It has become the business standard that one of the essential tools for business growth is having a strong online presence. In the digital age, it’s never been more important that you work consistently and proactively when it comes to building a website and the verticals related to it in fluid and consistently productive ways. The trick is knowing just how to increase your digital footprint so that you maximize your potential to reach new customers and reignite those dormant customers who have strayed or forgotten about your services.

The good news is that there are some basic but necessary steps for you can take that will boost your online presence and give you a firm foundation on which to build. If you’re looking for ways to increase your customer reach, here are the best ways to achieve it.

Do your market research

When it comes to research, there can never be too much. There should be two stages to your market research, and whether you’re just starting out in business or you’re managing a legacy company, it’s never too late to get these elements right. Your first step should be to research your customer demographic.

• Learn about your product and ask questions regarding what your customers want and need from you. Your company needs to know who they are targeting as well as how they’re going to hone in on their demographic. When designing a marketing campaign, you need to ensure it’s catered to the right people. If you’re targeting millennial women between the ages of 20 and 30, then you’re going to take to social media, as opposed to paying for flyers to be posted through the door.

• You are going to need to research your competition, so that you can see what they’re doing right, what they’re doing wrong, and taking advantage of what they’re not doing at all. Finding those gaps is an essential stage of your business growth.

Concentrate on your branding

You should never underestimate the importance of your branding. It’s one of the key tools in your business toolbox, and can be used in a variety of ways that can boost your online presence. The main function of branding is to ensure that you remain in the forefront of your customers’ minds when they have a need of your product or services, and the only way to achieve that is through repetition and consistency. Look at ways to reinforce your branding, and if your analysis indicates that your current branding strategy is weak, then it may be time to consider a rebrand. You can rebrand your company by designing a new logo, overhauling your website and starting over your social media channels. Make sure you’re transparent with your rebranding, so you don’t confuse the customers you already have.

Businesses who have undergone successful rebranding include: Old Spice, Burberry, Apple, and Stella Artois.

Create a variety of original Content

Content is one of the most useful ways to boost your online presence, and you can use it in a variety of positive ways. Your content needs to be fresh and original, so that it performs well in your SEO results, but it also needs to be educational and informative. One of the most common mistakes that businesses make when it comes to their content is using the same formats over and over again. This can lead to consumer distraction, so it’s essential that you experiment with different content formats. Consider video tutorials and make use of industry related infographics that provide information in easy to process ways. Remember to check which of your content types is working best for you, and reduce the use of those types that are failing to hit their mark.

Implementing SEO

SEO can be a tricky marketing tool to follow, however, without proper SEO your business will fail to make a mark on Google’s page ranking. To build a large following, you’ll want to use content as a means of becoming an industry leader. Good content posted on social media a great way of doing this, but you’ll also need to optimize your content, otherwise the SERPs will struggle to find your piece, regardless of how great it is. To implement SEO that works, learning how to do keyword research for SEO and posting consistent, relevant and good quality content can bump your Google ranking and help build a larger online audience.

Experiment with social media platforms

Social media is a great tool for interacting with your audience and growing it at the same time. However, not every social media platform will work well for you, and a lot of your choices regarding the content that you share is going to come down to your business itself. Not every sector performs well via image-based platforms like Instagram or Snapchat, so experiment with the platforms that you’re most comfortable with and expand to the others as you progress. Work out which ones are giving you the most positivity, and you’ll be able to focus your attention on those. Never forget that despite the negative connotations of Facebook, it remains the largest social media platform for personal use, so you should always start there.

Be a market leader

You want your customers to trust and respect your expertise when it comes to your business, and the best way to do that is by becoming a known market leader. It may seem odd, but one of the best ways to do this is to take your content into the offline world. Attend community events and offer to speak about your industry (but not as a simple advert for your business). Educate and inform, and leave people wanting to know more about you and your company. Send out press releases to local media outlets, which is very effective when it comes to big news in your sector. By getting your name out there, you’ll see an increase in website or social media traffic that will make the time and effort worth it.

These tips will ensure that you are working productively towards expanding your online reach, and they needn’t be time-consuming either. Simply allocating an hour or two a day will help you to keep on top of the game when it comes to being the first business that customers think of when they need you most, and that’s the best result you can get when it comes to your business growth.