How to Improve the Presence of Your Welding Business Online
An important part of luring new customers to your welding business is making it known. Traditionally, small businesses attracted customers through word of mouth or direct advertising. However, the advent of the internet turned things around. The internet avails new options for marketing your welding business and improving your online presence. Unlike traditional advertising platforms, an online presence extends the possibilities of word-of-mouth advertising and allows your business to reach a wide audience from around the globe. The modern consumer first goes online to discover local businesses, explaining why your welding business needs a strong online presence. It’ll establish your brand as an authority figure in the industry and improve its reputation. As a result, more customers are bound to discover your welding business and the range of services on offer. How can you differentiate your business to stand apart from other local welding businesses with an online presence? Here’re 4 ways you can improve your brand’s online presence and attract more clients to your business:
1. Create and optimize your business website – Despite the essence of owning a website, only 51% of small businesses have an official website. With 97% of consumers looking for products and services on the internet, that’s a small figure and the main concern. Create a simple, user-friendly website that’s easy to navigate. Minimize the number of pages and include your contact information or address, a bio, work portfolio, a blog, and testimonials. A blog allows you to share your distinct voice and welding expertise with your target audience. Whether you already have a website or want to create one from scratch, optimize it for SEO. This ensures that your business site loads quickly features updated information, and is mobile-friendly. Optimization also ensures that your site is responsive and has a click-to-call button for ease of use. Make sure you optimize your URLs and upload your work samples. You can also create a mobile app and live chat feature for your welding business, as you deem fit.
2. Create guest posts and give email marketing a try – Guest posts and email marketing, just like other techniques or tools, have been proven to be effective in growing your online presence. Guest blogging can help your welding business gain credibility, increase traffic to your website, and gain targeted exposure. This is true if you don’t focus on gaining links. Apply to be a guest writer for established or websites such as Entrepreneur and Forbes. The sites have a higher domain authority and more viewers than your business site or blog.
Audiences who love and enjoy your posts can easily visit your site for more of such content. They can also sign-up for your newsletter or make likes or follows on your social media pages. Emails, according to a McKinsey & Company study, are still effective in attracting and acquiring customers than social media platforms. According to the study, email marketing 40 times more effective than the combined power of Twitter and Facebook. Moreover, 91% of all consumers in the U.S. still use email on a daily basis. Segment your target audience when running an email marketing campaign. You can segment your email lists into new subscribers and engaged customers. Customize your messages for each segment and send emails on a timely schedule to your audience. For instance, you can create content about your products to share with the right audience. Make sure you include important benefits for your products. As an example, “Our welding helmets automatically adjusts during operation for ease of use. Our blades are also built with the great cutting capacity to help you make fine cuts.” You should also track and assess your data to determine what’s working and what should be changed.
3. Invest in various types of content for blogging purposes – Go beyond blogging when working to improve the presence of your welding business online. A blog can define your brand voice and make you an authority in your niche, atop improving your online presence. It’s a good way to build trust in your brand. However, when blogging, don’t just limit your business website to blog posts only. Create different types of content to meet your customers’ unique needs. Whichever type of content you develop, make sure it’s informative and entertaining.
Some interesting forms of content to create for your blog or website include:
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- Information graphics – infographics.
- Vimeo or YouTube videos.
- Conducting case studies and releasing results or findings.
- Hosting an online workshop, course, or webinar.
- Hosting a podcast.
- Publishing a white paper or eBook.
Unique, interesting, and high-quality content is shared across the net. Welding industry thought leaders and your target audience can share your content with their peers and those in their networks, making your posts go viral.
4. Create social media accounts on different channels – The need to be active on social media platforms goes without saying. The right channels allow brands to engage their audiences and interact with existing customers to effectively increase their online presence. However, you don’t have to join every social media site out there. Instead, focus on a couple of essential social platforms that you can easily manage and grow your business.
Create accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to fill your business details and promote your brand. Twitter is ideal for conversing with potential and existing customers. On the other hand, LinkedIn is handy when you need to generate leads. After creating accounts on your preferred social media network, set aside about 20 minutes daily to curate content that your customers will find interesting. Make sure your posts are relevant, short, and well-written.
Schedule your posts and manage your social accounts using tools such as Buffer. Deploy the 80/20 rule during your social media marketing campaigns for an increased rate of success. Spend 80% of your time creating and sharing content, and 20% pushing it across different social channels.