It’s 2021 if you didn’t notice, and it’s crucial to have a top web presence for businesses.
Let’s face it. 2020 has been a terrible year for many companies. Mostly to the ones that don’t have a credible web presence.
2021 can be even worse if you don’t apply at least a few of these five tips for a top web presence for businesses.
Having an Effective Web Presence for Businesses
It’s tough for any enterprise to change how they handle things. Mainly because people don’t like change, it’s uncomfortable. Management takes forever to make vital decisions, as to have an effective digital web presence, for instance.
When they do, it’s without a clear strategy, investment or know-how. That means poor results which will bring a false perception that web presence for businesses doesn’t work.
Then, a general pandemic collapses the entire world. Businesses suddenly have the urgency to use the web to keep reaching their clients or even get new ones.
Urgency is the enemy of perfection or even sheer quality. Sometimes it is better to have no web presence at all than a bad one.
How to have a TOP Web Presence for Businesses
If you think there’s a blueprint of turning every brand successful with their digital presence, you’ll be disappointed. We can apply all the best practices and still struggle to compete in a very crowded space.
In a world outside digital devices, you could rent a store in a premium real estate space. Then, invest in great design, fantastic product, and you’ll be competing with the other brands in that street.
In a digital space, there are no streets, cities or countries. You’re competing with millions of other similar businesses and brands.
That’s scary, but it’s also a great opportunity. You’ll have a real possibility to spread your brand much more expansively than you could ever expect it.
There are at least five tips for a top web presence for businesses that you can apply from day one to help you achieve it.
In a digital space, there are no streets, cities or countries. You're competing with millions of other similar businesses and brands. That's scary, but it's also a great opportunity.
Tip Number 1: Have a domain name that matches your brand.
One of the most challenging things you’ll be facing when you already have a brand is to find a free domain name that matches it. The main TLDs are usually already taken.
Having a [yourbrand].com or *.net, etc. will be extremely difficult due to similar brands worldwide or domain squatters.
There are two things that you can do to solve this. One is to buy your preferred domain name back by negotiating with the current owner. Another solution is to find a different TLD that works for your brand as well. When a brand has its headquarters in a specific country, you can use that country TLD if it’s still vacant.
Why is this important?
When people search for your brand, it’s easier to have a domain name that matches your brand. It builds trust, and it can be easier for SEO positioning as well. Other brands or media will find it easier to link back to a domain name they can trust.
Tip Number 2: Be consistent with your brand.
There’s nothing worse to spread confusion and tear up a brand than clashing colours, design, tone of voice or imagery. A brand is much more than this. However, you need to find your space through digital, where people can consistently relate to your brand.
Do you remember when you were searching for a brand and ended up on a website that you needed to double-check to see if you were in the right place? That happens all the time.
The last thing you want your audience to do is to feel confused or not know if it will trust you. The next step is to leave the website.
For instance, when you see an ad for Nike, a landing page or their website, you know that’s Nike. You don’t feel confused because they keep consistent branding.
Why is this important?
Having a consistent brand guideline throughout your web presence is vital for your brand value and ROI of your web presence.
We’re not only referring to your website. We mean to be consistent throughout your entire web presence, from website to social media, landing pages, microsites, affiliate pages, etc.
The end goal is that your audience will feel comfortable when they reach any of your web properties. Having this consistency is also an essential function of brand building.
Tip Number 3: Is not about your brand, is about your audience.
One of the biggest misconceptions is that your website should be all about your brand. Yes, it needs to show your brand consistently and why your brand matters to your audience, but the focus should be on your audience.
If you’re building your website or other web properties as a showroom for yourself and your stakeholders, that’s one thing. However, if you want what is considered a top web presence for businesses, you need to change focus.
You’re competing for attention in a crowded place full of “noise”. How can you stand out? By creating perceived value. Not only valuable but perceived as such.
To create value, you need to understand your audience. Know more about their frustrations, problems, needs and desires.
After really understanding your audience, it’s time to create content and solutions for those particular frustrations or problems. A solid web presence for businesses relies upon providing entertaining content that addresses what your audience craves.
Why is this important?
The focus on your potential customer as an audience will make all the difference when creating your web properties. When you’re thinking about what your audience will prefer to see instead of what you want to communicate, will change everything.
Make it interesting for them. If you create that consistency, the audience will reward you with trust and an eventual purchase.
Tip Number 4: Purpose in web presence for businesses
“Purpose” might well be the buzzword for 2021. Every brand on the planet should aspire to far more than to sell products or services. It should stand for something. A purpose higher than the mundane commercial side.
For instance, Nike has the promise “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world.” Apple is “Think Different”. H&M is “More fashion choices that are good for people, the planet and your wallet.”
The purpose is different for every brand, or it should be. In ZOPPLY‘s case, it’s to “Empower Small and Medium Enterprises to have a fighting chance within the digital ecosystem”. The idea of helping Small and Medium Enterprises keep growing even when the market is challenging, maintaining their people, and employment makes us thrive.
Find the purpose behind your brand and make it present in everything your brand communicates and, in particular, does. If it’s something that you made up just to scratch this checkbox, your audience will see-through.
Why is this important?
Asking WHY your brand does what it does will make some of your ideal audience connect with your brand. Relate to what is your purpose.
It will change how your staff and team will see your brand as well. Why they work as they do and what you’re all trying to accomplish.
The “purpose” will give your brand that unique perspective, enough to segment people who will relate.
"Purpose" might well be the buzzword for 2021. Every brand on the planet should aspire to far more than to sell products or services. It should stand for something. A purpose higher than the mundane commercial side.
Tip Number 5: Brand positioning and communication
The all point of having a brand web presence is to control what you say and how you say it. Sometimes you’re “renting” space in third-party platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, to name a few. Still, you can control what you say in each one of those.
As Kotler once said about brand positioning, is “the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market”.
What makes your brand distinctive of your other competitors? How your audience understands your brand held to a specific market niche is how you position your brand.
Another critical point is how you communicate. Use plain and straightforward messaging on your website and web properties. It is not the place to write erudite proverbial work. For that, you can write a book afterwards. You have a few seconds to be understood by everyone.
Why is this important?
As mentioned before, you have just a few seconds to seduce your visitor to stay longer and enjoy your content.
If you communicate like you’re producing a financial report for a board administration, your visitors will leave faster than you can say “Sorry”.
It’s how you communicate that will also position your brand in your customers’ minds. Be consistent, remember?
Bonus Tip: Make it easy to reach out
Sometimes, you invest dearly in your design, content, structure but not nearly as much in making it easy for your audience to reach you.
The usability of your website and other web properties is key to facilitate how they’ll reach your team. Having multiple touchpoints and alternatives is also fundamental to offer as many choices as possible.
For instance, to have a contact page, accessible by your navigation menu. Or add a chatbot on your site for a more straightforward conversation with a support member. Social channels are available if they want to do it by that medium as well.
At ZOPPLY, we even added a schedule a call button to make it even easier for you to select when and how you want to get a call.
Why is this important?
If you browse regularly, it must be usual for you to see sites where it seems a real challenge to understand how we’re supposed to reach them.
That is insane because we created the website and other web properties to make our brand and services visible and appealing. However, we difficult our potential customer’s life when they decide to ask something. It doesn’t make sense.
Try to avoid making contact forms challenging to use when in mobile like most we encounter out there. The main topic here is to make it easy for everyone to reach your brand.
The Wrap in how to have a TOP Web Presence for Businesses
All these tips can make or break the web presence for businesses around the world. There’s no silver bullet that will serve everyone, but the consensus around these five tips is general.
Can you relate to any of these topics mentioned in this article? There’s always something that we can make better. ZOPPLY’s new web presence is ever-evolving, and there’s still much that we’re doing every day to bring value to you.
If you consider these tips valuable, please share it with your friends on social media. If you want to make someone in your company aware of these improvements, share this page with them.
We’re always happy to have a chat with you. You can reach out through our contact page, schedule a call or social media. We’re still working on that chatbot. 😉
Have a great day!
2 Responses
As you said: ” “Purpose” might well be the buzzword for 2021.”
We do agree 100%, especially after all the latest events in the World, brands need to make statements and be clear about their purpose.
Thanks once again for your advices. Long live Zopply!
Kindly,
Thanks for your feedback, Donovan. Indeed, brands without a clear purpose are just an empty vessel of commercial trade. They don’t offer more than what you’re buying which isn’t that innovative and can be copied. What you can indeed do is to choose from which brands you buy stuff because of what they stand for.
Have a great day.