We have now left another year behind us. In connection with this, we also look forward to the digital horizon. A horizon that promises good prospects for the companies that are investing in having a digital presence. So let’s talk more about this!
What does a digital presence mean?
The answer to this question can be made as short or as long as possible. Depending on who you ask, the content may also vary.
At least for me, it is a brief matter of being seen as a company on the Internet and thereby creating new business, and communicating with its customers. But let’s make my answer more nuanced than that …
As you probably are aware, it is now possible to be visible in a variety of channels or medium. Today, a digital presence is about so much more than just clipping a web site, keeping your fingers crossed and hoping for the best.
In order to succeed in today’s digital climate, it is a smart and effective way to connect website, social media and digital marketing to stand out from the crowd. Something that in turn leads to new business opportunities.
Why is this important?
The majority of the Australian population is now connected, while they frequently use search engines as well as social media. Just over Google makes over 55 million searches. Every day.
Not only this, as many as 5 million Aussies check Facebook daily. On average, they spend an hour a day on social media. The digital world is thus a great place to be seen for companies that want to create more business.
The digital landscape 2019
The digital landscape is constantly changing. Every month we read about new social media that promises gold and green forests. They will compete out of the big dragons. Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. However, this is rarely the case.
With that said, I thought below to list some of the – at the moment – most popular channels in the digital landscape:
- Search engines
- Snapchat
- Youtube
Search engines
Search engines have the task of indexing as many of the web sites as possible, as well as ranking and displaying them for users. The ranking is via so-called ranking factors, which you can read more about in our SEO guide .
The result (read website) that is displayed depends on what the users are searching for. The search engines’ task is to display the website that best matches the user’s search query.
One thing that may be good to know is that there are a variety of search engines on the market, which may differ slightly from each other. To the most widely used and famous, however, Google dominates 92% of the international market.
Another giant in the digital landscape is Facebook, which is a social network. This market-leading giant dominates 66% of the international market. The user base is also broad and consists of both old and young.
How to use Facebook is constantly changing as new features are introduced. As a member of this network, on the other hand, you can enjoy pages, share pictures, movies and live broadcasts, and integrate with content that others publish.
Also Instagram is a social network that is now also owned by Facebook. Unlike the latter, Instagram is used primarily to share and consume images and movies.
Snapchat
A relatively new dragon in the digital landscape is Snapchat, which is a message platform that is mainly used to communicate with friends. However, after having drawn a lot of setbacks and stagnant user numbers, it remains to be seen how long you can keep their faith.
Like the other giants – Facebook and Instagram – Twitter is a social network where you can share content in the form of text, image and film. Historically, much of the focus has been on the former, but in recent years, moving content has become increasingly popular on the platform.
LinkedIn has both great similarities and differences with its colleagues Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Unlike these networks – which are mainly used in private contexts – LinkedIn is more professional, in that it is specifically designed for job context.
Instead of sharing photos with your lunch, you may share a deal with LinkedIn, a new colleague you received, or an article you wrote.
Youtube
On the social network Youtube you have the opportunity to upload and consume movie clips. Something that is very popular with the younger target group.
Create a digital presence
In order to reach these channels and create a digital presence, there are a variety of strategies to embrace. Below, I therefore wanted to share some handy tips and advice to improve your presence in search engines and social media:
Tips for appearing in search engines
Because most associate search engines with Google, I was mainly thinking about this. To appear on Google , it is possible to work in a variety of ways. Among other things, you can work with old honest search engine optimisation (SEO) , local SEO (Google My Business) and search marketing (SEM) .
Google My Business
The easiest way to improve their presence in Google is to add their business to Google My Business. You have probably come across this feature earlier. For example, when doing a search on a business:
To add your company to GMB, do the following:
- Open Google My Business .
- Click Start Now at the top right.
- Sign in to your Google Account or create an account if you are not already using Google services.
- Enter the name of your company and click Next.
- Choose if you want the business address to appear on Google Maps.
- Select a business category in the search field and click Next.
- Enter a phone number or URL for your company and click Next.
- Complete the registration and verify your connection to the company by clicking Finish.
- Select a verification option.
Work with search engine optimisation
In order to further improve your presence and thereby drive more traffic to your website and generate new business, we recommend that you also work with search engine optimization. A type of digital marketing where the goal is to appear as high as possible among relevant search results.
At SEO Expert Melbourne, for example, we are visible at the top of the keyword “SEO”, which is very relevant to us. It is something that gives us good exposure, drives a lot of traffic to our website and generates many new business. It is also the fruit of a successful work with search engine optimisation.
Working with SEO, on the other hand, is complex as there are thousands of factors that affect your positions in the search engines. However, much is about producing qualitative content, attracting links via Link Building , and creating a user-friendly website.
To get more in-depth information about this, you can advantageously read our beginner’s guide to search engine optimisation (SEO) .
Work with search marketing
However, if you lack the time or skills required to work with search engine optimization, you can either hand over the work to an SEO company , or test on search marketing.
Many today associate search marketing – or SEM as it can also be called – with Google Adwords . A platform that allows you to appear on Google through a variety of ad formats.
However, the most common format is text ads, which appear above the organic hit list:
To create a text ad, do the following:
- Sign in to your AdWords account .
- Click the Campaigns tab.
- On the left menu, select the campaign where you want to add the new text ad.
- Click the Ads tab.
- Click + Ad and then select Text Ad.
- Click Select… and select the ad group where you want to add the new text ad.
- Enter a final URL, header text, description and text in the optional path fields. A computer and mobile version of the ad is displayed directly in the ad preview while writing.
- When you are satisfied with your new text ad, click Save Ad.
Tips for being seen in social media
However, simply improving their presence in search engines is not enough. It is important to do the same in social media. In order to appear in these, you can, like the search engines, work both organically or with purchased advertising.
Reach out organically
To reach out to social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, I recommend that you:
- Working Much with Images and Movies – Mobile content continues to grow in popularity every day.
- Make sure to touch people – This will increase the chances of them integrating with your updates.
- Be consistent – It doesn’t work to post a picture once a quarter. You must frequently update your social media.
- Customize the content to each channel – A movie that works on Instagram does not necessarily have to work on Facebook. Therefore, be sure to adapt the content to each channel.
- Measure and evaluate – Make sure not to spend time on things that do not produce results. Measure and evaluate continuous results from your updates. Continue with things that work. Stop immediately with things that don’t.
In summary
Since the majority of the Australian population is now connected and uses both search engines and social media, a digital presence is essential for companies that want to create new business. We hope you use some of these tips to improve your visibility!
