Why having an online presence is so important to your business

Everything that can be found about you or your business on the Internet includes your website, your blog, all social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc. and even individual reviews from your customers. Today’s people expect to find an online presence from every business , regardless of whether you have a shop on the shopping street or ‘just’ an online shop. If you don’t have an online presence, you don’t exist in people’s minds. We have selected the most important components for a visible and strong online presence for you.

Why a Google placement is so important

Your website is your digital business card. Your placement on Google plays a key role in this. Internet users use laptops or PCs to research products and services online. The cell phone, on the other hand, is mainly used to concretise a purchase decision near a shop. What does this mean for you as the operator of a business?
For bars, restaurants and shops where the purchase is still made on site, optimizing the local search on the smartphone is therefore of fundamental importance. In contrast, this aspect does not play a role for a location-independent online shop.
In the meantime , searches are generally carried out more on mobile devices than on computers. 65% of smartphone users are looking for the most relevant information, regardless of whether it is an online shop or a normal business. On the other hand, 81% of online shoppers do an online research before making any major purchases. They do this mainly on the PC or laptop.

Why a blog is so important

A blog is often neglected. You don’t really want to spend time on the blog, but to keep up appearances, you take care of it sporadically. The result is unused potential for customer acquisition , both on a technical level with regard to SEO , so that customers can find you more easily on Google, and on an emotional level, in which you can inform customers and convince them of your expertise. 47% of buyers look at an average of three to five different pieces of content from you before they start a conversation with a seller. Companies that publish over 16 blog articles a month get four and a half more prospects than companies that only publish a blog article up to four times a month.

Why social media is so important

A third of the total population is active on social networks. Social media started a revolution in marketing. Almost everyone uses social media privately, but many are completely overwhelmed when it comes to using social media effectively for their own business . The fact is that 92% of marketing managers confirm that social media marketing is essential for their own businessis. Another 90% said that social media marketing increased the visibility and reach of their company. In addition, posting consistently on social networks also has a positive effect on your company’s Google ranking. Google takes your entire online presence into account. This also includes your social networks. And the more engaged you are with your audience on Facebook and Co, the easier it is for you to be found on Google.

Why Facebook is so important

Facebook is the guerrilla among social networks. Facebook is the network with the most active users worldwide. 72% of adult internet users use Facebook. 70% of all Facebook users log in daily, 43% several times a day. 74% of all Facebook users use the social network for business purposes. At the same time, 45% of marketing managers complain that their marketing efforts on Facebook are ineffective. Placing Facebook advertising has now developed into an independent and very technical marketing discipline. There are technical innovations every day and the creation, switching and optimization of Facebook advertising today requires a lot of know-how, time and budget. Nonetheless, Facebook is still the social network that every business has to rely on.

Why Instagram is so important

Instagram is the young hipster among social networks. Only 28% of all adult internet users use Instagram. The photos on Instagram have to look cool, modern and casual. All lifestyle brands cavort on Instagram in order to entertain their audience with visually perfectly staged photos and to seduce them to buy. Instagram is perfect for building a brand and instilling a certain feel for your brand in your customers. Interestingly, photos with faces get 38% more likes than photos without faces.

Why YouTube is so important

YouTube is the new television. The video channel reaches more 18+ year olds during prime evening programming than any television station in the US. Four times as many users would rather watch a video about a product or service than read about it, and 50% of Internet users do so before going into business.

Video contributes to a company’s revenue growth 49% faster than companies that don’t use video for marketing. Admittedly, producing and publishing good videos consistently is a lot more time consuming than writing a blog article. Nonetheless, it seems to be paying off for many companies, especially larger companies with more budgets. 71% of all companies with more than 100 employees integrate YouTube into their marketing strategy. However, only 38% of all self-employed use YouTube as a marketing channel.

Why LinkedIn is so important

LinkedIn is the serious businessman / businesswoman among social networks. LinkedIn is therefore perfect for B2B business initiation. 25% of all adult internet users are on LinkedIn. It is also the only large network that is used more by 30 to 49 year olds than by 18 to 29 year olds. LinkedIn originally started as an online business contact address book. In the meantime it has developed into a large platform for relevant business content. Between 2014 and 2016, content consumption on LinkedIn increased by 21%.

CONCLUSION: You have full control over your online presence
The online presence turns you or your company into glass objects. In a matter of minutes, anyone in the world can find out who you are and what you and your company are doing. Naturally, this has advantages and disadvantages. It is bad for those companies whose products and services are of questionable quality. Unsatisfied customers can now effectively and sustainably damage a company through bad reviews.

However, you can strategically plan and control your online presence . This gives you 99% control over what potential customers should read, hear or see about you. As? By proactively investing time and resources in your online presence, consisting of your website, blog and social media. Yes, it takes a lot of work. But frankly there are no alternatives. What do you want? Growth or stagnation? As with everything in life, the decision is yours.