This is an article “A Simple Guide to Creating an Online Presence” by Marc Warren
These days, an online presence is essential in any form of business. Aside from building your brand on social media and dedicated websites, you get to sell your products and services to a wider market or a specific niche. But how should you go about establishing your online presence and where do you start?
Often times, the hard part is figuring out which steps to take and how much it can cut through your budget. Launching your brand on the wrong platform can backtrack your business and let you suffer in useless costs.
If you want to do it right, consider these tips on how you can get your brand out there via online presence.
Figure out which platform is the best for your business
Establishing an online presence doesn’t mean you simply set up websites on various platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Wix, or Wordpress. You could actually save more if you just do some research and determine which platforms are effective for your business.
Planning out your strategy by reviewing your goals is the first step in creating an online presence. With that, let’s review the three possible platforms you can consider:
Social Media
Not all businesses really need a website and some even thrive by opting to get their brand out on social media. Aside from being free, easy to manage, and more personal than some platforms, social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow you to connect to your audience who are already experts on navigating these platforms. Over 1.6 billion people are signed up to social media sites right now and depending on your product or service, you can easily get them via updated posts and special offers.
Wordpress.org
Setting up a website on WordPress gives you some advantages in terms of content and design. WordPress is an intermediate to advanced platform that allows you to have control over how you want to present your website or personal blog. Twenty-five percent of all online websites are powered by WordPress and it can enable you to build an online store or an affiliate site, place ads, manage email, and create an e-business feature so you can sell your products or services.
Wix
If you want to create a personal blog or portfolio for your business, Wix is one of the best platforms for beginners with its user-friendly features and awesome design templates. You can simply drag and drop images or copy-paste contents into a blog post and release your content online in a professionally presented layout. It’s easy to use and you don’t have to worry about hosting, storage, and performance because you can rely on Wix to do the job. No coding is required and all you really have to do is log in, create content and post it online.
Be visible online
Now that you have an idea on which platform can best suit your online presence needs, the next step is how to be visible online. While there’s no foolproof way to instantly drive traffic to your site, you should consider plotting out content via search engine optimization (SEO), utilizing guest posts and influencers, posting press releases online, and opting for paid adverts on social media sites. There will be costs but knowing which correct platform you spend your money on can give you better returns in online traffic, and even sales.