Let’s assume right now, you wanted to know more about a particular brand or a business. The first thing you are very much likely to do is to go to any of the popular search engines you are familiar with ( such as Google Search Engine or the Microsoft Bing Search Engine ) and then type the name of “the brand/business” you want to know about in the search box.
If the business results came up on search results, then we can say the business has an online presence. However, if there’s nothing online that talks about the brand, we can say the brand does NOT have an online presence or, that their online presence is not STRONG enough.
What then, is an Online Presence?
According to the Wikipedia definition given earlier, Online presence is simply the process of presenting and drawing traffic to a personal or professional brand online.
This Wikipedia definition is trying to buttress how “the end goal” of having an online presence is to let your target audience/customer get to know about you online.
In a layman language, Online Presence is simply the ability for customers to find you when they search for your brand name online.
What is Online Presence For a Business (+ Case Study)
When a business is said to have an online presence, it means people can find it when they are searching for it online. Below is a case study of a Cleaning Service in Lagos (RALton Cleaning Service) when searching for online;
This implies the business has an online presence and their customers can easily get to know more about them whenever they search for their services online.
How Do You Build an Online Presence for your Business?
Building an online presence be achieved through various means such as;
- Having a Website Designed for your Brand
- Using Social Media
- Writing a blog
- Business directory listings
- Search Engine Advertising and etc.
Each of the above-mentioned means has its PROS and CONS in which what you (as a brand or business) are trying to achieve with your online presence WILL largely determine the one that which you should go for.
Why is Online Presence Important for your Business?
Having an online presence apart from putting you in front of the customers that are looking for you, had a lot of several other advantages.
The number ONE benefit that stood out of all these advantages is “Accessibility” – having an online presence enables you to be available 24/7 to the audience who are looking for you or your products.
This Availability is a strong point for making customers from different time zones in the world know who you are, what you do, and how they can get in touch with you – without you having to manually attend to everyone at a time, unlike a physical store.
Other advantages include enabling you to reach a larger audience outside of your business locality (or even country) hence improving the chances of your business gaining more customers.
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