16 key actions to boost your online visibility
Internet visibility involves promoting a business through a web presence, with marketing objectives in mind: increasing a company's visibility in the eyes of Internet users to attract more prospects, win new customers and improve brand awareness by enhancing its image.
What strategy should you adopt to win over Google and Internet users alike? What tools should you use for social networking, your newsletter and your blog? How can you measure your visibility? Don't play hide-and-seek with your customers: Appvizer shares 16 tips to boost your web marketing and digital communication.
1. Understanding Google and the challenges of visibility
Being visible on the Internet means being easily found and clearly identified on search engines and on sites where your company's presence enables it to meet its audience, such as social networks.
It's no secret that the famous search engine Google occupies a dominant position, and its virtual monopoly allows it to set the rules and make them evolve year after year.
Webmarketing and digital communication specialists agree that Google gives priority to the quality of content and the relevance of the information it delivers to Internet readers.
Not everything is black and white: in this article we explain the nuances, and how you can increase your company's visibility by exploiting a whole palette of brighter colours.
2. Having a website, the basis of communication
The website is the company's shop window: it presents the business and its commercial offers, but it also has to be informative in order to inform potential customers and steer them towards a purchase.
In digital marketing jargon, this is known as the conversion funnel. A landing page is dedicated to converting visitors into leads.
The visibility of a website starts with the choice of a good website creation tool. You can use the services of a web agency or install a CMS (Content Management System).
Here are a few tools that can help you increase the visibility of your website:
- the best-known CMS are Wordpress (the most famous), Joomla, Drupal and Plone, - Active Trail helps you create your landing pages and automates your marketing.
- The Banana Content platform can also be used to capture emails by creating forms and surveys.
3. Optimising your website's natural referencing
This step, often neglected by beginners, is the most important, even before your website is created and put online. Quite simply because your readers and potential customers are looking for specific keywords in search engines.
To be found by your potential customers in the search engine results, it is therefore essential to :
- Identify the keywords that are relevant to your business,
- write web-optimised text content that describes these subjects.
Search engine optimisation ( SEO) is the key to success on the Internet . It involves writing text content that is optimised for search engines.
Tools for finding keywords that are in demand in your sector: Google Adwords, Ranxplorer.
Handy tools to spy on your competitors' websites and steal keyword ideas: Ranxplorer, SEObserver.
The most visited websites in France are Google and Facebook.
Whether on the desktop or on a mobile device, Internet users visit Google (40 million unique visitors in France per month) and Facebook (27 million unique visitors in France per month): these 2 websites are therefore essential, and you need to take action to improve your visibility on the Internet.
4. Publish regular articles on your blog
Companies that are found on the 1st page of Google, i.e. in the first 10 results displayed on the search engine, regularly publish blog articles with information that is relevant and useful to their readers.
While Google likes content that is optimised for the web, it also favours websites that regularly publish content that brings value to the reader. The fresher the content, the more value it brings to the reader, the better it ranks in the results.
Tools for creating your professional blog: Wordpress, Joomla, Drupal, Plone.
The market benchmark for analysing the quality and optimising the semantic quality of your texts: Visiblis.
5. Send out a weekly or monthly newsletter
Offering your readers the chance to subscribe to your newsletter is an excellent way of enriching your contact base and establishing a special relationship with your audience on a regular basis.
It's all the more judicious if your content is remarkable: your readers won't want to miss a thing and will subscribe instantly! If you're taking part in a trade show, creating your own event, launching a new product or a new offer, the newsletter is the ideal medium to complement your press relations.
Free tool for managing your newsletter : Mailchimp
Professional emailing management solutions :
- Digitaleo, highly regarded for its sales operation templates,
- Banana Content, a platform dedicated to promoting content.
Please note: Banana Content (a digital communications platform with a host of possibilities, and therefore difficult to classify in this article!) offers the unique feature of being able to exploit emailing by "pooling content".
In practice: your company and your commercial partners can make content available to each other on the platform. This content can easily be inserted into each entity's respective newsletters. What's more, each company has access to statistics on shared content.
6. Monitor your e-reputation through intelligence gathering
There are two main reasons why companies need to monitor their e-reputation:
- to monitor what people are saying about them on the web,
- to monitor their competitors.
To maintain a good reputation on the web, a company needs to keep a constant watch to be able to react: monitor plagiarism, deny a false rumour, claim a right of reply, avoid a bad buzz, etc.
Free tool: Google Alerts
Free tools (limited version) that are easy to use: Alerti, Mention
A very comprehensive and powerful monitoring tool: Digimind (we'll talk more about this tool below).
7. Share your content curation
Displaying your expertise on the web also means sharing relevant content about your business sector. This is called content curation.
There are 2 steps to content curation:
- Do your thematic monitoring by subject: with the reference tool Feedly, you can follow the latest news from sites and blogs publishing content on your theme and classify them by subject.
- Select the articles that are most relevant to you and put them together on a dedicated tool like Scoop.it, which also allows you to share your curation on 2 social network accounts free of charge.
8. Develop your presence on social networks
The famous community manager shares content on social networks, managing the community, encouraging engagement, responding to comments, etc.
There are 2 main performance levers you can use to improve your company's visibility on social networks:
- regular sharing of content (maximum one promotional news item in every 12 publications),
- advertising on social networks, such as Facebook Ads.
Free tools: exploit the native features of social networks
Tools for automating tasks: IFTTT and Zappier can automate actions, such as creating a share from Twitter to Facebook.
Professional tools to make your job easier: Hootsuite, Buffer, Agorapulse, Banana Content, which lets you publish to 3 social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin), and track related statistics... all within the same newsletter platform.
9. Write guest articles on blogs in your field
There are several advantages to publishing content on other people's sites:
- you get yourself known on sites with a large audience and/or that are recognised,
- you promote your expertise,
- you publish on another site and reach a complementary audience,
- you can obtain a backlink to your own site (this is negotiable).
Readers who want to find out more about you or read other publications will search for you on Google: if they find you, your efforts to increase your visibility win you points!
This is called "guest blogging". To be effective, you should only guest blog on blogs that focus on your sector of activity, and preferably on recognised, high-quality sites that stand out in Google results.
Popular tool for identifying blogs in a particular field: BuzzSumo
10. Raise your profile with influencers
Distributing a press release is the basis of public relations or press relations work. But it's becoming less effective with the rise of new technologies and changing habits! Influencer marketing is on the rise: today we talk about e-visibility and E-RP.
An influencer is someone who regularly publishes or shares relevant content on a specific topic, and who is followed by a significant number of people (this number varies according to each field).
Followers are called "fans" on Facebook and "followers" on Twitter. The advantage of getting an influencer "in your pocket" or having one in your professional network is that they can highlight your publication by sharing it on professional social networks.
Your visibility, reputation and influence on the web can grow rapidly if you use influencers who are relevant to your business.
How do you identify influencers? Digimind does it for you!
Do you want to work directly with journalists? Use Babbler.
11. Pool your visibility actions (all for one...)
This idea is still underestimated and little used to date... and yet it deserves your full attention. Already mentioned above for its newsletter and social network management capabilities, the Banana Content digital communications platform offers an opportunity like no other: within the tool, you can effectively make the most of your network of partners.
In short, you and your business partners, your professional network, can use the platform to :
- make content available, - share this content on social networks,
- manage your newsletter,
- share third-party content on your newsletter, and vice versa.
The tool increases your visibility potential tenfold: there's strength in numbers. You can create a larger community with a bigger audience than if you were on your own. To date, we know of no equivalent to the possibilities offered by Banana Content.
Tip: If you're just starting out in SEO, Banana Content will help you boost your reputation by avoiding time-consuming tasks.
12. Exploiting paid search
Paid search is known as SEA (Search Engine Advertising) or search engine optimised advertising. The principle is to pay for advertising to position yourself on a keyword in the search engine results. It is a complementary traffic acquisition lever for generating visitors to your website.
Paid search platforms are linked to search engines: Google Adwords, Bing Platform, Facebook for Facebook Ads, etc.
The Ranxplorer tool shows you the advertising competition for a keyword.
Zendesk (following its acquisition of Bime analytics) gives you the option of managing a global dashboard for your advertising.
13. Choose tools to measure your visibility
Every marketing manager wants to evaluate the performance of their marketing activities, don't they? We have compiled a non-exhaustive list of the main tools for measuring visibility .
Measure traffic and the number of visitors to your website with Google Analytics. It's free, you just need to insert a simple code into your site, and off you go to measure the actions taken on your website: number of unique visitors per month, popular pages, demographic data, etc. Advice: why deprive yourself?
Monitor the keywords on which your website is positioned, and evaluate the traffic generated by your SEO optimisations, estimate the volume of searches on a keyword with Yooda Insight. Nothing to do with Star Wars, but this tool is also a master of its genre. Green you will be.
Exploit the native functions of social networks. They're free and give you valuable information. The problem is that it takes time to spend time on each social network to gather data one by one. You need to hire a community manager... or not.
Or don't you?!? There is an alternative solution!
The all-in-one Banana Content tool has the advantage of centralising all the communication channels and offering the possibility of analysing the statistics from a single platform:
- Editorial publication calendar,
- Analysis of your actions on social networks, who has liked and shared your content, etc.
- Update your mailing lists,
- Social media performance measurement, emailing, etc.
The icing on the cake: you can link your CRM to the platform using the API. Import your contact lists (Excel import possible), your statistics... and take care of your customer relations.
14. Vary your communication media
Podcasts
Podcasts have been very much in vogue in recent years. You could even say that they have become essential for improving your online visibility. The reason why podcasts are so popular is that they offer a great deal of freedom. Indeed, consumers can listen to them whenever they want, on the way to work, in the car, while walking and even while practising a sporting activity or before going to bed. 🎧
Because they cover a wide range of subjects, podcasts are suitable for multiple sectors of activity. They offer a quick and easy way to connect with your audience. By setting up podcasts, you improve the user experience and boost your credibility, as well as your brand awareness.
Bear in mind that podcasts will help you to gain commitment from your audience. With this in mind
- Ask relevant questions,
- invite experts
- and don't hesitate to share advice or personal anecdotes!
The aim of this channel is to create an authentic connection with users. Talk to them as if you knew them, while remaining aligned with your brand's image.
Of course, for your podcast to be listened to, it needs to be promoted. Promote it on your sites and share your episodes on social networks or in your newsletters. You could even consider inviting other podcasters to extend your reach. Don't forget to optimise your content to improve your natural referencing.
Finally, to turn your listeners into potential customers, include calls to action in your episodes. Encourage them to visit your website, your social networks or to sign up for your newsletter.
Webinars
Webinars are another interesting strategy for increasing your visibility on the Internet. They allow you to
- interact with your audience in real time
- share knowledge
- and demonstrate your expertise.
They are widely used in certain sectors, such as training, or to launch a new product or service within your company. Webinars allow you to maintain a link with your community.
Start by choosing a subject that meets your customers' needs and concerns. As with podcasts, don't forget to include interactive elements such as polls or question-and-answer sessions to encourage participants to get involved. Be sure to greet participants and thank them at the end for attending and listening. 🤝
Webinars are free and easy to set up. All you need to do is find a topic to talk about and express yourself on a subject you know. Then you need to advertise it on your social networks and your various content media, not forgetting SEO to boost your visibility. The more registrations you attract to your webinar, the better your chances of converting participants into customers.
Registrations should be followed up personally. To do this, opt for a mailing. If people have come to your webinar, it's because they're genuinely interested in what you have to offer. It would be a shame not to follow them up more closely.
Always remember to record your webinar: this will allow you to share it later or use it as a communication tool. This is particularly useful as some interested parties may not be available on the day.
15. First and foremost, define a strategy to get results!
Are you aware of all the levers you can use to increase your visibility on the Internet?
Are you sure?
If not, read this article again.
If the answer is yes, you're ready to start defining your digital strategy.
Our advice: rather than trying to exploit all the actions simultaneously, prioritise! Rome wasn't built in a day... and neither was this article.
The choices you make will depend on the extent of your company's digital transition: take stock internally, of usage, the resources available, the budget... and the time allocated! To be visible, tools are essential.
We've also provided you with a fairly extensive list of tools: some solutions are very expensive, but are perfectly suited to the needs of companies operating on a national scale. Other solutions, such as Banana Content, Ranxplorer, Visiblis and Babbler, for example, offer good value for money, functionality and time savings.
Whatever the case, you have no choice: you have to choose your weapons.
Ready to take centre stage?
Tip: to consult this article at your leisure, add it to your favourites. You never know, a tool name is so quickly forgotten when you're managing a marketing department...
16. Take advantage of the power of AI
It's impossible to ignore artificial intelligence, whatever your business or sector. AI offers incredible tools for raising your profile. It even opens up possibilities that were previously unthinkable. Whether you're an entrepreneur, marketing manager, communications officer or freelancer, AI can transform your approach to visibility. It can help you deploy your online presence, particularly on the various social networks.
Take content creation tools, for example. These allow you to create blog posts or content for your site or your networks in just a few minutes. You just need to learn how to use them to match the tone to your editorial style and your needs.
By saving time on all this content production, you'll be able to concentrate more easily on other tasks. Note also that AI is now capable of generating images and audio. There are free tools available, so don't hesitate to use them to animate your networks and your site.
AI-based SEO tools can also help you identify the most interesting keywords for your field. By incorporating them into your content, you increase your chances of appearing at the top of Google search results.
Think too of chatbots, those virtual assistants that work for you. They improve the user experience on your site by answering regular questions from your customers and visitors in real time. They can even differentiate between the most complicated questions and ask your teams to intervene.
Conclusion
An effective online strategy is always based on several levers, never on a single channel. By varying the communication media and the type of communication, the company puts all the chances on its side to make itself known.
This method also makes it possible to see what works well with customers. Very quickly, you can see which actions are bringing in extra traffic and a truly committed community. Achieving good online visibility means taking a global but carefully thought-out approach. SEO, SEA, social networks, webinars and newsletters all need to be combined. You'll see that by using them together, you'll very quickly see your online reputation take off.