Being a small business in a world of small businesses is a tough gig. Everyone is promoting themselves every single day so small businesses (including bloggers!) need to ensure they stand out from everyone else as well as making themselves look professional and approachable. Jeeez, it’s a lot of plates to spin – I know, I do it almost every single day! – but it’s important that you try. It certainly gets easier but in a time where everyone is online, online shopping is bigger than ever and you can find almost anything you want with a click of a button, it’s important to make your web presence a vital marketing point of your brand / blog.
Social media
Not everyone uses Twitter so it’s great to give perspective shoppers / clients a few options to be able to check out your brand on social media. With Instagram on the up and becoming probably the most popular social media platform, that’s a great visual option for small businesses to share aesthetically pleasing content that will stand out.
Website design
The design of your website as a small business says a lot about you and the business itself. You obviously want your website to represent you, your aesthetic, what you stand for and be an extension of you. But you always need your website to be clean, clear and user friendly as to not put clients off. You don’t want a client to be totally invested in your product only to be swayed the other way because they couldn’t work out how to use your website. There’s plenty of great website hosts, website designs and even companies to help you create (or even create for your entirely) to perfect, simple website which stands out and is easy to use.
Consistency
Back to what I said about social media, I think it’s important for small businesses to be consistent over all their platforms so they’re easily identifiable. For example, keeping the same company logo, the same Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest handle and keeping a consistent theme in colours and design of your website and platforms. You want people to take one look at your page and know instantly who you are!
Being professional
When we’re online, we’re there for the entire world to see how we portray ourselves. They can see when we mess up, say something inappropriate or get into a tussle with someone else. We’re all human, small business owners are human and have a lot to contend with on a daily basis but it’s important to maintain a level of professionalism throughout your online presence. If you have a customer which isn’t 100% happy with the product or service, it’s important not to get angry or argumentative and show that you have integrity to deal with even the not-so-good parts of being a small business owner.
And being yourself
But as well as having a level of professionalism, it’s so incredibly important to also be yourself. You want to stand out and there’s only one of you in the entire world; show the world how you work, how you’re different from everyone else out there and why people should buy your product / work with you! If you have a good sense of humor, make sure that comes through in your olnine presence (the Innocent Smoothie Twitter account is a great example of this!) If you’re kind, fun, adventurous – whatever you are as a person – show that in your online presence.
What other traits do you think are important for small business owners to have? Anything else you’d add to this post that you think is important to consider when it comes to having an online presence?
* This is a sponsored post with Silky Ocean Studios
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Many people hold on to first impressions. Your website can make or unmake you. You are right small businesses have to put a lot of effort into designing their websites.
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Thank you for posting this insightful article!
I love this post! I really enjoy building a strong online presence for any type of small business. Here is what I have learned through the years.
Hands down, the most obvious is the look of your website and on page SEO. The website has to be easy to read and it must have a clear Journey mapped out for your users. The other aspects that are very important is what you do outside of your website and or social media profiles. Here is my 3 tips that you should really think about if you want a successful and strong online presence.
1. Directory listing for your business AKA business citations. These will help you with appearing in local searches.
2. A well done high quality backlink program. Yes, despite what you hear, It still works. That is if you do it right.
3. Be social! Comment, comment and comment some more. This helps your search ranking with in social platforms. Also it builds awareness around you and make important connections. It’s a huge traffic driver and it’s fun. I have made great connections with commenting and I urge you to do the same. You won’t regret it.
That’s all the time I have for this one. Good luck and reply if you have any questions about building an online presence. I am here to help.
Thanks again Jenny for this great post! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Great post Jenny! I am 7 weeks away from graduating with a marketing degree and have started managing a small business’s social media accounts. The business is small and does not have a large advertising budget, so the owner and I thought it would be wise to just have the Facebook and website as home bases. Even though the company has a small advertising budget does not mean that the Facebook and webpage is useless. Both of those pages provided the company with a digital “footprint” and identity. Consumers expect good companies to be in the digital world and that is exactly what their digital accounts are doing. It provides a place for the consumer to validate the company as a real business.
[…] might manage your business on the surface really well. You might know exactly what’s going on with every single part of your […]
I love this post, and you are so right on all of them! I help my cousin with the social media accounts for her salon and I never really realized how much work goes into it, especially if you want instant results!
Wow that’s cool that you do that 🙂 x
I’ve seen some businesses be far from professional on social media and it always puts me off. Same for those bloggers who thrive on drama – no thank you!
Oh for sure x
It’s so important to have an online presence as we live in an online world x
For sure 🙂 x
I always think about the being professional thing! My twitter, for instance, is quite personal and I swear a lot, but then I look at other bloggers who openly kick off at each other and have so much drama and think I’m probably alright haha! In the same way, it would totally put me off a brand if I saw them being rude on social media. It’s so important to portray yourself and your business in the best light!
Beth x
Oh gosh those bloggers that are constantly included in drama! No thanks x
being professional is so important for small businesses, there is nothing worse than seeing someone air their personal problems on their business pages
Right! And bloggers that get into loads of drama?!
Consistency is definitely key! x
Absolutely! 🙂 x
Some really good tips, as always!
Thank you 🙂 xx
100% being ourselves, it’s one thing only we can do so we need to use that to our advantage.
http://littlemissmelanie.com
Absolutely – the fact that we’re all different is our power xxx
I agree with all these points, I think it’s so important for brands to have a good social media presence, especially these days.. it’s so competitive at the moment so it’s more important than ever to stand out 🙂 Loved reading this post!
Kate | http://www.katelovesx.co.uk
Absoltuely 🙂 And I’m sure if you see a brand who are rude on social media you’re more likely to stay away from them! xxx
So true. It’s important to try and make your mark on the internet xx
It really is when there’s so many people doing the same thing x
These tips are so important, even for a blogger, being professional is such an important thing!
Love, Amie ❤
The Curvaceous Vegan
Oh yeah for sure! x
Girl your tips are always on point. Social Media and consistency are so so important for small businesses and bloggers!
Rosie
Thank you 🙂 Totally agree x
These are such great tips! I’m launching my own business soon (so nervous!) as well as running my blog as a business, so I’ll definitely be implementing these!
Also, you’re so right about professionalism. It’s so important! Too many people don’t take it seriously and get caught up in drama on Twitter, how will anyone respect you if you do that?!
Shauna | https://goddessguide.co.uk
You’re so right! I always avoid drama like the plague 😂 although it is fun to read sometimes but I’d never get involved! xx
I agree, nothing great comes from getting involved.
Being professional is definitely important for small business owners and also bloggers x
http://www.ofbeautyandnothingness.co.uk
Definitely for bloggers too x
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