March 3rd, 2017
So you've started a business... congratulations! Getting up-and-running can seem like a daunting task, so we've pulled together the first five steps for you to effectively begin promoting your business online. Fortunately for SocialOwl licensee's, we've made done a lot of the legwork for you. Regardless of your business, following these five steps will get you and your business set-up for success.
1. Build a Website
Your website is your online presence's home base. A well designed website is crucial to your success whether you are selling products or services. Fortunately for SocialOwl licensee's, we build you a beautiful white labeled website on your domain. If you're not a SocialOwl licensee, or you are but want to build your own website, follow these simple steps:
- Decide upon a domain name (www.yourwebsite.com / yourwebsite.net / yourwebsite/biz, etc)
- Purchase your domain from a domain registrar such as GoDaddy (recommended for SocialOwl white label websites), Wix, SquareSpace, etc.
- Select a content management system (CMS) in order to manage your websites content. If you're a SocialOwl licensee, we take care of this on your behalf when you use our white label website. If you're developing your own website, do some research on what will best fit your needs or use the built-in CMS that the above domain registrars provide.
Remember that your website is the conduit to outline all of your company values, information, products, and services. Make sure you keep it updated with relevant information and include a blog to keep customers, clients, and prospects coming back.
2. Optimize Your Website For Mobile Devices
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that people are turning to their phones for content more and more. With that in mind, it's vital that your website is optimized for mobile. Fortunately for our SocialOwl licensee's, our white label website is also optimized for mobile. Don't believe us? Check your site out here: https://search.google.com/search-console/mobile-friendly
Why go mobile? Here's a short list of the benefits:
- Globally, there are more mobile users than desktop users (Source)
- Over half of consumers want to make a purchase within an hour of conducting research on their smartphone. (Source)
- Search is the most common starting point for mobile research (Source)
- Mobile drives nearly half of E-Commerce traffic (Source)
- Google favors mobile responsiveness (Source)
In a nutshell, having a mobile-friendly will make your business more memorable, help you to be found more easily online, and will drive more conversions.
3. Get Listed and be Active on Social Media
This may be an obvious and self-serving tip for a social media management technology provider, but there are huge benefits to getting your business on social. It's quick, easy, and effective.
Why be social? Here's a short list of the benefits:
- It's easy to target your desired demographics where they spend time... on social! Use targeted posts, eye-catching imagery, and relevant hashtags to attract the customers you want.
- Being on social media sites helps your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The more you link back to your website from your social media accounts, the better the chances are your website will be found on relevant searches. Additionally, those social media links will appear on search results as well again, increasing the chances of being found online.
- Leveraging social media accounts for your business increases your brand recognition, trust, and loyalty. By posting regularly to your social media accounts, you're able to get the voice of your business out to more people locally and globally. Plus, they'll see that you take your business seriously, building your brands trust and loyalty.
- Your brand will be humanized when you post and engage on social media because your brand will get to act like people do in that space.
- If you don't use social media, your brand will be left in the dust. 91% of retail brands use two or more social media channels. (Source)
Having an active and effective social media strategy will reel in more customers, traffic and conversions, and it's here to stay.
4. Get Search Engine Optimized
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is what helps you to get found on popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. If you're a SocialOwl licensee, we give you the tools to start building out your SEO by giving your website an editable and linkable title, accompanying description, and ability to plug in keywords relevant to your business. Beyond that, strong SEO requires the utilization of several tactics including:
- Website design, titles, and information
- Link building from other websites
- Social Media presence
- Claiming and/or creating listings on local directories such as: business directories, Google, Chambers of Commerce, The Patch, Nextdoor, Alignable, and more
- Creating new content such as actively blogging
These five quick tips will help you cast a larger net for your business and increase the likelihood of being found on search engines.
5. Start a Blog
Overall, having an active blog on your website will drive more leads, improve your website SEO, and keep customers and prospects coming back for new information. Fortunately for SocialOwl licensee's, we have a blogging utility built right into your platform for just $5 a month. A small price to pay for the benefits outlined above.
Blogs are a great way to keep an active dialogue with your customers and prospects. Having useful blog posts will not only improve your chances of being found on organic searches, but increases the changes of people sharing your content on their social media accounts. The more relevant, engaging, and informative you make your blog posts, the better the chances your content will be shared and visited by more people.
As you can see, all five of the tips outlined above go hand-in-hand. Every effort supports the other while having a value all their own.