Growing Your Business Online Organically (why & how)
grow your business online, why and how
It is every business's dream to be discovered online. These days having a presence online and offline is necessary. Any business that isn't actively looking to grow its business online, may seriously be missing out on long-term potential.
Growing your business online takes a considerable amount of time and effort, but the rewards pay off and the opportunity to grow your brand long-term can have lasting results. There are plenty of methods to help snowball your efforts into something bigger.
"Nearly 47% of total global purchases are completed online," reported by Think With Google. If you are reading this online, you wouldn't find that as a shocker. Online shopping is expected to grow, given the digitalization and how the internet allows companies to sell without a physical presence. Among consumers, factors such as convenience, a wider selection of goods, and competitive prices have contributed to the increase in online shopping.
Now that we have that out of the way, let's explore ways you can grow organically online and why we urge you to grow organically.
Organic methods for growing your business online
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Everything and anything we ask for can be searched online. That's why focusing on search engine optimization is still the best place for reliable growth. SEO still offers the most affordable yet done right and can bring in the right traffic for months and years to come. SEO can be complex and can take months for results to show up. The benefits of SEO can make your website more visible, which means more traffic and opportunities to convert prospects into customers.
Content Marketing
Content marketing and SEO work closely together and should be done together. The truth about creating content is that not all content is relevant. Content marketing should focus on curated and high-value content that is helpful and useful for your target audience.
Creating high-value content shows the search engine and your audience your expertise. This also allows a business to target keywords and topics that are important for your brand. Content marketing can be used to attract, engage, and educate prospects before they do business with you.
Content marketing is a sure method to promote your business online in a noisy digital world. With consistency and a comprehensive strategy, your content marketing efforts can transform and support your brand.
Online reviews and testimonials
Before making any purchasing decisions, consumers are looking to trust positive reviews and testimonials from real people. Positive reviews and testimonials build trust and credibility with potential customers. When people see your business has had positive experiences with your product or service, they are more likely to trust your business.
Not to surprise you again, but reviews do contribute to your online presence. Positive reviews can improve and increase the rank of your website on search engines like Google. More likely to make you more visible online when potential customers go searching for a business like yours. In fact, customers will do the marketing for you.
Social media marketing
Here's your online reminder that you need to hop on social media. I can be guilty of missing part of this, but I'm here to preach that you shouldn't miss YOUR opportunity. Social media is an excellent place to engage with your core audience. Growing on social media should be on the agenda and a critical place to think beyond your current followers.
A tip for all businesses is to create a strategy that fits your target audience. There's nothing worse than scrolling your homepage with nothing to watch or read. Here are more quick tips on getting people's attention and encouraging them to share:
Hashtags: It does not matter how many hashtags you have under your photo. Hashtags are used to signal the social media algorithm what your posts are about and who would be interested in them. Picking the right hashtags can make your post more searchable and relevant to the right people.
Images: Catch them before they're gone! Social media users are quick scrollers and often don't spend more than a few seconds on a post. Great images can attract people's attention and more likely to engage with you.
Tagging: Tagging people on social media posts can cross-promote your business. It can increase the chance of being discovered based on your content and can include better engagement.
Choose how your business grows
The main thing to remember is that each business is unique. There are plenty of more suggestions to add to this list, but the best method will take time. Time, effort, and consistency are key to growing organically. Organic growth is sustainable growth. You would need to invest in steady, high-quality, different content, keywords, and a perfect blend of your audience's wants and needs. Ultimately, the right mix depends on your business goals and resources.
