10 Reasons Why Small Businesses Need an Online Presence

Did you know that over 75% of consumers don’t go past the first page on google? Many small business owners neglect their google ranking or don’t even take advantage of SEO, but SEO combined with a strong online presence can help more customers find you therefore increasing your revenue and profitability. You shouldn’t sleep on it.

Here’s the thing, long gone are the days where consumers were introduced to businesses through a newspaper, radio advertisement, or television commercial. Nowadays, most brands and businesses understand that an online presence is important, but they aren’t quite sure how to implement it. Having a strong online presence boasts some serious benefits for your business.

Here are the top ten:

Return on Investment

Yes, building an online presence takes time, consistency, and an investment. The good news is unlike traditional forms of marketing, digital marketing is easily measurable. Digital marketing is less expensive than forms of traditional marketing and the reported ROI is much larger. Did you know that companies with digital marketing receive up to 700% more visibility than companies that don’t? There is a reason that every major brand in the world has a digital marketing strategy and that reason is, IT WORKS!

Brand Credibility

Customers expect to be able to find your company when searching online and for your business to have a strong online image. Today, your brand credibility is now closely linked to your online presence, and there is no doubt about it, your online presence is affecting your brand either positively or negatively. The good news is there are many options to create a positive brand online. Social media, listing sites, and more show off your brand and can give you a global audience. The new word of mouth is having an online presence and being able to connect with customers at any time, anywhere.

A Positive User Experience

The user experience is either going to make or break the potential for your next customer. Can you think of a time when you wanted a product or service and gave up ordering it because it became too difficult? It’s important to create a positive and easy experience for users to grow your business and increase your reach to new customers. Your google ranking is partly based on the speed of your website, search-ability, and mobile compatibility; it’s necessary to ensure your website is easy to use on a mobile device since the majority of Google users conduct their search from their phones.

Reviews

Reviews are a huge contributor to purchasing decisions, more-so now than ever. Have you ever decided on a product or service based on a review? Most of us do. In previous years companies would only post their positive reviews directly onto their website. Nowadays every company has a Google business profile whether they initiated it or not. As a small business, you You will receive reviews so it is important to acknowledge them whether they are positive or negative.

Community

Some things never change. If you can build a community attached to your brand you will have loyal, long time, and repeat customers. This isn’t new, it has just become easier now. Social media has drastically changed how businesses and customers interact with each other. Excitement of upcoming events, free brand ambassadors, and new customer referrals can all be gained by creating a community online.

Access

Pre-internet, mail-in catalog’s were one way customers could shop from a business without having to leave their home. Your customers need to be able to access your information at their convenience no matter what day or time it is. The less unanswered questions they have the more likely you are to get their business. Keeping your website and online search visibility up to date with business information, sales & promotions, and services increases your reach to future customers at any time and keeps your current customers up-to-date.

Time optimization

Your online presence can save you time by providing answers and information to frequently asked or desired questions about your business. If your customer-facing staff are getting the same question about your product or service on a regular basis then this is a good indicator that your online presence isn’t doing a good job of answering that question before it is asked.

Advertising

Did you know that your online presence can directly affect how much you have to pay to advertise online? When you have a positive, trusted online presence advertising costs less to achieve the same positions than if you don’t. Advertising online is huge and generally provides a great return on investment, but why pay more for advertising than you need to! It makes more sense to re-allocate that additional spend towards building your online presence first.

Ecommerce

Whether you sell a product or a service, it is necessary to provide online payments for customers. Today, we are seeing more and more consumers foregoing cash and in some cases their physical credit cards for mobile cards. With an online presence your shop could be closed and you are still accepting payments via online,.saving you both you and your customer time and energy to complete a transaction.

Repurpose

As a busy business owner, creating content for your business can be challenging, let alone creating content for multiple social platforms. Here’s a pro-tip for you: repurpose your content for Instagram and publish it to Pinterest, Tiktok, a blog, and your email list. With one piece of content you can reach several audiences.

In Conclusion:

Establishing your online digital presence helps you connect with your target audience in the most efficient and effective way possible! By being strategic and consistent, you will be able to build your brand awareness and trust with your potential customers. If you are struggling with developing your digital presence, let’s have a chat!

Say hello https://www.dharmadigital.ca/contact