In this post I want to talk about creating an online presence that will help promote your name or brand, so you can get customers willing to pay for your services or products. I’ll show you how I did this in 3 steps. Now I’m a filmmaker but If you are someone who works in a completely different industry then you can also use the same techniques since this will apply to any website.
First you need to have website and lot of money for a marketing budget. Then you just spend it all on advertising your website… is what I would tell you if you were rich and had nothing else to offer 😊. In fact, while advertising your website will help, it can sometimes also hurt you. I believe that it is always better that a visitor found your website organically then through a clickable ad because this way they are already more engaged. I’ve seen people on YouTube who pay for views and while their videos might get millions of views. In the end they get no real visitors that are willing to buy their products or services. I am proud to announce that I have 100% organic views on all my online posts, including my YouTube videos or my website. I never paid anyone for fake views. Thanks to having a 100% organic website I have been able to sell a lot of products through my online store, like my filmmaking tutorials. Plus I have also gotten hired to work on lots of films because people first saw my website and thought I created good work. So definitely make a website for yourself or your company and then promote it so that you get some visitors.
Here is how I promote my website.
- Provide something of value
Instead of having just a website that shows your work or provides your contact info, write a blog or share weekly tips that people who need your service will find useful.
My very first website I designed and hosted on WIX and I’m excited that they offered to sponsor this video. If you are just starting out and don’t know anything about coding or web design then give WIX a try!
- Reach outside of your website
Create tutorials like I do on YouTube. Or be active on forums that share the same topic as your website or service. Create a profile on Quora and provide helpful answers to people’s questions plus when it makes sense provide a link back to your website with further information. - Share your website on social media
Write a shortened version of your blog on Linkedin or Twitter or Facebook and then provide a link back to your website for those who want to read the rest. If you have a blog like I do or offer weekly tips then that will give something new for you to post on social media each time you have a new blog post, instead of just repeating yourself and just posting a link to your website. If there isn’t new content available to your viewers then after a while your social media posts will just look like spam.
Now of course you want to make sure that your website is easy to navigate. So make it look nice but clean. Don’t put unnecessary links or things that distract from the main content on your website. Also make sure you have an easy to find way to contact you. I would advise against posting your phone number or email directly on your website because you will get spammed. Use a contact form on your website. This way people can send you a message to your email and you can choose to respond to serious inquiries without right away giving away your contact info. You can also use WIX to fine tune your website search engine optimization or SEO for short. This is also an important step if you want your website to rank higher on different search engines.
I guess the last tip I can give you about creating an online presence is to have a website that is fun or creative, for sure make it informational and offer people a reason to keep on coming back to your website so you build a habit. To do that you won’t have to spend any money but you will need to put in time and work to create that original content. So get busy!