Introduction
A comprehensive online strategy is key for every small business in order to stand out in your industry and capitalize on online opportunities. In this article, we lay out how creating a website, using social media, email marketing, local search engine optimization, analytics, and staying on top of digital trends are key components of that strategy. We explain why these tactics are important, and some tips you can use to make sure you succeed when rolling them out.
Create a professional website
We have an entire article on why this is so important. The main thrust is that having a website provides a platform for customers to learn about your products and services, to contact you, give feedback, generate leads, and make purchases or find your location. A website is an important tool for building credibility and trust with customers. It allows you to present information about your business in a professional and organized manner that you control.
Consumers expect businesses to have an online presence, and a website is the cornerstone of that presence. Without a website, it may be difficult for potential customers to find and learn about your business, which can impact your ability to generate business.
In addition, a website can also help you to:
Improve your search engine rankings and increase your local visibility online
Provide a platform for customers to learn about your business, products, and services
Collect data and feedback about your customers and their preferences, which can inform your marketing and sales efforts
Improve customer service by providing a platform for customers to ask questions and receive support
Increase web and foot traffic
Social Media
Social media can be a powerful tool for small businesses to increase their digital presence and reach a wider audience. An engaged social media presence can increase brand awareness and help generate leads.
Here are the steps to follow to ensure high performance:
Select the social media platforms that are most relevant to your business and target audience. For example, if you are a business with strong visuals, such as a clothing store, makeup brand or restaurant, platforms like Instagram and Pinterest may be more effective for you than Twitter or LinkedIn.
Follow a content calendar: Plan out the types of content you want to post and the frequency of your posts. Consistency is key to building an engaged audience.
Prioritize engagement: Use social media to connect with your audience and build relationships. Responding to comments and messages in a timely manner encourages followers to interact with your brand and builds trust.
Try paid advertising: Social media platforms have a lot of data on users and their behavior. Creating a targeted ad campaign can help you reach a specific audience, increase the visibility of your business, and drive sales and traffic.
Email marketing
Email marketing is a cost-effective way to reach out to your customers and promote your business because it allows you to reach a large number of people who have already shown interest in your project.
Here are a few ways that email marketing can be effective for promoting your business:
Personalization: Email marketing allows you to personalize your messages to individual recipients, which can help increase the relevance and effectiveness of your messages.
Targeting: You can segment your email list and send targeted messages to specific groups of people, based on factors such as their location, interests, or past behavior or any other business-relevant metric you track. For example, a series of messages tailored for new customer onboarding.
Ease of use: There are a wide variety of email marketing platforms, such as Mailchimp and Constant Contact, that offer user-friendly tools making it easy to create and send professional-quality emails at a reasonable price that can easily integrate with your web pages.
Local search engine optimization (SEO)
Local search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your online presence to rank higher in search results for customers in your area. This is especially important for small businesses, as it can help them reach a targeted audience of customers most-likely to interact with their brand.
Here are a few ways that small businesses can take advantage of local SEO:
Claim your Google My Business listing, get listed in local directories: By claiming and verifying your Google My Business listing, you can appear in Google Maps and Search results based on a user’s geographic location. There you can provide important information about your business, such as your location, hours of operation, contact information, and link to your website.
Additionally, other search sites for your industry like Yelp for restaurants and the Yellow Pages more generally help to bring traffic to your site and business.
Use local keywords: Local keywords, such as the name of your city, neighborhood, or region, in your website content and metadata can help search engines understand the relevance of your business to local customers and help your search rankings.
Encourage online reviews: Online reviews from satisfied customers can help improve your local SEO, as search engines consider them when ranking businesses. You can highlight these reviews on your website, and interact with customers on review sites to keep your scores high and customers happy.
Optimize your website for mobile: Smartphones are the main source of modern web traffic, and it is important to optimize your website for mobile to improve the user experience and rank higher in local search results. PageHoot is great at this!
Analytics
Analytics are tools that allow you to measure the impact of your online endeavors. This is an important practice for small businesses across social media, advertising, email, and web efforts to identify areas for improvement and keep your spending efficient.
Here are a few ways that small businesses can use analytics:
Social media analytics: Social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok provide analytics tools that allow you to track the reach and engagement of your posts. This can help you understand which types of content are most effective so you can set up experiments to test new copy and content avenues.
Advertising analytics: Sites like Google Ads and Facebook’s Ad Manager provide detailed metrics on the performance of your advertising campaigns. These can track everything from conversions you identify, to your spend, to clicks and engagement. This data can help you understand which ad variants are meeting your business goals and where you can optimize for better results.
Web and email analytics: Tools like Google Analytics, as well as the built-in tools from your email platform, can help you understand how visitors and recipients are interacting with your messages. On the web, this includes how they found your site, which pages they visited, and how long they stayed. For email, it includes which emails were opened and what links users interacted with. Using this data will allow you to tailor your content around what’s already working.
Stay up to date with digital trends
Staying on top of digital trends can be beneficial for small businesses, as it can help them stay competitive and break through on social media while staying on the cutting edge.
Here are a few tips for you:
Follow industry blogs and websites: Keep an eye on industry blogs and websites concerned with the digital world as it relates to your industry or digital marketing in general. For example, SEMrush has a blog dedicated to search engine optimization and the Digital Restaurant’s blog is all about digital marketing in food service.
Join online communities: Online communities of other practitioners, like LinkedIn groups, forums, and Facebook Groups allow you to connect with other professionals. You can stay up to date with industry trends and see where folks are experiencing trouble or breakthroughs.
Experiment with new technologies: The first adopters of most new platforms and technologies will benefit the most from its growth. Many of the first users on TikTok or Twitter had a much easier time growing their brands than those that joined later. The same can be true for larger processes like online ordering. If you have the capacity, it’s always worth attempting a trial run.
Monitor your competitors: Make sure not to get left behind. Keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and consider adopting strategies that are working well for them.
Conclusion
There are a number of things that every small business can do to elevate their online presence. When you’re rolling out your digital strategy and planning for spending, make sure to consider how you will invest in creating a professional website. Examine your use of social media, how to grow and engage your audience with email marketing, and how to refine your company’s local search engine optimization. Identify the analytics you’ll track and make decisions about, and continue to stay on top of digital trends. Using these tactics effectively will lead to increased engagement, business, and long-term growth.