The advent of the internet has without a doubt created opportunities for many businesses that would have otherwise been impossible. For example, there is now a myriad of channels to market our products and services with unprecedented access to your target audiences. Businesses most affected by the advent are SMBs that previously didn’t have the marketing budgets to compete with larger corporations.
As you probably know and have been told countless of times, it’s not enough to simply have a website these days. As a business in this globalizing, ultra-competitive world, it is important to build a strong online brand that will stand out from the competition. Here are 5 tips to help you build a much stronger online brand presence.
1. Carefully Select Your Channels
There are over 200 online tools and channels available to you. There are social media channels, paid advertising, SEO, blogging, email marketing etc. You should choose your channels according to your budget. If you have a big budget to spend, then you can handle managing 5-6 different accounts and initiatives.
Knowing your limit matters the most. The last thing you want to do is start something and not keeping it consistent. Let’s say, you launched a blog two months ago. You posted an article on the blog every week until now. All of the sudden you’ve halted the continuum because you ran out of time and began to post once every month, instead. It’s better not to do it all than to ruin the consistency and flow.
2. Create Brand Guidelines
Inconsistency can have a negative impact on your online branding initiatives. At best, your brand might not be memorable. At worst, it can produce a reputation of mystification and apathy. Clear brand guidelines strengthen your organizations differentiators and identity, allowing you to voice your competitive advantage to your customers and prospects. Define every guideline from messaging to social media commenting to design elements to font usage and colors to logos and imagery.
3. Learn the SEO Basics
You should hire a professional, white-hat SEO company or learn the SEO basics yourself to enhance your rankings and improve visibility on major search engines. The main reason why you should invest in it is because it is cost-effective. Compared to the costs associated with email marketing and PPC advertising, SEO is free and provides a fairly stable ROI.
4. Develop a Distinct Branding Look
If your business and its products sound unique, it’s time to create a distinctive look for your brand. Begin with the basics – choosing the colors that best represent the work you do and will bring your business to mind with a single glance. Make sure that your logo is readable and adjustable in order to avoid any branding disaster.
5. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly
Scrolling up and down and left and right to read a sentence on your phone or tablet is an annoyance. A mobile-friendly websites puts simple navigation at your fingertips. Your audience may not thank you right away, but they will give you a mental high five! Be sure that your phone number or email information is clearly displayed and clickable. If someone is viewing a mobile version of your website, they may want to get in contact you right there and then. If they cannot, they will hit the back button and go to the next website they find on search engines.
iRISEmedia.com is a Toronto digital media agency providing Social Media Marketing, SEO, PPC and online branding services in Toronto, Ontario, the GTA and throughout Canada as well as globally.
