Managing a business website can feel like a second job. However, it’s more important than ever that your business has a digital presence that speaks directly to the problems your customers want to solve through your products and services. With COVID-19 still slowing the pace of business for most of the country, now is the time to update your online presence.
Optimize Your Website for Mobile
Studies show that mobile is making up more and more of the online landscape, both in terms of web content and user searches. The most important statistic to know here is that 53% of mobile users will leave a website that doesn’t load within three seconds. When you are optimizing your website for mobile users, speed and usability are the most important. Content needs to adjust smoothly to smaller screens, and it needs to load quickly. You can increase loading speed through a number of steps, such as:
- Changing the presentation of high-bandwidth content such as images and videos
- Using a reliable web host
- Choosing a suitable WordPress theme
Create a Google My Business Listing
If you’ve ever searched for a business and seen the helpful listing on the right side of the screen, that’s a Google My Business listing. By creating your own, you will make your website much more visible and easier to find for online shoppers. What’s more, they’ll also be able to find the most important information about your business in one place.
A Google My Business listing contains delivery/pickup options, hours, contact information, and all-important trust-building testimonials. It also gives you a set of tools to manage and monitor your online presence. It shouldn’t surprise you that most members of the Chamber have a Google My Business listing, and you should too.
Invest in Local Digital Advertising
Digital advertising can take various forms. Targeting social and search engines with pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) are increasingly important. These techniques are quite different from each other, but they each operate by targeting certain strings of keywords. By tailoring the keywords to local communities, your business will have an easier time reaching potential customers.
A PPC ad campaign works similarly to other types of advertising in that you pay a small fee for each click the ad delivers to your website. On the other hand, SEO might seem a bit more novel. By writing keyword-rich content that conforms to SEO guidelines, you’ll rank closer to the top spot in relevant Google searches. Web users rarely look beyond the first page, so a high search engine ranking is a powerful competitive advantage. You can learn and write SEO on your own but hiring a professional copywriter will be more convenient and effective.
Run a Business Social Media Account
Setting up an Instagram and Facebook account for your business can go a long way in building your brand. While Facebook has the greatest outreach, Instagram emphasizes visually engaging content and has far greater rates of response. While you should use both, one is likely to be a better fit for your business overall.
By boosting your visibility in search engines and maintaining a mobile-friendly web presence, your business will cope much better with the rigors of the COVID-era economy.
