You will agree that doing business in this day and age without an online presence is only setting yourself up for failure. Most modern purchases begin online, and not having an online presence significantly reduces the likelihood of being discovered by many shoppers. Looking at the statistics, Invoca claims that more than eight in ten shoppers often research online before transacting.
You also could be surprised that, according to Cropink, over 2.7 billion people shop online consistently. That’s about 33% of the global population, highlighting why you can’t survive today’s competition without an online presence. But you don’t want to pour hours into building your website only to realise that someone has to scroll up to page three of Google to find it.
This is why measuring and improving online visibility is handy. And thanks to website traffic checker and other contemporary tools, you can now be more strategy in your approach. So, how do you get started to ensure you’re discoverable to the people who actually need you?
Understand where you stand
Before you can improve, you need to know your baseline. It’s just like going to the gym – you wouldn’t start training for a marathon without knowing how far you can run today. Likewise, you want to know the number of visitors to your site, as it helps determine a site’s popularity and the effectiveness of content marketing strategies.
Knowing who visits your website, how often and what they do while they’re there really helps make more informed marketing decisions. Gone are the days when marketers would just rely on intuition or guesswork. With consumers expecting more tailored experiences, marketers are now paying close attention to user data to improve their relevance.
Other factors to explore include:
- Social media interactions like likes, shares and comments
- The rate at which visitors leave your site after viewing only one page
- Visibility on search engine result pages
- The frequency with which people mention your brand across digital platforms
Assessing website speed can also be handy. Sites with more than three seconds of load time are potentially losing up to 53% of mobile visitors before they even get to see their content. That’s like throwing half your flyers in the trash before anyone reads them, something you don’t want for your brand.
So, how do you improve your visibility?
Strategic content marketing
It’s no surprise that about 82% of marketers have made content marketing a significant part of their approach. According to Master Blogging, 83% of internet users regularly read blogs, presenting a great opportunity for businesses to position themselves before target audiences. Think of it this way: An adventurist wants to tour an entirely new place. Among the initial things they’d do is explore multiple online blogs about their area of interest.
For travel companies, blogs can be an excellent way to target these audiences. The beauty of content marketing is that it can also help improve your brand reputation. Imagine the benefits of people viewing you as an expert in a certain field just because you consistently provide reliable and informative content. This approach may lead to more organic growth and even cause more customers to become loyal.
Also, consider diversifying the content. Blog posts are great, but mix in videos, infographics and other interactive tools. Videos, in particular, are a visibility powerhouse. Data from Kapwing shows that seven in ten consumers will likely share videos on social media, increasing the chances of being discovered by new shoppers.
Search engine optimisation
While creating great content is good, you need to optimise it for search engines; otherwise, you may never reach a good number of potential customers. And a great way to get started would be keyword research. For instance, if you run a local bakery and see that a phrase like ‘the best gluten-free cupcakes London’ has a decent search volume but low competition, it’s time to create content specifically for it.
Remember, over 90% of shoppers start their online experiences with a search engine. Therefore, if you do proper keyword research and use the right phrases, you will be sure to reach more potential customers than competitors who don’t.
Next, optimise your on-page SEO:
- Use clear, keyword-rich titles and meta descriptions.
- Add alt text to images.
- Structure content with headings (H1, H2, etc.) so both readers and search engines can navigate it.
Expand your reach on social and beyond
There are numerous crowds to pull on social media platforms. According to DataReportal, more than five billion people worldwide actively use social media. And since these numbers might continue growing, future businesses will have even more opportunities to reach new audiences.
But again, it’s not just about having daily Instagram or Facebook posts. After all, almost everyone is posting, making social media a crowded space. To stand out, engage with users by replying to comments, sharing other people’s work or even jumping into trending conversations where relevant. Increasing user engagement could positively affect their connection to a brand, causing them to become loyal.
Having a working website that everyone can see is not accidental. It takes applying the right strategies, like understanding where you stand and keyword research. Content marketing is also an excellent tool, given that many people research online before transacting. Also, don’t ignore the power of improving social media engagement. Over 95% of the world’s internet users use social media, providing good grounds for reaching billions of customers.
