Online marketing is an increasingly common way to gain exposure and sales, but many companies are unable to generate the kind of online presence that draws a steady stream of new customers.

Why not get 2019 off to a big start with some new online marketing tips?

Your online presence refers to all the identities you’ve created and the interactions you’ve had online, including social media accounts, web pages and reviews. If done correctly, you can use these to raise awareness of your brand, encourage customers to learn more (and buy more), and garner more attention and interactions than an old-school billboard ever could.

With a little time and effort each month, you can build up your online presence to a stage where you’re really drawing in customers regularly. We’ve compiled six top tips to help you out here:

Mobile Friendly is Customer Friendly

In October 2016, web searches from mobile devices overtook searches from laptops and pcs, and that number has only grown since then. You simply cannot afford to have a site that performs poorly for the majority of visitors, so you need to make sure your site is responsive across all devices, as well as visually appealing.

We put this tip first, because having a well-functioning site – across all devices – is the most fundamental aspect of having an online presence, yet it is often overlooked.

Publish a Blog

Content is King. You may know it, you may have heard it a hundred times, but do you have an active blog that you update regularly? You may be intimidated by blogging at first, but don’t be – simply share your insights of your industry and keep updating it regularly to keep up interest.

Content is easily shared online, and one blog can reach a much wider audience than traditional sales material. Furthermore, writing your own material allows you to convey your business identity in a conversational tone that helps to humanise your business with a unique identity.

Use SEO to be Seen Online

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is all about getting your website seen and ranked highly by search engines, increasing traffic, leads and recognition. In short, the more likely that your business will come up when searching for terms related to your business (like related industries or locations), the more likely customers are to visit your site.

An effective SEO plan will focus on keywords (including in written content like blogs), across all online profiles and presences with the aim of placing you above your competitors in local rankings. Because different search engines have a variety of different criteria for rankings, it’s worth consulting a professional SEO firm for advice and guidance.

Invest in Adverts

While organic SEO is an excellent way to generate long-lasting interest and engagement, it can take some time (3-4 months according to Google advice) to see results. an excellent way to see success in the short term is with online advertising campaigns.

By paying for adverts, such as Google Adwords, you can target audiences that are searching for products/services related to your business instantly. Many social media networks also allow you to target specific demographics, so this technique can be easily used to focus on your target audiences.

Use More Social Media

Social media provides a wide variety of unique benefits to businesses, allowing them to interact with customers directly and spread in formation in forums already interested in their industry, products or services.

With this being said, social media may require regular or constant interaction in order to generate more interest and engagement.

If you post helpful and/or informative content often, then it should be easy to draw interest and if not, refer back to point 2. However, social media can be a double-edged sword. The most successful posts tend to emphasise interactivity and accessibility, which also draw a proportion of negativity.

Turn Over a New (Yellow) Page

Get your business listed on directory sites – the more mentions of your business online, the better! Key directory sites often fare better in local searches, so make sure to sign up for Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Mapquest, CitySearch and any industry-specific directries.

Google (and many other search engines) use multiple listings to assess your search rankings, so multiple listings in a variety of directories will help you to be found online much more easily by interested customers.

In short, it’s quite simple to build an effective online presence by sharing content, getting your name out there, and cleaning up your own sites.

However, these measures take knowledge and effort, something a consulting firm may be able to provide more effectively than yourself or your own staff.