Taking Your Small Business or Home Business to the Internet

What You Should Consider When Building an Online Business Presence

Nowadays having a presence online has become vital to connecting with customers. It is possible that businesses that are not using the Web to distribute information to their target markets are missing valuable opportunities and often leaving money on the table in a big way. While jumping from being a small or home business to being online may be scary, it is important to understand the impact being online can have on your business’s success. After making the leap to the Internet, it is important to ask some important questions to make sure you are doing the best things for your business on the Web.

Are Your Marketing Messages Consistent Across All Platforms?

When a business begins their life online, it is usually a mix of different types of platforms. For example, a business may use a website as well as social media to help promote and brand its business. While having different platforms in play when it comes to online marketing, it is also important to make sure that the messages that these platforms send is the same. Having different promotional or marketing messages on different platforms will confuse customers and have your business looking like it is unprofessional and unprepared. Whether it is a website, Twitter account, or Facebook page, the messaging and branding should be the same to help present a strong message and brand image.

Where Does Your Business Rank in Search Engine Results?

Many consumers will search online for a product or service they are looking for in order to find a company from which to make a purchase. Consumers will always take notice of those businesses that fall toward the top of the list of results when they search on sites like Google or Bing. In order to see where you rank on these types of searches, it is important to visit the pages and do your own search to see where your business falls on the list if it shows up at all. If your company’s name does not come up as high on the list as you would like, you can use a service called search engine optimization or SEO to help make the company more prominent when consumers are searching for products and services online.

Do Your Online Platforms Translate to Mobile Devices?

A large number of consumers use their smartphones and tablets on a regular basis to access different information online. Because of this, it is important to make sure that your company’s Web platforms translate to mobile websites so they can be accessed on these devices. For mobile websites, make sure the most important information about your business is included front and center, such as the business’s contact information and address. Consider adding a “click to call” cell phone number to help consumers contact you more easily when they are on the go. After the mobile website has been created, make sure to test the accessibility on different types of devices like Android phones, iPhones and different tablets.

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*Photo Courtesy of Sean MacEntee via Creative Commons License