If you don’t already have a website for your business then it really should be a priority. To start with you don’t need to spend a lot of money on a professionally designed website. Buy yourself a domain name, find a hosting company and use a WordPress skin to begin with, you can always customise it over time.
Does My Business Really Need a Website?
An online presence gives your business a global reach, now’s the time to really join the twenty first century. There are a number of things that you can do yourself to enhance your online presence, while for other things may need a professional, for example a photographer for photo shoots.
Getting Visitors to Your Site
Just as there are some things you need to do to make people aware of your business in the offline world, so there are some other things that you can do to promote your business online.
If you can, write your own blog articles and update your site on a regular basis. Some website owners are ok about writing regular articles and content but may need help with their sales copy to improve a website’s conversion rate. There will be lots of things you can do for yourself but if you want to upload some pictures related to your business then a professional commercial photographer will have the experience to make your business stand out from the crowd.
Create an Online Presence
Join social media sites such as Twitter and Linked in, you can actually add Twitter to your site and each time you enter a new blog post, your Twitter account is automatically updated.
You don’t need to spend a lot of time on social media sites, just enough to make your presence known and to introduce followers to your website and thereby your business.
Make some time during your busy working week to post to your site’s blog and to visit other blogs in your field and comment on them. When you leave a comment you can also leave a link back to your site and that’s the start of getting traffic or visitors.
Get Indexed by Google
Your site needs to be picked up by the search engines if you want visitors to find you. Do a bit of keyword research related to your business and perhaps take out a couple of Google Ads, this can bring you to the attention of your target market.
In order to get indexed by Google you need regular, fresh content on your site and you need to submit your website to Google. Try some guest blogging, write something useful and original, it is a great way to get links back to your site.
Google likes pages with images on. Make sure that your images are strictly related to your business and that they look professional. Find a good local photographer to take the pictures for you. The cost will pay for itself by further enhancing your online presence, getting you noticed by the search engines, and attracting more visitors.
Make sure that the content you write is unique and related to your business. All the work that you put into enhancing your online presence will be well worth it over time, as good content attracts interested visitors and potential buyers.
This post was written by Amy Fowler on behalf of Northampton Photographer Beck Photographic, the Northampton commercial photographer. Amy writes on different ways business can take advantage of new media.