In this internet-age many people find businesses online, no more looking through directories and turning pages as it once was, therefore it is key to expand you online presence to get you noticed. If you’re a small or start-up business, you may not have the budget to run online-ads, promote posts or post on every directory, so we’ve got some highly useful affordable ways for you to make an online presence.
Use social media pages for more than just advertising and selling.
To start off with, you should have social media pages (business pages where possible) set up for your business across all major social media platforms (such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram) as these are key to getting your business actively noticed online and allowing engagement with customers. Whilst actively using these platforms, don’t just think of them as advertising and continuously post about products and prices, give your followers content to be interested in, such as interested facts and stories. This will allow for better engagement and likely catch more people’s attentions – create a mix of content on your social media pages rather than focusing on one thing.
Avoid buying backlinks
Backlinks are key to getting your business ranked on Google, which in this day and age, is the biggest platform that contributes to the rate at which you get noticed on the internet. The more backlinks you have to your website, the higher Google will rank you as it is a key statistic that represents how large your network is. You may come across some services that offer backlinks for money, claiming you’ll get higher rankings from buying them. Please be aware that this is very risky and is NOT recommended by many. If Google spots you’re links are rigged, there will be harsh penalties which involve your current ranking dramatically falling. When building backlinks, ensure you’re linking with relevant and reputable websites.
Explore all possibilities in your social platforms
You may be familiar or already have a business page set up with e.g. Facebook or Twitter. But why not use and explore others too? Such as Instagram. You’d be surprised the success people have had on Instagram, which is usually overlooked. Pinterest could also be a great platform, if you’re into creating your own content such as graphics.
Secure a domain that is relevant to your business and it’s field
There’s no need to purchase an expensive domain that’s close to your industry or business name as possible, just make sure it’s relevant to the area you’re working in. The relevance of your domain name will not effect your ranking on search engines, but a good tip is to keep it fairly short and not too long or complicated, as some users may want to access your site by typing the domain name. Using