Small and Medium Businesses are taking more advantage of widespread use and accessibility of the internet. While there are still consumers that are influenced or rely on print ads and TV commercials, more people are using the internet to look up services and products that they need. This is why small and medium businesses should invest in digital marketing; not only is it relatively cheaper than buying ad space in a newspaper, digital marketing can reach more potential customers. As such, we’ll be taking a look at digital marketing tips and tricks to help promote your small business:
It All Starts With the Website
Your website will be the very foundation of your digital marketing endeavour. If you’re starting, it’s essential that your website has your business’ name on the site address, and should have the basics: brand, address, products and services, and contact information. You can add photos of your products or your business establishment. You must make your website ad-free, as customers are more likely to click away if they see a business website filled with pop-ups and ads.
Optimise Your Website
Potential consumers who are looking up services and products online would want a website that’s user-friendly, easy to navigate, and fast to load. So your website must be fully optimised. If you’re designing it yourself instead of professional, just make sure that you stick to the basics — no need for fancy functions just yet as they may bug down your website or may not ‘translate’ well in other platforms. Speaking of platforms…
Be Multi-Platform
Your site should be accessible through different devices. Google allows you to test out if your website is compatible with mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones. Websites that don’t pass Google’s mobile standards are less likely to show up in Google’s search results when a user searches for products and services online through their smart-phone. If designing and optimising your website to be multi-platform proves to be too technical, it’s best to hire a professional to do your website design. There are many online marketing and web design agencies in the UK that provides digital marketing solutions to small, medium, and large businesses.
Take Advantage of Social Media
You have to realise that not every consumer uses search engines to look up for products and services. Around 54% of these browsers use social media to look up products and services. This is partly because social media platforms and apps allow users to find not only products and services but people using and talking about these products and services. If one searches for coffee shops in the area, they’d be provided with a mix of both posts and photos of people hanging out in the shop, the shop’s page (with pictures and information), reviews, and even allows them to interact with the business through messaging or comments. That said, your business should have an active and up-to-date social media page (which should also link to your website).
Don’t Forget Signing Up With Other Sites
You’d want to register your business’ location in almost every popular online map (such as Google Maps). And, depending on your line of business, you should also sign up on listing sites such as Yelp. These sites will help increase your online presence, as well as provide your customer with the means to provide review and feedback.
Conclusion
To be ahead of that digital curve, you need to invest time and money into your small business’ digital marketing endeavours. However, if these all seem too daunting or too technical, you can always rely on digital marketing agencies and professionals to help you out, some of which are even quite affordable and reasonably-priced for small businesses.
