Web visibility: What is it, how to create and manage your online presence?
These days, it takes more than just a good product or service to stand out from the competition. If the advent of the Internet and social media has made it possible for users to find you before they even know you or your brand, know that the same is true for your competitors. To stand out and increase your online presence on the Internet: you will need a proper digital marketing strategy!
What is a digital strategy?
It is an action plan based on the elaboration of objectives related to the positioning of your company in relation to the competition, as well as the development of a communication plan adapted to your needs.
Why is it so important to be visible on the Internet?
Because nowadays, more than 50% of the world’s population uses social media, while 81% uses the web to search for a product or service. The web therefore offers an exceptional showcase for your business and this, regardless of your industry; you have everything to gain by taking care of your web presence!
The main digital channels
Different digital channels, and therefore different types of online presence, are available to reach users; you are free to use one or more of them. However, the goal is not to be “slightly” everywhere, but rather where your target audience is. It will then be easier for you to reach them by having a sustained presence where they are, rather than being scattered around and lacking visibility. Here are the different channels on which you can advertise.
Website
By having a website, you can reach thousands of users who search locally or regionally… provided of course that your site is well referenced! Don’t forget to make it user-friendly and attractive and to opt for an optimization aimed at increasing your ranking in search results for the terms or expressions on which you can position yourself.
Creating content, such as blogs and/or videos on your site is also an excellent way to increase your online visibility because you will often offer original content, which encourages search engines to visit your site on a regular basis.
While a website can offer incredible visibility and increase your online presence, it often costs more than other channels; but think of it as an investment rather than an expense! And don’t forget that your site must also be adapted to be used on different media such as mobile devices and tablets!
Social media
Being present on social media when you are a brand is now the status quo. However, being present does not mean being active, so you need to establish a social media strategy that aligns with your overall digital strategy.
As mentioned above, it is not a question of being present on as many platforms as possible, but of first defining the medium on which to reach your target audience. In addition, it is important to take into account the characteristics of each platform, in order to adapt your message/content to the expectations of the users.
Number of monthly active users: 2.7 billion. (Source)
Demographics: 54% of users are women and 46% are men.
Specificities: Due to the number of users, Facebook is often the first platform on which an account is created as part of a social network strategy, regardless of the size of the company. It is an excellent tool to keep in touch and exchange with your community, whether local or digital, as well as to generate leads and retain other users.
Facebook is much more than a social network; it is also an excellent socio-demographic database. It is very easy to reach your target audience during a promotional campaign, or during surveys for market research purposes.
Number of active users per month: 1 billion. (Source)
Demographics: 71% of users are under 35 years old.
Specificities: Allows brands to visually connect with their audience by focusing on high quality videos and photos. Whether it’s to share your company’s culture, unveil a new product or present a live event, you could solidify your brand’s image and build even more user loyalty.
Number of active users per month: 330 millions. (Source)
Demographics: 93% of users are in favor of brands becoming socially involved, particularly by supporting the various Twitter communities. For example, they want funds for grassroots activities, for brands to help raise awareness of the essential issues of social life, and support to legitimize their passions and interests. (Source)
Specificities: Tendency to want to receive the latest trends related to their industry, interests or brands and companies whose official communications they follow. In mid-June 2020, Twitter introduced a new voice feature for Apple phones, allowing users to tweet an audio message of up to 140 seconds in length.
Number of active users per month: 310 millions. (Source)
Demographics: 97% of users are decision makers within their company, and of the 24% of millennials using the platform, 11 millions are also in a position requiring decision making.
Specificities: Increase your reach as an expert in your industry, and gain credibility. It’s also one of the most widely used platforms not only for talent recruitment, but also for B2B content distribution. That’s why 97% of B2B marketers use it in their content marketing efforts. (Source)
Number of active users per month: 400 millions. (Source)
Demographics: Women still represent the majority of users since the platform’s creation, with more than 60%. However, the male audience has increased by almost 50% since 2019. (Source)
Specificities: Allows brands to be exposed to a wide audience that uses the platform not only to find inspiration, but also to shop and discover new products to buy.
YouTube
Number of active users per month: 2 billions. (Source)
Demographics: Users over the age of 35 as well as those over the age of 55 are the fastest growing demographic groups.
Specificities: Video content has been an intrinsic part of marketing strategies for several years now because of its importance in the user buying process. Moreover, YouTube is the second most visited website on a daily basis after Google, so it would be incongruous not to capitalize on this platform where more than 70% of users engage and exchange with influencers and other content creators. (Source)
I have a website and social media accounts; what more can I do?
Of course, it’s not enough to just sit on your laurels and wait for users to come to you; you’ll have to manage all of these mediums or opt for external management of your online presence, a long-term digital strategy and a social media strategy to stay proactive and ahead of the competition.
Various tools are available to improve the visibility of your website, including organic and paid search engine optimization. Having an attractive website or Facebook page to reach users is certainly useful, but they must be able to find you on search engines! This is where SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (Search Engine Marketing) and SMM (Social Media Marketing) come into play.
With a multi-channel content strategy that takes these three disciplines into account while monitoring performance and adjusting it as needed, you will be able to reach as many users as possible. While this may be an expense at first, the return on investment of a good content strategy can be very interesting!
Different tools at your disposal to check your online presence
How to improve your visibility on the Internet and how to increase your online presence while controlling it? There are various tracking and analysis tools that will allow you to have a global picture of the performance of your page or website. However, if the organic results are not up to your expectations, you can also opt for a more consequent investment in paid ad campaigns.
Analyze your online presence
First of all, it is important for your company to have a Google My Business profile, in order to promote customer loyalty and allow your customers to interact more easily with you, whether by email, phone or by leaving a notice about your business. Also, more and more consumers are searching at a community level: what they can find in their city and even in their neighbourhood, much more than at the provincial or national level.
It is also important to connect your website to the Google Search Console and monitor its performance, as well as Google Analytics to better understand the user experience.
Other analytics tools specific to the social networks you are on are also recommended for use. This way, you’ll know what’s workin
g, whether you’ve successfully reached your target audience or whether you need to make adjustments to increase the performance of your page or publications.
Increase your visibility with paid search engine optimization
Different platforms also allow you to advertise on the Internet to increase awareness of your brand or product/service, or even convert users into potential consumers/customers. Google, with Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords), allows you to advertise via text, visual, or both, on its entire network, which also includes YouTube.
On Facebook, thanks to Facebook Ads, you can launch advertising campaigns not only on said platform, but also on Instagram.
Finally, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest also offer the possibility to promote your content on their respective platforms.
In short, it is essential to give your website or your professional page the highest possible visibility so that you can achieve your objectives; also keep in mind that it’s not enough to just give it one big effort and leave your different platforms unattended afterwards! Regular maintenance and optimization will allow you to remain visible to users.
