It is arguable that a company’ online presence is the most critical thing to get right, more important than their physical shops and office, and sometimes even more important than the product itself! After all, if you can convince your customers of their need for your product, you can sell anything! Sadly though, not all companies are making the most of their presence online. In fact, their online presence which includes their websites, social media accounts, videos and reviews is something that is letting them down. With this in mind, the post below will discuss ways that your online presence may be failing and how to fix these problems to ensure it is as effective as possible.
It’s not interactive enough
Online presence in the modern marketplace is all about grabbing people’s attention, and a standard way that many businesses fail in this area is that their content is not interactive enough.
Now, interactivity can be basic by offering viewers the chance to leave a comment on a post or below a video. However, for the best result, a more sophisticated level of interaction is preferable.
For this, using interactive quiz content that is visually optimized for your platform can work well. What this means is that instead of using simple widgets in social media, why not invest in a fully realized interactive presentation that guides customers through the realization of the need for your product, and then guides them based on their answers to what products are best suited to those needs? A process that can obviously be hugely effective.
Also, product websites that allow customers to pick features of the item they are receiving in like this one from Nike are a fantastic and effective way of using interaction.
They can work so well because not only does it get people interested in your items, but also make them much more desirable as they can customize them to their own personal preferences. It also produces a lot of spin-off marketing opportunities includes social media photos and posts where the customer demonstrate how they wear or used the finished customized item, further feeding into an effective online presence.
An example of additional positive online presence you can achieve from interactivity.
It’s not entertaining enough
Next, it’s important to remember that your company’s online presence can gain a lot of value by being entertaining. Now, this may seem like a tall order for products that are supremely practical in nature, however, why not take a left out of Carbon Clean’s book and create something like the video below?
In this example, a company with a very practical product has looked at their potential demographic and partnered with a vlogger that creates entertaining videos, poking fun in a gentle way at the extremes of such a market. It’s a delicate balancing game for sure, but if you do it right, you can entertain your audience and use this part of your online presence to appeal to them in a relatable way, something that can truly do your online presence justice.
Your business is uncontactable
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For the next issue, we are going back to the basics. Too many business’ online presences let them down because they provide all sort of exciting information and offers, but the forget to be contactable to their present and potential customers.
Regarding this issue, it is vital to remember that the big difference between a brick and mortar store and a website is that not only can the customer not touch or see in real life what they are buying, but they have no help from sale assistants either. Something that means they can have questions and concerns that go unanswered and that can prevent them from making the purchase.
To that end, providing multiple quick response ways for a potential customer to contact you is something that is hugely important regarding your online presence. What this means is that instant chat boxes need to be installed on your website, as well as remembering to display a telephone number, email address, and SMS number on each page.
Also, do not forget to show the usual waiting time customer can expect when using the form of communication with your businesses. Remember too to add new ones as they become more popular such as Whatsapp, and to check social media accounts as regularly for customer communications as the other forms of communication to avoid people’s queries getting lost.
You have bad reviews
You know they say that word of mouth recommendations are the most effective form of marketing there is. In fact, this is something that is worth bearing in mind, because it also shows what damage a bad review can do.
Such damage is magnified because that bad review can be seen over and over again by millions of potential customer and so can cause your company a lot of problems. With this in mind paying attention to any negative chatter online is something that is well worth doing to help preserve a positive online presence.
To do this effectively remember to go softly, acknowledging complaints and offer to rectify any issues rather than denying that they have happened, or getting into an open conflict about it. You can get some more help on this issue here.
Your online presence isn’t humanized
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Another major way that your business’s online presence can let you down is when it is not human enough. Yes, we know that automatic phone answering systems can save time and money, and professional videos and photos with hired actors look polished. However, you have to consider how your customer base response to these things?
In fact, a little humanity can go a long way, as numerous successful business will testify. With that in mind why not use real employees to face your online campaign, film videos on your smartphone instead of having a professional recording company do it, and where possible have real people active on your platforms of communication.
You have an obscure domain name
Your business’s online presence can also let you down in others ways. One such way is the mistake of choosing an inappropriate or obscure domain name to be associated with your website and brand.
The problem with this that it can cause all sort of confusion as well as lower the standing of your business in the eyes of some consumers.
To rectify this try and pick a domain name that is top level, or that says something about your business and the field that you are in. For example, .com is one of the most sought-after domain names, but .tv can work well for sites associated with television shows, while .world can be an excellent choice for a large scale multinational corporation.
To help you to secure the right web address suffix for your business, you will need to search out some quality domain registrars who can accredit the domain you are looking to use. Some of the best can even offer SSL certs to protect your site as well or do your hosting too, so make sure to do your research before you chose the one you will use.
You have a bad user interface
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Now, regarding your website specifically, there are a few ways in which it could be letting your business down. In particular, the interface itself made up of visual aspects, object placement, and spacing on your website needs to be spot on.
In fact, crowded sites with poorly wrapped images, too many colors, and lacking in visual clarity can do a real hatchet job on your online presence. To remedy this, it’s vital that you find a professional that specializes in UI and can resolve this issue for you.
Ask them to create the correct spacing, use a theme of no more than three colors, and pick images that are both attractive and appropriate for your site and brand.
Many companies do try to do this part of the site themselves, and some even use drag and drop DIY sites instead. However, it is worth noting that to get maximum responsiveness both forth customers and for your employees behind the scenes, consulting someone with a record of expertise in this areas is vital. Medium names some of the top UX design agencies in this post.
You have a terrible user experience
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Lastly, while many people confuse user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) they are in fact entirely different, although both can end up letting your business down if they are not right.
UE differs to UI in that it is less focused on the visual aspect of the site but more centered on the actual encounters that the customer has with your website and whether they find it enjoyable and productive.
This means good UX is primarily focused on research on how potential customers act and behave and what sort of design they would respond best to. It is in a nutshell UX is human-centered design, which means that any site not taking full advantage of this aspect will not perform to its highest capacity and will be letting your business’s online presence down.
User experience is key to an effective online presence.
With that in mind, just as you would expect the best UI design to come from a professional, the best UX design does too. What this means is that if you want your online presence to be the best that it can be, you will need to find a UX specialist that can provide AB testing scenarios to see which design your customers respond best to. You will also need to ask them to create the right wireframe designs, information architecture, and prototypes so that your customers will have a seamless and enjoyable experience every time they use your website. Something that is hugely important regarding having an effective and successful online presence for your business.