Building a Ubiquitous Online Presence

If you have any kind of business and you don’t have a presence on the internet, you are automatically putting your company at a disadvantage.  There are some easy steps to accomplishing this that don’t necessarily have to cost too much money.  It takes time to get indexed by Google and the other search engines so if you haven’t started this process, do so immediately upon reading this article.

Launch a Website

The first thing to do is to get a website if you don’t already have one.  It’s best to have one professionally designed by a website developer.  If you can’t afford that, you can make one yourself very easily.  Choose a domain name.  My recommendation is to go with a .com.  There are other options available if necessary but most people and search engines seem to respond better to dot coms.  Most domain registrars like GoDaddy and BulkRegister have an easy-to-use wysiwyg website creator that anyone can figure out. (wysiwyg is an acronym for, “what you see is what you get”).

Start a Blog

The term, “Blog” is short for weblog which is a concept that had become popular a few years ago and still is.  The reason why blogs are so important in creating an online presence is because search engines take them more seriously than most websites because they generally have new, fresh material being posted on them regularly.

The good news about blogs is that there are already platforms available for creating one for free that are very easy to use, such as Blogger and WordPress.  Once you create a blog, start writing about your products, services, industry or anything else associated with your business.  In most cases, your blog may appear higher on search engine result pages than your website.  Your blog post should be relatively short and informative.  People searching for information related to the content on your blog will find your posts and read them.

Social Networking

Once you have your blog up and running, you should sign up for various social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.  After creating an account on these sites, start to connect with other individuals who are also in your industry or who you may consider to be potential clients.  You want to do this so they are exposed to your content. 

Once you are connected to other people in your related field, you can post the articles you have on your blog to your social media accounts.  Just simply put the title followed by the link to the page on your blog that has that particular article and it will entice people who are interested in that topic to click the link and read your blog post.

You can post more than just articles on social networking sites.  It’s also a good idea to post images, videos, updates about your company, etc.  Before you know it, people will be “liking” your posts, sharing them and commenting on them.  This gives you an opportunity to respond and interact with potential customers or individuals of interest.  It will also expand your reach and visibility.

Create Infographics

An infographic is a visual representation of information that has the ability to present a message quickly and clearly.  In other words, it’s a picture that may have some words to describe the image and send a message about a particular topic.  Infographics are a great way to get the message out about your product, service or company.  People generally relate to images easier than articles because they’re visually appealing and don’t require that much thought or effort to conceptualize. 

If you’re not proficient with Photoshop, there are infographic creators available online that can help you develop ones that are specific to your business.  If your infographics are good, clever, entertaining, informative or strike a nerve to those who see it, you have an excellent chance of it going viral.  Just post your infographics on your social media pages and watch how many people like and share them.  Always include some type of signature, logo or some subtle identifier that credits you or your company for the graphic.  This will pay off greatly if your infographic goes viral.

Make Videos

These days, anyone can make a video utilizing the camera on a laptop or mobile device.  Making videos that promote your business are important for several reasons.  For one, some people may be too lazy to take the time to read the articles you’ve written and posted on your blog and social media accounts.  Watching a video might be more appealing to them.  Also, it’s important to know that Google now owns YouTube and includes videos in search results.  Having videos in addition to the articles you’ve written will give you even more exposure.

There are some websites that will even allow you to edit videos.  Most of these sites are free and will make your video appear more professional.  If you do a quick Google search on video editing, you will find some options.  If you have the budget, hiring a video company to professionally create corporate videos for you can be invaluable.

Press Releases

Another way to get your information disseminated throughout the internet is by press releases.  There are many press release sites that will allow you to post press releases for free.  Others may have a small fee.  Search engines take press releases very seriously and rank them higher on search engine result pages because they are promulgating new information.

Just remember that there is a difference between an article and a press release.  An article is an informational blurb while a press release is an announcement.  It is recommended that your press releases be separate and apart from the articles that you post to your blog.  Google does not like duplicate content.  If you post the same content on a press release site that you do on a blog, Google will recognize it as duplicate content and penalize you for it by not ranking it on search engine results pages or by ranking them lower.

A press release should have a short, compelling title.  After the title there should be a subtitle or teaser which is a one or two sentence synopsis of what the press release is about.  The teaser should be punctuated with a period at the end.  Somewhere in the body of the press release, it’s a good idea to have a quote, perhaps from you or an industry expert.  This will add credibility to the press release.  There should also be a conclusion or summation at the end that includes your company’s telephone number and website url address.

Participate in Message Boards and Reviews

Message boards and reviews are a very powerful tool on the internet.  People read them and they have a lot of credibility because most of the time, they are written by regular people who have had an experience that they want to share with others.  Participating in these types of online conversations will also give you an online presence but this is not the forum in which to spam or overly pitch your company.  This type of practice is frowned upon and could get you banned from certain forums.  Just simply contribute to the conversation naturally and respectfully with your opinion.  There may be a place when you sign up to list your company’s information so when you make a comment, it will appear in your signature.  If your comments are informative and appropriate, you will be viewed as credible and taken seriously.

For more information on how to develop an online presence for your company, please call Ashlar Consulting Corporation at 305-849-9399 or visit www.AshlarConsultingCorp.com.