized experience in this tool is commendable, and it helps with a detailed and organized system. The microsite templates and informative storyboards in Paperflite work great in terms of creating personalized content.
Ben Richardson
Director, Acuity Training
Amplify Reach With TikTok
Using TikTok’s algorithm to boost a small business’s online presence is a savvy strategy. It is no longer “an app for kids”; more and more audiences are reporting that it is their go-to place to discover something new. TikTok’s algorithm showcases content to a wide and varied audience.
Even a single video that lands on the “For You” (Recommended Videos) section can lead to exponential reach, sometimes generating hundreds of sales with minimal investment, especially if your product or services can be visually represented. Success on TikTok requires captivating and engaging content. Regularly posting can also increase your chances of being featured on the “For You” page and amplify your reach.
Oleh Sorokopud
Head of Digital Marketing, Softjourn
Create Original Data-Driven Content
Small businesses need to take advantage of creating data-driven content to boost their online presence. No matter what niche you are in, there are always areas enabling the creation of high-quality, relevant, and valuable content. The trick is to enrich this content with unique insights, statistics, or data collected through original research or surveys. Using somebody else’s work is not an option here.
Based on your original results, you can create materials such as blog posts, articles, videos, or infographics to position yourself as an authoritative voice in the industry. Sharing this content across various online platforms helps reach a broader audience and encourages sharing, further extending the brand’s reach and improving search engine visibility.
Nina Paczka
Community Manager, Resume Now
Build Trust Through Community Service
Giving back to the community, Dozy has formed partnerships with organizations such as YWCA Toronto, UHN, and the University of Toronto, providing sleep solutions for those in need. These efforts build trust within the local community and attract positive media attention.
Media coverage from these initiatives improves our online visibility, strengthens SEO, and increases sales. Serving the community proves to be a potent tool for enhancing a small business’s online footprint.
David Owen
Founder, Dozy
Host Informative Online Events
Online events and webinars related to your industry are a great way to increase interest and boost your online presence as a small business. These events not only position your business as an authority but also provide an opportunity to interact with your audience in real time.
Webinars provide a platform for educating your audience about your industry, products, or services. This educational aspect can foster a deeper understanding of your offerings and build a more informed customer base.
Renan Ferreira, Head of Communications and Director of Sales, RealCraft
Connect With Local Podcasters
Exploring partnerships with local podcasters or community radio shows is an uncommon and somewhat unknown technique for increasing a small business’s internet presence. Many communities have dedicated members who produce content in the form of podcasts or radio shows that cater to specific hobbies or local subjects.
Contact these content creators and offer interviews or sponsored segments in which you can share insights about your company, its history, and its ties to the local community. This innovative strategy not only reaches a loyal and frequently forgotten audience but also allows for true storytelling.
By partnering with local voices, you can establish a distinct online presence that resonates with the community, resulting in both online and offline engagement.
Simon Ryan
Chief Technology Officer, Firstwave
Incorporate Gamification on Your Site
Gamification is one method for improving a small business’s internet exposure. Include an interactive game or quiz on your website that is related to your brand and engages visitors.
This could be a fun, industry-related quiz or a simple game relating to your products or services. Offer incentives for participation and high scores, such as discounts, special access, or giveaways, to encourage people to share their results on social media.
Gamification not only attracts visitors’ attention but also creates a memorable and shareable experience, converting them into active participants. This creative strategy not only distinguishes your company but also generates organic social media buzz, increasing traffic and brand exposure in a fun and interactive way.
Enric Robert
Marketing Manager, Silicon Valley High School
Focus on Mobile User Experience
Small businesses can really boost their online presence by focusing on mobile users. Today, many people use their phones to go online, so having a website that looks good and is easy to use on a phone can make a big difference.
This could mean redesigning your website to work well on smaller screens or even creating a special app for your business. When your website is mobile-friendly, it’s easier for people to find and use, which can help attract more customers and grow your business.
Tobias Liebsch
Co-Founder, Fintalent.io
Monitor and Respond to Customer Reviews
Nothing shapes the public perception of a small business more than customer reviews. Monitoring online spaces where your brand is discussed offers invaluable insight into the customer experience—keeping a pulse on successes as well as areas for improvement.
Unhappy customers deserve to feel heard; thoughtfully addressing their concerns directly, yet diplomatically, provides helpful clarification while reinforcing good faith efforts to satisfy the clientele. These moments of accountability, paired with reasonable explanations, can retain customers by building trust in challenging times.
On the other hand, interacting positively with happy customers fosters valuable goodwill and loyalty. A few thoughtful moments to publicly resolve dissatisfaction or show appreciation pay immense dividends through greatly improved sentiment, ratings, and reputation over the long term. Customer reviews can make or break brands, so the approach to responses matters.
Bertrand Li
Founder, RevieWise
Sponsor Teams for Social Engagement
Sponsor a local sports team and write about their wins and losses. Post about them on social media, always with your sponsor photo or team shirts visible. People love seeing this kind of content on their social media feeds, alongside promotional and educational matters that relate to your business.
Mark Varnas
Principal SQL Server DBA and Consultant, Red9
Automate Workflows for Online Growth
Automation is a crucial element for brands to establish a solid online presence. Consistent and successful business workflows are essential for sustaining a lasting presence on the internet. Though digital marketing might seem demanding at the start, business workflow automation can free up time for these critical activities.
Automate everything you can to boost your online presence. Leveraging digital tools for your small business not only conserves time but also resources. Utilize social media scheduling tools to plan and execute posts across various platforms, or employ email marketing software for distributing updates and newsletters.
Marketing automation tools can also be used to evaluate the success of your digital strategy, helping identify which content performs best and how it resonates with both current and potential customers. This information is invaluable for precisely targeting budgets and resources. Automating various aspects of your business operations can lead to time savings, error reduction, and more effective scaling of your business.
Lucas Ochoa
Founder and CEO, Automat
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