How The Internet Can Make Or Break Your Business

Web Design and Online Marketing
Web Design and Online Marketing

If you have a business, no matter the size, you know that the internet is going to be an important part of your business strategy moving forward. Everyone is on the internet – and if you aren’t, that is the first thing you need to do. If someone doesn’t have even a small presence online, people start to ask questions and get concerned.

Increasingly, people go on the internet to get advice and information about everything that they do – including local services, purchasing products, and hiring people. As the population gets older, people are starting to rely only on the internet for their information – gone are the days when most people don’t have some connection to the online world.

As such, you need to ensure that your online presence is solid and good – or you won’t get very far. Here are some things to focus on as you build your online reputation:

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization (SEO) is what gets you onto Google. When someone looks for whatever your service is – say you are a landscaping company in Tulsa – they will search for specific keywords. There are some keywords that are more common than others. On top of that, your web design and online marketing are important as well.

Search engine optimization is a formula that you need to master (only for it to change again) to get ranked highly on Google’s first page – something everyone else in your industry is competing for and trying to achieve. It can get difficult and hard to stay on top of, but there are some ways to do it. This is especially true if you can get help from a company that will monitor the recent trends for you.

Online Reviews

Online reviews will make or break your company, depending on what you do. There are so many places where people can leave online reviews, including on Google, Facebook, your website, and Yelp, to name a few. These online reviews are the first things that people see – maybe not the actual words that they write, but the number of stars that are given. This can encourage people to look at your company a little more, or it will cause them to keep scrolling onto the next company.

If you can, encourage reviews from clients that will give you good reviews – and limit (or intercept) bad ones. There are many different ways to do this, including by offering incentives for reviews.

Customer Interactions

How do you interact with your customers online? If you have social media profiles, especially a Facebook profile and an Instagram account, your interactions will matter. Make sure that you have someone who will answer thoughtfully, will look over comments to delete the ones that are inappropriate, and will create meaningful engagement. This will only continue to bolster your brand – but it is a very fine line to walk.

If you are trying to go “viral” in order to gain some presence online, you want to ensure that you are doing it in a way that is beneficial to your company.

Advertising

If you want to do some advertising, it is better to do it online as a PPC ad campaign compared to doing it on television or in the newspapers. More people will see your ads this way and they will be able to engage right away compared to calling a phone number or typing in a web address. All they have to do is click and they will be transported to a page that will sell them on your products or services. Of course, all of this has to be done properly and using best practices in order for it to be effective – but it is a great way to start.

Email Marketing Opportunities

Email isn’t dead, despite what some people will say. Your ability to email out special offers, news, or just information that cna help your clients and keep your name in their minds is essential. Email marketing isn’t always easy to master, but when you do, it can be potent.
These are just a few ways that the internet can make or break your business – there are plenty more. We live in a golden age of getting information out about your company, but you do need to ensure that the information you get out is good, high quality, and accurate.

Who Can Help You To Reach New Customers?

If you are having trouble reaching new customers in your world, you know that you cannot do it alone. Sometimes, there are just challenges that we put in our own way that stop us from getting to where we want to be – and one of those biggest challenges is reaching out to other people to get them to help us. Whether you are a new business just starting out or you have established yourself already, you are certainly going to need other people in order to continue moving forward and gaining traction in the Tulsa area.

This advice doesn’t just help people living in Tulsa – there are people like this in almost every part of the world. No matter how large or how small your area is, these tips will help you to reach out to new customers and clients.

Here are just a few of the people you can try to help you reach new couples:

A Tulsa SEO Company

If you are interested in bringing in more clients and customers, you absolutely need to think about your online marketing strategy. Many people are using their phones and tablets to search for products and services, so you need to think about how people will look at your website. If they are going to use Google to find you, you need to show up in those results. A Tulsa SEO company can help you to show up where you need to be so that you get all of that search traffic.

Many older companies aren’t used to competing at this level, it is something that they need to pivot to in order to win over clients. Whether you are just starting or you have been a business for some time, you need to consider working on your search engine optimization.

Talk To Your Previous Clients

One way that you can get new clients is simply by talking to your previous clients. You can ask them to leave reviews for you on social media (know that there is a way to do this and a way not to do it), get testimonials that you can put on your website, and even take pictures of some of the work that you have done. Of course, you only want to get reviews and photos that will make your business look better.

Even so, simply reaching out to previous clients can help you to refresh their minds so that if they talk to someone who needs a specific kind of work done, they will think of you. You may even want to offer them a discount or a coupon if they came through a previous client OR give that previous client some sort of benefit for referring a friend.

Engage With Your Neighbors

The businesses around you can help you to reach out to new clients and customers quite easily. They have already gotten clients and customers that you don’t have, and they have them near your business. This is half of the battle that so many businesses face – so you need to make use of your neighbors. It all depends on what you do and where you are, but you may want to offer coupons or special sales in conjunction with everyone on your block so that you all benefit.

Plus, it never hurts to actually be friends with your neighbors.

Talk To Local Groups

The local groups that you can talk to are numerous – from local councils and schools to churches and women’s groups, from libraries to government centers. Get yourself in front of as many people as you possibly can – they will follow with support. Don’t just do it to speak – sponsor a kid’s baseball team, put a flyer in the high school musical’s program, or dress up for the local Halloween parade. The more you do, the better.

One of the most important things that you do moving forward is just trying to reach out and continue trying to grow your footprint in the Tulsa area – or wherever you are. Just by reaching out to these groups of people, you will certainly see some traction for your own business – and maybe even help them.