How to Boost Your Online Visibility (in easy practical steps!!)
In these uncertain times, visibility is essential; there are essential steps we can take to ensure our ideal client finds us.
The most important factor being the foundations you lay in place. You can read more about this in How to Build a Website – That Attracts your Ideal Client (& makes you money).
Another equally vital component is to ensure your site, and your business remains visible at all times. With the current climate, many companies are evolving and thinking outside the box when it comes to their visibility. Diversifying products and services and taking business communications online is paramount, but if working this way is new to you and your business, how can you stay on top of your game?
What is Online Visibility?
Let’s use a florist shop as an example. Where would this store rank on Google if we typed ‘wedding bouquets’ into the search bar? If they appeared on the first page, they are more likely to attract potential customers to their site. How did they manage to rank so high? They used an online approach specific to their ideal client, such as unique content. Also, they would share this content where they know their customers would be hanging out online. Optimised ads on social media might also factor in, but predominantly, staying visible means creating good quality, helpful, and tailored content.
Small businesses can struggle to be found on search platforms such as Google as they have to compete with large brands which usually have hefty marketing budgets. Here at SEO Angel, we work closely with clients to nail down the basics of their ideal client, and how their business can provide the solutions to the clients’ issues. The SEO trends for this year are prioritising audience-focused content, so by taking the time to cover these points, you are giving yourself the best possible start.
“The SEO trends for this year are prioritising audience-focused content”
Find Your Ideal Client
Before shifting your entire focus to an online business and reacting without first doing your research, it’s worth asking yourself a few questions:
1. Who is my ideal client?
2. What are their issues?
3. How can I solve those issues with my product / service?
The answers to these three simple questions will provide you with an essential insight into your super customer, how you can target your content to meet their needs, and pinpoint relevant keywords to use in your campaigns.
Providing practical solutions is always going to be at the core of any business, and providing excellent communication and content will ensure a positive customer experience. As many companies adapt and take their business online to try and evolve, it’s more important than ever to be able to stand out from the crowd.
Research plays a big part in understanding your ideal client and what keeps them awake at night. By spending valuable time on this process, you can discover your clients thinking methods and search parameters.
Once this is done, you can move on to create valuable content tailored to your ideal client.
“8 out of 10 readers only read the headline which reinforces the need to write a compelling title that will hook them in”
Creating Content
Our super customer needs to be courted, wooed and left wanting more. The messages you send via your online platforms (website, emails, blogs, and social media feeds), must be on brand and consistent. If you’ve taken the time to understand who your ideal client is, you will be able to customise your content to fit their needs. Here are a few tips that may help:
- Where do your customers hang out online? Write your content to match the platform. If it’s LinkedIn, then your posts maybe business focused. However, you may share the same message on Facebook with a more relaxed and conversational tone.
- Are your customers looking for a giveaway? What can you offer in the way of free content to meet this need? How about a cheat sheet PDF, an eBook or V-Book, a physical product or a gift voucher?
- Have you thought about creating YouTube Videos/tutorials, or starting a Podcast?
Your content must be created with the emphasis on your ideal client and their wants or needs.
“Your content must be created with the emphasis on your ideal client and their wants”
Practical Steps to Help You Stay Visible
- Step into the shoes of your ideal client. We are all learning to develop our skills, products, and services, but how is the current climate impacting your customers? Are they struggling with alternative issues to how you may have helped them in the past? Is money more of a focus than before? Do your clients have restrictions in place that you may be able to offer assistance with? If you’re unsure what new struggles your customers are facing, ask them. Use your social media platforms to get the conversation started.
- Monitor the competition. What are your competitors doing to ride the wave? Can you collaborate with any of them to offer your customers a solution?
3. Always listen. It might seem obvious, but listening to what your clients are saying and asking is going to help. Answer any queries they have, write blog posts or LinkedIn articles, offering explanations or resolutions to their questions. Communication should be at the centre of your customer journey.
4. Be honest. If your business has had to change the way it operates, keep your clients informed every step of the way. Be authentic with your content and reassure your customers that you are still there for them in whatever capacity that may take.
5. Follow up/Check-in. Staying visible online allows our ideal client to find us, but never neglect the clients you already have. Stay in touch with them to see how they are doing. Nurturing business relationships is a long-term goal, so be sure to follow up.
