Creating an online presence means more than simply putting up a website with your company's address and phone number. It means constructing a welcoming and informative website, a Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram account, all linked together in harmony, all working together and playing-off each other.

​In the digital age, more people search online for the products and services they need before walking into a storefront or calling the actual business. By ignoring this important marketing platform you will lose customers to competitors and potential business growth.

Accessibility & Convenience
The Internet never sleeps. Think of your business as a round-the-clock showroom. This allows potential customers to research your product or service after business hours, and in the privacy and convenience of their own home. If you sell products, an online store allows for an order to be placed as soon as a customer is interested, as opposed to waiting for the store to open, by which time the urge to shop may have passed and the sale is lost.

Branding
Branding means building a potential customer's trust in your company or product. Providing an online presence not only gives a customer access to your product or service, but it also provides a way for the customer to research your company. Online reviews, customer interactions and the frequency and quality of your content helps to form a good impression of your company.

Massive Audience
The Internet is vast. Your web presence reaches out to everyone who passes by your online storefront, which could include people from right next door or in another country. Depending on your specific industry and what you offer, this opens up a much wider customer base.

Customers Reviews
Customer reviews can be a double-edge sword of conducting business, as there will always be that possibility of receiving a bad one. But if you run your business well and treat your customers right, these should be isolated and outnumbered by the many raves left by your happy customers. Potential clients often check for reviews of a company or product before purchasing a product or service, so always encourage a happy customer to leave reviews on rating sites such as Facebook, Yelp, Trip Advisor and Google Places.

Easier Selling and Marketing
People like to buy but don't like to be sold. Well written text describing products or services on your website and social media platforms allow customers to make a more relaxed and informed decision when purchasing goods, as opposed to feeling pressured by a pushy sales staff.


Related:

• How Do I Get More Reviews

Reviews are a deciding factor in business. If your star rating and reviews are excellent, more people will pick up the phone, email or click into your website.

3 Steps
There are 3 steps you can take to get more online reviews:

1. Ask
2. Show
3. Remind

Ask
You can ask for a review in a multitude of ways:

• after you complete a job
• the latest customer you interacted with
• through an email
• when you send a invoice
• when you finish a phone call

Take every opportunity you can to ask for a review. No need to pressure, simply ask, and you will get reviews.

Show
Show your customers how to leave a review. Some will know how to do it and others will have no idea. Example, here's how to leave a review on Google Business. 

1. Sign into Google (Gmail account)
2. Search for your business on Google
3. Click to leave a review
4. Select star rating, write review and submit

The key is showing a customer that they must sign into Google and navigate to your business listing to leave the review. Sometimes that’s difficult for people to do, so show them how.

Remind
Remember, we're all busy and forgetful at times. When you ask someone to leave a review, just remember that they probably have 20 other things on their plate. It may take them a week to compose the review and they may forget altogether. Follow up within two weeks and remind them about leaving a review. We all need a push from time-to-time.

Get Out There & Get More Reviews
Set a goal of getting 5 or 10 reviews. Make a list of customers you can ask for a review. Put together a list and then ask them, show them and remind them. You will get reviews, and it will open your business to more exposure and receiving more leads!

Tweet daily. Be frequent and consistent or your followers will lose interest. 

Republish old content. No harm in re-posting the good stuff.

Use hashtags to get noticed. But whatever #you #do don’t overload #your #tweets with them. It can be annoying to others. ​

Schedule your tweets for evenings and weekends so you don’t miss out on traffic and opportunity.

Include imagery in your tweets when possible. People are much more likely to share photos and video.

Share other people’s content, keep it relevant and interesting.

When sharing an article, include an interesting quote from the piece rather than just tweeting the title. 

Don’t ignore people who give you positive feedback. Take the time to reply and be cordial and genuine. 

Don’t ignore the negative feedback. Never reply in an argumentative or defensive way. Always keep it polite and professional. 

Share personal business updates. It adds human quality.