S3 Blog

Today the amount of business that is solely conducted via the internet is staggering, for some consumers it is the first place that they will look if they want to buy certain goods or obtain certain services. Due to this it is essential that if you own a business you have an online presence as this will not only boost your profits but it will also make more people aware of your business and brand. If you are unsure how to do this here are the top 10 things that you should do to maximise your online presence:-
 
1. Create a website for your business – this is one of the most obvious ways to get an online presence, yet some businesses do not have their own website, so make sure that you have one for your business.

2. Create a blog for your business – once again this is another way of raising your online presence and is also an excellent way of communicating information with potential customers.

3. Create a profile on a social networking site for your business – many businesses now do this and they have their customers listed as their friends, once again this is a fantastic way of communicating with customers.

4. Generate an email marketing campaign – this will help to raise awareness of your online profile and can reach thousands of people for very little effort and even less cost.

5. Submit articles relating to your site to directories and submission sites – these are another way of promoting your business and should have links that go directly to your website.

6. Create good SEO for your website – SEO is the term given for Search Engine Optimisation which is the process of tailoring your website content so that certain keywords that relate to your business are included in certain percentages. Doing this will help to get you on the first page of search engine results pages.

7. Submit your website to as many search engines as you can – this might take some time but can pay off large dividends in the long run. Aim for the largest search engines first and work your way down to lesser engines.

8. Invest in pay per click advertisements – if you feel that your business can afford such a form of advertising use PPC as this is a great way of driving traffic to your website and maximising profits.

9. Have a customer referral program – these are very useful if you want more people to know about you, offer your existing customers an incentive via a referral program for every new customer they refer to you.

10. Take advantage of forums – join as many forums that are related to your business as possible and comment on them, placing links back to your website. For example if you pet products join a site for pet lovers and watch your online presence grow.
 
Remember the more your business is mentioned on various websites the greater your online presence will be, so get out there and do so promotion!

Any business today that wants to maintain an online presence needs to be proactive and take certain steps to maximise this presence. Whilst it is easy to be online during office hours or at home on a PC it is difficult to keep this up when you do not have access to a PC and internet connection. This leads to gaps in availability and could result in vital business being lost due to not having the facility to check emails, update a blog, respond to customer queries, check orders and so on.

Mobile technology providers have recognised this need to be connected to the office, albeit virtually, and have designed something to enable business owners and individuals to be able to access the internet and make phone calls all from one device – the Smartphone. Smartphones are mobile phones which offer advanced features which are likened to that of a PC. For example certain Smartphones enable the user to add additional applications that will allow them to perform certain functions such as data processing. In addition to this there is full internet access, email capabilities, PDF readers, media software and even the ability to access secure networks such as company emails. Smartphones are also designed in such a way that they also incorporate a mini QWERTY keyboard so that writing emails is made easier and they sometimes have a touch screen or D-Pad.

When you are choosing a Smartphone you must first decide what features you would like it to have, for example if you only need one to be able to access and reply to business emails you should opt for one with these features as standard. If you are looking for something that is a little more advanced and that is able to support more features choose one that allows third party applications to be added to it such the Blackberry. All Smartphones run on their own operating system so check which applications they allow before deciding on one. Microsoft Smartphones for instance will allow all Microsoft applications to run on them but will not support all third party applications which can cause problems if you work on a particular application in the office and need access to this regularly.

Another advantage of using a Smartphone is that unlike a traditional mobile phone which limits the number of contacts that can be stored in it, the only limit with a Smartphone is its memory, so you can add contacts on the move and then transfer details to your PC when you are back in the office. If you are in a business where contacts are important choose a Smartphone with a large memory so that your contact list is not limited.

So to ensure that you get a Smartphone that is right to maximise your presence online do your homework and find out what features you need. Then you can check the market and see which Smartphone best suits your needs and go ahead and get connected.