Building a small business takes hard work, dedication and entrepreneurial spirit. It also takes customers, and to reach customers your business needs to be visible, especially online. It is estimated that 74% of adults use social networking according to a 2014 survey by Pew Research. Today's small to medium businesses (SMB) need to make sure they are optimizing their online presence so they can be found, while enhancing customer relationships and building their brand.
Implementing a social strategy is vitally important to increase online awareness of your business. But where do you start?
To give you some tips for getting started, we'll be posting a series of articles over the coming weeks aimed at helping you get the most out of popular social networks including LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Before we get into those networks, though, you'll need to make sure your company has an online presence that's set up for success. Will your website provide the right impression of your business? Here's a quick checklist to review:
✓ My business has a website. According to stats gathered by Static Brain Research in 2015, only 53% of small businesses had a website in 2014. Having a website is important; it validates you as a business, delivers information and your key messages to prospective customers, and keeps your current customers up to date on offerings. If you're one of the 47% without a website, here is a comparison of website builders, all of which offer free trials and can make it easy to create and host a site.
✓ My website is mobile-ready. Having a mobile-ready site is no longer optional, it's a requirement. Your customers have smartphones, and that is where they are doing the majority of their interaction, be it voice, text, email or social. The good news is, this is becoming the de-facto standard for newer websites like the ones covered above, but if your website is older you may need to look into converting to a mobile-friendly site.
✓ My site is optimized for search. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is just steps that a website owner takes to ensure their website appears in search results for specific relevant terms (keywords). It's an effective and inexpensive way to attract unsolicited traffic to your site. Having an optimized SEO strategy may seem a bit mysterious, but it just requires some planning and continuous tweaking. Google has a primer for SEO basics that is worthwhile read whether you are completely employing SEO tactics or if this all new to you.
✓ My social networks are connected. Setting up social accounts on each of the networks is important. Just as important is promoting your presence on those networks. Be sure to add social icons to the bottom of your home page, allowing customer to click through to your new social channels to engage and follow you there. Make it easy for them to find you.
✓ I've scheduled time to audit my site. From pricing and promotions, to product descriptions and customer service details, it's critical that your visitors always have current and accurate information. It's also important to plan regular updates to content, adding new pages that will help drive more visitors to your site.
Now that your website is ready, it's time to get the most out of your social connections. In next week's post we'll explore the opportunities LinkedIn provides for your business.
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Ascentium Capital offers a wide variety of business financing programs, including leasing and short-term loan options for anything from new computers or software to equipment that can help you with your move to social.
Contact us today to learn more about how we help small businesses like yours.
