In 2018, 51% of small businesses committed time and resources to develop a website. Fast forward to the end of 2021, the percentage rose to 71. The 20% increase within three years indicates that having an online presence is beneficial to business growth. Without it, businesses stand to lose out on the advantages an online reputation offers. However, having an online presence comes with additional responsibilities. This article brings to the fore some factors that affect your business’s presence in the online space.
1. Website
Your website is the face of your company in the digital space. In other words, it is your online storefront that announces whether you provide a physical product or a service. It also provides you with the opportunity to reach out extensively to customers and non-customers in different geographical regions. For businesses, a website has a tremendous impact on your brand, and you cannot go without it for the short or long term. However, it is not entirely about keeping a website because your competitors have it too.
When your business’s website is developed and goes online, you have to keep it active and attractive for all. Indeed, it isn’t easy to satisfy all customers and website users. Thankfully, you can follow the basics to help you be at par with your competitors. For instance, keeping your website updated is a key issue in its management. According to data, not many business owners adhere to this. It explains why some sites continue to have outdated content on the homepage.
In addition to the updates, it is vital to keep your content succinct and devoid of grammatical errors and distracting features, especially on the landing page. If you don’t have an in-house web developer, you can find experienced ones at https://rsmconnect.com/website-design/. The most important thing is to be sure about their track record.
2. Online reviews
Customers, clients, and web users provide feedback about service received through online reviews. This platform also allows businesses to learn about their service delivery and identify which areas can be improved or scrapped altogether. Indeed, as a business, you can never be too sure about the outcome of your customer service. Therefore, it can be quite a surprise to discover that a customer is unhappy about a crucial area of your business.
Online reviews can be read by everyone else who is on the platform, website, or types the business name in a search engine. Therefore, when you receive positive reviews, that could be a business boost for you. On the other hand, if it was a negative review, the fact that others can see it can turn out to be negative publicity for you. As a business owner or founder, reading online reviews about your company is crucial. Failure to do so could mean operating your business and being oblivious to what people think about your products and services.
Online reviews can be a useful competitive tool for your business if used wisely. For instance, you can use a long trail of positive reviews as leverage to convince your business leads to trust your brand. Online reviews are serious feedback to take seriously. Well-established businesses like Amazon take their online reviews seriously, which probably explains the setting up of an entire department that monitors feedback.
3. Social media
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The digital community, known as social media, is a crucial component of your business marketing. This community comprises people from different backgrounds, and it’s vital to understand the dynamics of this social group. As long as you have social media accounts set up for your business, you are responsible for keeping the pages interactive, exciting, and engaging. Your online followers could interpret the slightest shunning of this responsibility as a rejection. That is the last thing you want to experience as a business owner.
Furthermore, because social media has an extensive reach, negative publicity on any of these interactive platforms could damage your online reputation. With a search on Google or any search engine, you will find a whole list of businesses who lived this unfortunate reality. Reputation is everything for a business, and until you understand the crucial role it plays in your brand development, you might continue shooting yourself in the foot.
4. Poor customer service
If your company continually renders poor customer service, what ultimately happens is customer apathy. The people you rely on to patronize your goods and services will start to ignore your business. Even worse, the risk of influencing others to stop transacting business with you is also high. This cannot be the kind of publicity you want your company to be known for.
Customer service is the vehicle that drives the steady relationship between the business and the market. This connection ensures that both parties (particularly the customer) are satisfied with the service delivered. The secret about customer service is that your business earns loyalty the first time you get it right with the customer.
However, the guiding principle is to maintain a high standard in your dealings with customers. The more you succeed at it, the stronger the bond is. On the other hand, if you fail to remain consistent in your customer service delivery, your customer base will likely dwindle until you start to notice the impact on your profit margins.
5. Attitude to negative reviews
Regardless of what you do right, there may be moments your customers will be unhappy or dissatisfied with you. When this happens, your immediate response and attitude to their dissatisfaction can make or break the company’s reputation. Every customer wants to be sided with, and if you deviate from the norm, you might have a lot more work to regain their trust and confidence. Indeed, there is an element of truth in the saying, ‘the customer is always right.’
Remember to position your business as the go-to place for your market. This will involve effective marketing strategies and intensifying advertising and publicity. Businesses with ‘clean’ reputations tend to benefit more from the market.
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