LookupPage Blog | Professional Web Presence and Visibility

Build Online Brand Presence Quicker with Smarter Blogging

We talk a lot about the importance of blogging to create online brand presence and while that is true there is a component of the blog that is often times overlooked.  In short, a blog is a social experience which builds community around one’s service or product.  If a business views their blog this was online brand presence is greatly enhanced.  If they see their blog as a way to increase search engine rank or make a sale online brand presence will be slow in attaining.

A blog might seem like a lonely task, information only going in one direction, from the writer to the audience, but in fact it is an online conversation.  A recent article explained just how important the social aspect of blogging really is to building an online brand presence.  Within the article several tips were given for small businesses to keep in mind when writing blog posts.

Online Brand Presence through Blogging – Communicate

The audience is every bit as important as the writer as a blogpost is a conversation not a lecture.  A post should pose questions to the audience and expect answers in the form of comments.  One relatively new way to engage readers and promote comments is to add social media buttons to each post.  These are small Facebook ‘like’ and Twitter ‘tweet’ buttons that allow readers to send a link to the blog post to their respective social media account.  This is one of the best ways to create and maintain online brand presence available today.

Online Brand Presence through Blogging – Content

While the content will be ultimately determined by one’s industry there are certain topics that readers do not want to see in a post. Small businesses should refrain from technically complicated (above their average audience’s knowledge) information, bland industry news and vulgarity.  Controversial topics are great if they are not too divisive.  Controversy can be a great conversation starter or it can be damaging.  Topics should be part of the overall social media plan with controversial topics one possible strategy to increase online brand presence.

Once a small business gets the hang of writing a blog and is beginning to see involvement from their target audience it is time to take their writing to the next level and seriously begin working on their online brand presence.  By becoming aware of subtle manipulations to one’s company’s blog can make the time invested writing and maintaining it well worth it. Building and creating online brand presence is a job all in itself and when a business works smarter they reach their goals quicker.

Social Media Tools Aid in Building Enhanced Online Visibility

As more and more small businesses begin to realize the benefits of launching an online marketing campaign with social media as the primary strategies to increase their enhanced online visibility a new industry has been created.  Social media tools are now available for a variety of tasks to aid the small to mid-size business owner in streamlining their social media marketing tactics and interpreting analytics.  For a business to truly see an enhanced online visibility taking advantage of these tools would be most beneficial.

Enhanced Online Visibility – Adding Multi-Media

There are a slew of new social media tools aimed at helping account holders integrate music, video, pictures and even voice recordings into their Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media accounts.  Research has proven that pages rich with multi-media generate more interest and engagement with the community.  With so much at stake in online marketing businesses would be wise to use every tool at their disposal to help create their enhanced online visibility.

Enhanced Online Visibility – Time Savers

As a small business gets more fluent in social media and their audience grows they will quickly find themselves devoting a large amount of time to the websites.  Best practice dictates that to have a successful social media marketing campaign a business must be constantly available to respond to comments and post comments regularly.  If successful this will require a lot of time especially if several sites are being utilized.  There are many new and exciting social media tools on the market now aimed at this time issue.  They streamline the updating and monitoring process by funneling all activity from multiple websites into one, easy to understand dashboard.

Enhanced Online Visibility – Analytics

After all the hard work small businesses put into their marketing some form of analytics must be available for review.  This could not be truer for those wishing to affect enhanced online visibility through an online marketing campaign.  Several social media tools provide customizable analytics ideal for the small business.  With information presented in easy to understand formats one doesn’t have to an expert to make sense of the information. 

After a company becomes comfortable with social media (one site at a time, please) they should investigate social media tools and determine which could benefit their business and make social marketing goals more attainable.  With so many tools available now and the number increasing regularly there is a social media tool available to help any business in any stage of growth build their enhanced online visibility.

Language Matters with Online Brand Presence

Everyone, by now, understands the importance of online brand presence and the various vehicles to help build and maintain it.  The most popular routes to boost one’s online brand presence where it needs to be are social media, blogs, and website content.  All three rely heavily on the written word yet companies are more and more often neglecting the English language.  There is no quicker way to lose respect from one’s audience and actually hurt online brand presence than by getting lazy with grammar and spelling.

Social media has been quite a blessing in terms of improving online brand presence.  All of the wonderful aspects of social media that make it so appealing are what make it so easy to lose control of proper grammar and spelling.  First of all, misuse of language is rampant on sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Even the most devoted English grammar-abiders can’t help but fall victim to the ‘everyone else is doing it…’ mentality.  While one’s audience may misuse homonyms and misspell common words frequently companies must take the high road and stick to writing good copy all the time to increase online brand presence.

The casual tone of blogs and social media also lends itself to the misuse of grammar.  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with dropping the formality, something which is a great tool for building an online brand presence, when posting on the company blog certain rules must still be strictly enforced. There should always be a distinction between conversational tone and bad writing.  Fragments should be avoided at all costs.  Misplaced modifiers should not exist and all words should be spelled correctly.  Tone has nothing to do with these issues.

Errors found in website content are perhaps the most disturbing. The website is the company’s online clothing.  It should display the best the company has to offer.  When customers and potential customers see misspelled words and grammatical errors within the website it damages online brand presence and sends the message that the company is not professional.  No matter what the company sales or offers in services correct grammar and spelling must be used on all web pages.

The trend to let grammar, spelling and punctuation slide is upsetting. The entire profession of editing exists to catch such errors and is now being disregarded in lieu of fast and easy.  While it might be fast to throw a Facebook post up without review it’s a company’s online brand presence that suffers if it isn’t up to par.  By taking just a little bit of time to review and edit all writing, even a simple Tweet, companies can guarantee they present a professional image and, in turn, maintain their online brand presence they worked so hard to attain.

Jump into Social Media for Online Brand Presence

For small businesses wishing to build an online brand presence participation in social media is a great way to do it while keeping the costs low.  In fact, the only cost involved with social media as an online brand presence building strategy is the time it will take.  Anyone who has ever been involved in a small business understands just how valuable that time can be which is why there are some simple guidelines to remember when taking that leap into social media with marketing as the goal.

1)    Start Small and Slow – Before biting off more than one can chew in regards to social media marketing for online brand presence they should commit to one website.  It doesn’t matter if the person updating has personal experience with the website or not when starting a page for a small business all the rules change.   We’ve talked in other posts about what should be included in social media posts and how to best attract and keep fans.  Learning to look at social media through those lenses takes some time to get the hang of.

2)    Update Often and Concisely – The often part of this tip is simple.  People want instant gratification and they love fast. Honestly, a small business should be posting at least once a day for maximum online brand presence growth.  The concise part of this tip is a little more difficult.  Communication is a skill that comes naturally to some and not so naturally to others.  One would hope that the designated ‘poster’ in a small business would have stellar communication skills but that cannot always be accomplished.  No one wants to take the time to read a rambling post.  Say what you mean and say it in as few words as possible to build online brand presence.

3)    Keep It In-House – It may be tempting to immediately contract out the work of building and maintaining an online brand presence to another company specializing in online marketing.  While there are plenty of successful and highly qualified companies one can turn to for these services it’s recommended that small businesses try to do it themselves first.  Social media is a very intimate means of marketing and customers and target customers want authenticity that can only be given by one of the team.  An essential part of online brand presence is authenticity.

These are only three tips to help small businesses kick-start their online marketing campaigns in an effort to further increase online brand presence.  The most important tip of all is to remember that social media is only one aspect of marketing.  It is a communication medium that helps the business connect with customers and future customers.  It does not make sales happen.  If social media is viewed as an opportunity to build online brand presence and not as a one-stop-shop of marketing it can be a success for any small business.

Take a Second Look at the Company Website for Online Brand Presence Hindrances

Creating an online brand presence is no easy task just as maintaining that same online brand presence requires devotion and time.  Many companies contract out their website design or have an in-house team take charge of the process and don’t give it much more thought.  Unless one has hired a leader in website design with a proven track record in brand building, particularly online brand presence, they should not assume that their website is good enough.

Unfortunately the look and feel of a website associated with a brand plays as much an influence in determining online brand presence as social media presence, blogs and web content.  A website’s aesthetics should match the brand’s goals, beliefs and overall theme.  All too often website designers get caught up in using a successful website design as a one-size-fits-all template when the truth is that each brand should be looked at with fresh eyes.

Sometimes the remedy is simple.  A company can greatly increase their online brand presence by changing some colors, fonts, and adding a few pictures.  Other times it takes a complete overhaul of the website.  If one is not happy with their company’s online brand presence hiring a professional specializing in branding isn’t such a bad idea.  The trained eye can pick up many subtle components of a website that others never consciously notice but react to emotionally nonetheless.

One tiny adjustment that everyone can do to their website that has been proven to increase online brand presence is add photographs of people.  If one questions the validity of this marketing tool they should look at highly regarded national and international brands’ websites.  Photographs of people are splashed all over the place.  The same holds true for social media sites and blogs.  People like to look at other people, plain and simple.

So before blaming web content or small budgets for one’s lack of online brand presence try looking at the website for a change.  If it was designed by someone without the training and experience working with creating and building online brands it probably is flawed.  Flashy graphics are cute but they won’t keep customers coming back for more.  By focusing on the website as a whole representation of one’s brand – color, fonts and all – an online brand presence can really begin to form. 

This is not dismissing web content by any means.  That is still the meat and potatoes of any website.  Customers and potential customers don’t visit websites for the graphics or catchy slogans.  Successful websites with the goal of increasing online brand presence understand that all the components of the website must work in harmony to create on overall brand image.  That is the only way online brand presence is achieved.

 

Quality over Quantity Is the New Game in Building an Enhanced Online Visibility

Now that we are squarely in 2012 everyone must begin to look to the year ahead and how to better their enhanced online visibility.  New reports of what to expect in every industry are coming out by the bucket loads.  After reviewing the predicted trends in industries related to enhanced online visibility we’ve pulled a view that are worth mentioning.  The biggest prediction we have noticed has to do with Google and the changes predicted in its algorithms used to determine rank. 

Google is going to battle in 2012 with those who manipulate the algorithms to get ahead.  They are focusing on the quality of web content rather than the quality.  Up until this point to raise one’s rank and enhanced online visibility in the process more pages needed to be added to a website.  Google interpreted that as good because obviously a company who has many pages has a lot to say.  Well, we all know that necessarily isn’t the truth.

There is a fine line between manipulating search rank algorithms and using guidelines to increase one’s likelihood of receiving a higher rank creating a more vibrant enhanced online visibility.  We have tried within the posts of this blog to feature tried and true ways of competing in the brave new world of online marketing by building an online brand presence and enriching enhanced online visibility.  These trends noted in the 2012 predictions (not the end of the world predictions) are in concurrence with our advice.  In short, to achieve an enhanced online visibility companies must devote the time and experience necessary to get the job done right.

Now that the Google Panda is onboard with this ideology we expect some big changes in 2012.  First of all, things are going to get more competitive.  As Smartphone activations are growing exponentially more and more people are utilizing search engines making those top ranks even more coveted than ever.  As Google and other search engines are realizing the underhanded schemes to improve rank through less than honest methods and begin cracking down on such practices new less than honest practices will emerge confusing companies even more.

Again, we fall back on do the job right.  There are no shortcuts to creating an enhanced online visibility.  There is no magic trick that one can do to become an overnight search engine sensation.  Creating a viable enhanced online visibility is possible for any company if they stick to the tried and true methods and heed advice given by the experts in the field.

Use Reviews to Create Enhanced Online Visibility

Companies dedicated to creating an enhanced online visibility are always looking for interesting and unique ways to do so.  One way that helps one’s own company as well as makes friends with other companies is to write a positive review of a product and allow the company being reviewed the freedom to use it as they please.  This creates friendly relations as well as increases one’s enhanced online visibility.

The idea is simple, really.  Within one’s industry an expert in a company finds products or services that are good, novel or compliment their own products and services and rights a glowing review.  Then, the review is posted on the company website for all to see (and is used to build an enhanced online visibility).  A link to the post is sent to the company (of the reviewed product) with a note giving permission for them to link back to the review as they please. 

The important part to remember in all this is that the review must be sincere to truly help a company’s enhanced online visibility.  The only thing worse than a bad review is a generic review of no real substance.  If a product or service being considered isn’t worth much or one’s company sees no substantial value in it they shouldn’t write about it.  This falls under the old adage of ‘if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all’.

If, on the other hand, there is a product or service that has really wowed a company they should explain to the masses why they believe in that product – even if it is a competitor’s product. Yes, that is right.  If a competitor is really doing something right and one’s company writes up a review saying as much the competition will undoubtedly post the review (and the link back) everywhere possible helping create an enhanced online visibility for the company writing the review. 

Many companies feel that they have their hands full already trying to maintain a blog, a website and other marketing materials.  Between advertising online and through traditional methods companies may not see the benefit writing reviews would have considering the time required for completing.  The benefit is very real, despite many beliefs, and will surely help build an enhanced online visibility if done honestly and thoughtfully.

Enhanced Online Visibility and Web Content

At this point everyone serious about increasing their enhanced online visibility should be working diligently on their website and blog giving a large chunk of time and devotion to smart web content.  Key words and URLs are important but there are some even more, basic, good housekeeping rules that need to be followed to really make the most of a web site and send one’s enhanced online visibility into the stratosphere.

Develop Enhanced Online Visibility through Organization

For anyone who has performed any management task, no matter how big or small, the concept of good organization is not new.  Unfortunately many forget to apply organization know-how when working on the company blog.  Archiving posts is a crucial part of a successful campaign to create an enhanced online visibility.  Most archives are organized by category, date and perhaps key words (which is different from category).

Develop Enhanced Online Visibility through Link Baiting

Link Baiting refers to the deliberate posting of articles intended to draw a lot of attention to one’s website.  Obviously not every article can create a sense of urgency and compel people’s interest.  A good rule of thumb is to create a link bait post for every twenty to twenty posts written.  Since these are designed to attract attention they need to well-written (really show what you’ve got), have a hook, and a great graphic if at all possible.  Some ideas for link bait articles would be an interesting video or picture, breaking industry news, or secrets from within revealed.

Develop Enhanced Online Visibility through Analytics

All companies have access to their blog analytics.  This is tool that often sits unused in the company toolbox.  Through careful examination of analytics bloggers can see which posts were most popular and cultivate categories to match.  Also, trends in times of high traffic can be discovered through careful observation.  Lastly, analytics provide where the click originated from allowing companies to tweak their marketing to those locations producing the highest quality visitors.

With a little bit of time any size company can improve their website’s traffic thus building enhanced online visibility.  Organization cannot be stressed enough as it will ultimately make or break a site.  Even the best web content is worthless if visitors can’t navigate a site easily.  Companies can further their website’s success through a careful analysis of statistical information provided by analytics and well-placed link baiting.  If done properly enhanced online visibility will be increased with immediate results.

Enhanced Online Visibility – Does Your Blog Work for You?

Most companies focused on creating an enhanced online visibility have been convinced of the value of adding a blog onto their website.  Unfortunately, their blog is not doing all that it can to produce the enhanced online visibility for which it was designed.  There are several common errors companies make with their blog that can easily be fixed with a little dedication and time.  For companies whose blog problems are because of a lack of both time and dedication considering hiring a professional company to maintain the blog might be the best solution.

For everyone else, there are a few things to try before calling in the professionals:

1)    Blog Often – There is nothing worse than a spotty blog for creating an enhanced online visibility – one that posts randomly with huge gaps between dates.  Try to commit to at least three posts per week.  The posts do not have to be novellas, but just something interesting .  If you try to post boring filler your audience will know and desert you.

2)    Take Advantage of Guest Bloggers – No one like to post every day or every other day.  Similarly your audience doesn’t want to hear your opinions all the time unless you’re a celebrity.  By inviting a guest to post every now and then you shake up the blog and impress search engines.

3)    Link Carefully – Don’t go crazy with the linking.  Yes, links are vital to a successful blog and an enhanced online visibility but if you go nuts you will only offend the delicate Google Panda and cause guests to never click on your links.  When reading through a new post consider what YOU would like to click on to learn more about.  Then link appropriately.

4)    Write About Real Issues – A golden rule for writing of any genre is to write what is interesting. If it’s not interesting to the author it sure won’t be to the reader.  Even if you are the primary blogger for your website and therefore responsible for enhanced online visibility and are getting sick and tired of writing about your chosen industry day after day, boring posts are not okay.  Find a new angle.  Take a break.  Do whatever you need to keep every post fresh and interesting.

A blog might seem simple in theory but in reality it takes a lot of work to do it right.  The payout for a blog done right, however, is exactly what every company needs to build an enhanced online visibility.  All companies need to be honest with themselves and decide if they can handle blogging for enhanced online visibility or if a professional is needed to do it right.

Incorporating Taglines into an Online Brand Presence

At times companies spend so much energy developing their online brand presence that they regretfully forget some very simple marketing strategies that still work, even in today’s digital age.  Alongside a great brand is a great tagline.  Companies electing not to develop one of their own are being neglectful in their marketing campaign.  When a tagline is combined with strategies to build an online brand presence companies can see an exponential growth in customers.

Taglines are everywhere.  Nike and “Just Do It” are synonymous.  Taglines are used so often and invade our subconscious associations with the product they represent so well that we rarely even notice them.  That is exactly why every company should develop their own tagline to coincide with developing their online brand presence.  There are professionals in PR and marketing whose whole professional existence depends on creating custom taglines for companies while simultaneously building online brand presence and usually companies are well advised to hire them rather than try and develop their own. 

For those choosing to try creating their own tagline independently there are a few guidelines to follow.

1)      Be original and unique

2)      Articulate the company’s mission and qualities

3)      Associate with the target customer base

4)      Accentuate the company’s advantage over the competition

5)      Communicate the goals of the company’s product or service

Once a tagline is created it should be used online for all marketing.  The company blog should incorporate the tagline into every post.  Every forum post or comment post done in the name of marketing should include the tagline.  Every email signature of every employee should proudly display the tagline.  Not to beat a dead horse, but once a successful tagline has been created it cannot be used too much.  The more a target customer associates that ideal with one’s company the more likely they are to remember the company. Online brand presence depends completely on customers thinking of a specific company for a specific need.

While many companies love to micromanage their PR and marketing teams to truly create and maintain a success online brand presence the two teams must work together. Even if a company consists of two employees and all the marketing is farmed out, every single member of the team must work together in every strategy to make an online brand presence be big and be real.

 

Improving Enhanced Online Visibility – Links and Keywords

In previous posts I have talked about certain characteristics websites need to possess in order for search engines to rank them higher creating, in turn, an enhanced online visibility.  The top-dog of search engines, Google, released its Panda updates to the Google algorithms in early 2011 knocking the SEO world on its back.  The changes in how they ranked pages was huge and if the April release of Panda was the megaquake then the six minor changes since then have been aftershocks.  Thankfully, Google announced in December 2011 that Panda was taking a vacation until January 2012.  At last, a chance for everyone trying to increase their rank on Google and build their enhanced online visibility can breathe for a few weeks.

We say, no! This is not a time to rest.  This is the perfect time to revamp one’s website checking for anything and everything that may be lowering the page rank and reducing its ability to cultivate an enhanced online visibility. By spending a few weeks while Panda is away (and getting ready for the next attack) cleaning up a company’s website, they’ll increase their enhanced online visibility and be in a better position to fight new changes when they come around.

Enhanced Online Visibility and Keyword Stuffing

Keyword stuffing is when an unscrupulous website identifies keywords pivotal to their enhanced online visibility and then fills fluff pages with said keywords.  The result is page after page of useless words used to lure unsuspecting searchers to a website.  Panda really cracked down on such underhanded methods of increasing rank and now companies must be mindful of the amount of keywords used per page of content.

Enhanced Online Visibility and Broken Links

Links break. Unfortunately search engines use broken links against a website featuring them.  While most broken links are unintentional and companies don’t even realize they are there, they will be a detriment should the Panda find them.  This is the perfect time to test every link to ensure that they are live and functional. 

Enhanced Online Visibility and Professional Clean Up

While these are just a few suggestions for companies wanting to build their enhanced online visibility in 2012 they are important.  To really make the most on a website and launch online visibility into the stratosphere a company’s best bet is to turn to professionals.  They have the knowledge and resources to stay on top of problems, anticipate changes to search engine algorithms and make subtle changes to websites should the need arise.  When committing to increasing one’s enhanced online visibility trusting the work to a professional is usually the best choice.

The Importance of Web Content in Enhanced Online Visibility

By now almost all companies of any size understand the value of having a website for their product or service.  We’ve already covered within this topic keeping the website up to date if a company’s goal is to have customers visit more than once.  While smaller businesses may be able to take care of this task themselves, or some may choose to hire a professional to get it done right the first time, all sizes of businesses must keep their website interesting and as current as possible.

Enhanced Online Visibility – Fresh Web Content

Of course there are times when web content is tweaked because of changes in one’s business practices or calendar.  That is not the kind of changes we are suggesting.  When we say that in order to create an enhanced online visibility companies must keep their web content fresh and interesting we mean every so often shake thing up a bit.  Try a different writer.  Many companies specialize in keeping web content interesting and it would probably be in one’s best interest to investigate such services.

Enhanced Online Visibility – Stay Up-To-Date

There is nothing more disappointing for customers, or potential customers, than taking the time to visit a website only to find the last time it was updated was a year ago.  That Holiday package that wowed everyone last December leaves a bad taste in the mouth come August if it is still the feature on one’s Home Page.  Every company, no matter what the size, that wants to maintain an enhanced online visibility must not let their website content fall further than a few weeks behind.

Enhanced Online Visibility – Maintain Interesting Content

Understandably not every company can afford a website with fancy intros, multiple videos and cute apps to download, but every company wishing to establish an enhanced online visibility can keep creative, fresh and (most important) interesting content on their website.  If a company does not have a designer available to keep things interesting, it would be well worth the money to hire professionals.  If a website is not interesting no one will want to visit it.

Just having a website is not good enough anymore for companies wishing to create and maintain an enhanced online visibility.  While there is no secret formula to a website’s success it does take time and experience.  Not every company, small or large, has a design team experienced in the art of creating an enhanced online visibility through the company website.  Any company finding themselves in that spot should, if nothing else, take the time to talk to an expert in the field to discover options.