It’s a bit like going for a job interview; there are two candidates both with the same qualifications, both more than capable of the job. So how do you pick one over the other? This is where having a great online presence comes in. It’s no longer acceptable to simply have a website. Your website and online brand presence must have more than that.
Here we share some tips for you to follow to ensure your online presence is doing your brand justice 24/7.
1. Be responsive
Responsive web design is an absolute must. Mobile devices have now overtaken PC browsing with desktop browsing falling to 48.7% against smart phones and tablets so without being responsive you are potentially missing out on a large proportion of potential customers.
As well as this, Google do take into account how mobile-friendly a site is for ranking purposes. You can run a quick test via Google to see how mobile friendly your current site is – click here
2. Confirm trust
Existing customers are your brand champions so don’t be afraid to brag a little! Showcase reviews, case studies and testimonials throughout your site and across all your social media channels. It’s worth getting a ‘project finish checklist’ together which should include asking for a review or testimonial; if you’ve done a great job then people will be only too happy to talk about it and if things could have gone better, it’s the ideal opportunity to rectify the issue before any negativity arises.
Be sure to make the most of each positive review and for case study pieces, why not use them to form a direct marketing piece to your pool of potential customers?
3. Remarketing
What better way to conjure up trust than repetition? The beauty of remarketing is that if a visitor has been on your site but not purchased, downloaded, or whatever your set action is, then you can position targeted adverts in front of them as they continue to visit other sites on the internet.
Remarketing helps to keep you front of mind against other companies whilst further raising your brand awareness.
4. Hone those social skills
Social media allows companies to share messages with the potential to be seen worldwide and shared numerous times. You can send out statuses/tweets and links throughout the day – use it as your vehicle to drive even more trust. Be sure to respond to any comments or questions that you receive, this enables you to get your brand personality across; if you can rectify an issue that’s even better, it shows you’re not hiding behind a profile and are happy to admit mistakes.
5. A pleasant and easy journey
You may understand your business, but if you were landing on your site for the first time, would your key messages, your USPs, be available to see without having to delve through tons of text? Is your site easy to navigate or are there a lot of unnecessary clicks to get what you need to get to? It’s well worth doing regular site checks – get other members of your company to check it through too, as often different eyes spot different things.
6. Be accessible
Include full contact details in the footer of your website pages as well as on a specific contact page – doing this helps to validate who you are and what you do. Add your company registration number and VAT number too, if a company want to check you out before making contact, let them. It’s also nice to have team pages, the key figures, who prospective customers may buy from or meet.
7. Don’t be a slow coach
A website that doesn’t load instantly may have people switching off before they’ve even begun to browse. Research carried out by Instapage shows that ‘53% of people will leave a page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load’ and this will see your bounce rate figures sky rocket, it can also aid your rankings on Google. Potentially, how much business could you be losing? A quick fix is often to cut down on unnecessary images or the file size of each image shown. You can test your site here or here – it’s worth making this part of your monthly routine.
8. Be content rich
Create regular, interesting and relevant content which your readers will find of value – in the words of Sujan Patel “always deliver content that the headline promises”, maybe you choose to update the news or blog sections of your site or if you’re more picture centric then update your Instagram or pinterest feed, but make sure all content is relevant and speaks in the same tone as the rest of your brand. If you’re part of a wider team then a clear, approved communication plan can ensure everyone is singing from the same consistent hymn sheet!
If you’ve enjoyed this post, you may also like to read: 10 website and UX stats that help facilitate better web design and development and How to get noticed on social media – increase your brand awareness online.