How To Get Seen Online
There are literally millions of businesses and services offered online in thousands of different markets. For example, estimates put the number of blogs between 200 and 250 million. So how in the world is your business ever going to get seen online?
Today, it’s vital that you know how to get your business noticed online. This often means being a lot more personal and relationship focused than ever before. It’s not enough to have a great service or product. Having that should be a given. Now you must also get personal, stay relevant and even entertain your audience so when you do get seen online, you’re remembered. You must build a fan base to brand yourself in a memorable and profitable way.
How To Get Your Small Business Noticed Online
Take advantage of the following ideas, tips, tricks and strategies to get seen online and improve 
your market share, sales and profits.
1. Be Consistent
When your followers know that you produce a brand new podcast episode every Monday, a value-rich blog post every Wednesday and have a free Question and Answer webinar every Friday, that consistency will pay off.
FREE Checklist: Branding For Small Businesses & Bloggers
2. Be Available
If you really want to get seen online make yourself available to anyone and everyone. If you don’t know who your customers are, it’s going to be hard to give them the type of customer experience they expect. The best way to get to know them is to talk to them, engage with them, and find out about them. Read what they read, join the groups they’re in, and be on the social media they’re on. Know them and you can provide better experiences for them.
3. Plan Ahead
Do you set aside time regularly to plan what you want to do in your business? When you have a clear plan, you can focus on what’s most important. Instead of spending time trying to figure out what you should be working on, what pieces of the puzzle are missing from your sales funnel, or what you need to do to break through to the next income level, you know exactly what needs to come next. Develop a business plan, follow it, and stop chasing the “next big thing” or shiny object.
4. Specialize
When you niche down to a laser targeted market, instead of trying to be all things to everyone, your business will grow. As well as focusing on the weaknesses that you need to improve in order to make your business stronger overall, you should consider where your strengths lie within the business. For example, you might not sell the cheapest version of your product compared to competitors, but maybe you offer the best support to your customers. Whatever your strengths are, play up to them and use them in your branding.
5. Be Uniquely Yourself
You are the only “you” in the world. People love someone who is genuine, so be genuinely yourself. People like things when they feel they can connect and relate to somebody or something. If you want to connect with your audience, get personal with them on many levels – not just from them to you but also from you to them. Show them you’re a real person with values and ideas and that you’re trying to create a brand that represents those. So instead of creating a tagline full of jargon, make it more personal and create a tagline that shows your audience what you want to build for them that encompasses what they care about.
6. Provide Tons of Usable Value
If you show someone how to solve a big problem in their life, that person is going to be dedicated to you and your business. Making anything memorable to a large audience can be difficult. Not everybody is interested in the same thing, and not everybody will be interested in your business and what you have to say. The first thing you’ll need to do is come to terms with the fact that not everybody you’re targeting is going to become involved with your business or even like what you’re doing and what you have to say.
7. Interact With the Online Community
Be present and approachable on social media, chat rooms, forums and elsewhere on the web. Some audiences love being able to go to live interactive webinars, some prefer listening to and participating in live podcasts, yet others will prefer a message board option. You can offer them all the above and find out which works best for engagement with your audience. But, you can also ask them. Send out a survey via email to ask them where they’d like to communicate with you most and they’ll probably let you know.
8. Stop Publishing Garbage
Content has always been the king of marketing. Before you publish that blog post or social media update, ask yourself, “Is this valuable?” If not, keep writing until it is. By creating customer-focused content that adds value to your audience and builds your brand, you’re going to stand out online. This is because you understand that content must be valuable and have a purpose for being and not just a filler for the search engines.
9. Do Something Different
If your main competitors are zigging, then zag. Do something different than your competitors and you will get noticed. But don’t use a brand name that people find difficult to say, and you shouldn’t choose words that are difficult to spell either. Remember that you want people to be able to find your website and business details in the search engines, and if they can’t remember how something is spelled or they can’t convey the website properly to their friends, you’ll struggle to build up your audience as quickly as you might otherwise be able to.
10. Develop a Memorable Brand
Your logo, company strapline and personality need to be memorable to stand out and get seen online. When people think about certain brands and companies, the first thing that comes to mind is the logo. This is usually because some logos are very memorable, either as a result of being controversial or a result of being amazingly effective. Work with a good designer who can help you to create a great logo, and be prepared to invest that extra cash.Your logo should include something unique about your business, as well as the business name so that people can remember it easier.
Free Checklist: How To Make Your Brand Get Seen Online
A strong brand will provide a way for your audience to stay connected to you regardless of what products you promote today or in the future. Branding will enable you to get seen online so that you’re connecting with your customers in a way that lets you offer the right products to them at the right time.
To learn more about how to get your product noticed online download my free checklist, Branding For Small Businesses & Bloggers that provides actional tips on how you can reach your target prospects, provide a positively memorable experience related to what you have to offer and improve customer retention.
