Adults are spending an average of four and a half hours online a day, so it’s safe to say that if you’re not building your brand's online presence, you’re missing out on a massive opportunity to be seen and chosen by potential customers.
From engaging with brands and researching products to looking at online reviews, the internet is a big part of the decision and purchasing making process. Being regularly seen and featured online is what helps build familiarity, credibility and trust with your audience so that when it comes down to their purchasing decision, they go with the brand they see time and time again.
This is where digital PR comes in. As PRs, our role is to craft and amplify brands’ stories so they can reach as many people as possible and create lasting relationships as the online world changes.
But a strong online presence isn’t about quick wins, lots of backlinks and sporadic activity. It should be viewed as a long-term approach in order for it to make a real impact.
Consistent visibility, trusted third-party reviews, credible coverage and meaningful engagement is what will help your brand position itself as a reliable choice in your industry. This will also help you rank better in SERPs (search engine results pages) and AI answers.
In this blog we’re going to break down exactly why brands should care about their online presence as well as some of the ways to actually grow and improve it.
What’s in this article:
- Why is online presence important for businesses?
- What you need to know before growing your online presence
- Five ways to grow your online presence
- Key takeaways
Why is online presence important for businesses?
Out of 67 million internet users, 77% of them use the internet to find information and 59% use it to find products and brands. If your business isn’t visible while people are scrolling and making decisions, then your competitors will be instead.
Consistent brand exposure online, especially on respected third party platforms, plays a key role in helping potential customers see you as more trustworthy and credible. When your business is mentioned, reviewed or featured by sources that people already recognise, it can build familiarity and confidence and can even be the deciding factor between picking your brand over a competitor.
Building a strong online presence also allows you to have control over how your brand is perceived. Elements like your website, reviews, and social content give people an indication as to who you are before they directly engage with you.
This is exactly what digital PR is all about – shaping and managing your brand's story and image online so that when people come across it, their interaction is intentional, positive and aligns with your values.
The PR and online world are both evolving and it’s no longer about securing hundreds and hundreds of backlinks. They still have their place in digital PR and can be used as a metric to measure online visibility, but they aren’t necessarily an indicator of a powerful brand or online presence.
Consistent and strong mentions on credible websites, positive reviews and meaningful coverage build a solid picture for your brand in comparison to lots of links from websites with low domain ratings and authority.
Over the next few years, the brands still standing will be the ones who are investing time into building their online presence, especially as AI and LLMs (large language models) continue to grow in popularity.
ChatGPT handles over 2 billion queries a day, proving that more and more people are turning to it to answer their questions, discover products and make decisions. Brands nowadays need to rework their strategy to ensure they are doing everything they can to show up in these AI generated answers, which is something that we’re actively working on with clients ourselves.
AI models generate their recommendations and summaries through extensive research online. They use news articles, research papers and websites to pull together an informed answer, so growing your online presence and showing up in the right places is key for AI models to recognise you.
LLMs are a whole conversation on their own, and if you’re not too sure on what they are and how they work then you can check out our dedicated blog post on them here.
What you need to know before growing your online presence
Before you begin building your online presence, it’s important to ensure you have a good foundation before you start. This is exactly the approach we take when doing PR for our clients. Developing goals helps form a plan which allows us to make sure our approach is effective. Not taking these things into consideration can make your strategy a complete waste of time.
Consistent branding
You’ll need to make sure you have consistent branding across all of your online channels, this includes your website and social media accounts. Inconsistent branding ruins your ability to create familiarity with potential customers. If they’re constantly seeing different logos, colours and messaging associated with your brand, they’ll never build a connection with it.
Know your audience and where they are
Knowing your target audience is a key (and basic) part of business and when it comes to growing your online presence, you’ll want to focus on targeting the areas you’re most likely to find them. Quality output is more important than quantity. You could be showing up everywhere, securing hundreds of backlinks, but if your target demographic isn’t there, it’s a waste of time. You’re better off honing in on platforms that your audience actually use and pay attention to so your chances of turning engagement into conversion are higher.
For example, if you have more of a professional audience, you’ll want to target places such as LinkedIn and industry-specific publications and forums. If your ideal customer spends time looking for new beauty products then platforms like Instagram and TikTok are going to be better.
Define your goals
Think about what it is you want from growing your online presence. Are you looking to build brand awareness? Perhaps you want to become a thought leader in your industry? Or do you want to drive sales? Remember, you don’t need to be everywhere. Spreading yourself too thin across every platform or chasing every backlink possible doesn’t build a memorable brand. Deciding what you actually want to achieve from a strong online presence will help you decide what platforms to focus on, what kind of content to create and how you measure success.
Have a long term approach and view
PR and building an online presence needs to be a consistent mission so it’s important to understand it may take some time. View it as a long term strategy. Short bursts of exposure and loads of backlinks online isn’t what is going to portray you as a memorable, familiar, and trustworthy brand. Think back to the bigger picture by focusing on quality and relevancy to help build a brand that people engage with consistently over a long period of time.
Six ways to grow your online presence
So now we’ve established the groundwork, let’s look at the different ways you can actually grow your brands online presence. These tactics suit a long-term approach so that over time you can increase your visibility, credibility and authority. Quick wins aren’t likely to achieve lasting impact. Focus on consistency and relevant, helpful content.
Optimise your website
It shouldn’t be a surprise that your website holds great importance, think of it as the central hub of your online presence. A professional website that is easy to navigate and full of relevant content that answers your audiences every question can build trust and improve search visibility. Aim to keep it regularly updated with things like blogs, resources, and fresh imagery. A poorly designed website can be the make or break of a customer's experience with your brand, let alone their purchasing decision. It should express your brand's expertise and answer the question as to why a potential customer should be choosing you over anyone else.
Encourage reviews
Encouraging reviews is a great way to get your brand spoken about online in a positive way. You can do this by encouraging customers to leave reviews under your website or by reaching out to journalists, influencers and bloggers and offering them a product or sample to review. With over half of people using the internet to find products and brands, this is a no brainer. Think of positive reviews from third-parties like social proof. Being tried and tested can encourage potential customers to trust in you and your product.
Leverage media coverage
Consistent exposure in trusted publications can help you reach thousands of people while building your credibility. Not only does it put you in front of the right audiences, but it also signals to LLMs and search engines that you’re reliable and credible which will make you more likely to appear in results over time. The content you put out needs to be genuinely helpful, newsworthy and make sense for your brand. Avoid chasing quick link wins, low quality coverage won’t do anything for your brand long-term, instead, focus on appearing in respected publications in your industry to actually help build trust and authority.
Newsjacking
Newsjacking or reactive PR is a strategy that involves taking current news events or stories and leveraging them so your brand can comment on them, placing you in the centre of all of the most current and important conversations. When stories break, journalists look for experts within that field to comment on the topic, provide exclusive insights or helpful data. Being proactive and offering genuinely helpful information with a quick turnaround is what makes journalists more likely to feature you in their news article. Having a newsjacking and reactive strategy means your brand will always be showing up in the conversations that matter in your industry, helping to portray you as relevant and engaged.
Showcase thought leadership
To become a go-to thought leader in your industry, you’ll want to put together content that highlights your expertise and this can be done for your brand or your personal image. Thought leadership is about sharing insights, opinions and advice to demonstrate your knowledge and position you as a key figure in your field. Get involved in conversations on LinkedIn or industry-specific platforms to show your audience and the wider sector that you’re a trusted voice.
Stay active on social media
Social media is an obvious way to grow your online presence but it only works if done strategically. Look at your demographic and find out which social media platforms they use the most and tailor your content accordingly. Consistently engage with your audience rather than posting sporadically and go for content that is helpful and entertaining rather than simply promotional.
User generated content (UGC) can be a powerful tool when it comes to social media. Encourage your audience to get involved with your brand by posting your product, reviewing your service or participating in challenges and trends. You can also engage with this content by reposting and commenting. Not only does this further expand your reach but it also ties into the ‘social-proof’ we were talking about. Potential customers see creators they resonate with using your brand which builds that trust and credibility.
Key takeaways
- A strong online presence increases visibility, credibility and familiarity. This also makes you more likely to appear to potential customers on their journey to find new products and brands
- Think carefully where your key demographic will be and what they care about. You can then choose which platforms to target them to decide what kind of content matters most.
- Take a quality over quantity approach. This isn’t about quick wins and hundreds of backlinks. Building a credible brand takes time and those who view their online presence as a long-term approach will be the ones who make a lasting impact.
If you’re after some support to help grow your online presence, then schedule a chat with us to see how we can help.
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