Your business internet presence will most likely be the first experience your clients and/or customers have with your business. For this reason it is critical that you keep a close eye on that internet presence. You may think that your business is self sustaining from years of operation. Maybe you think that having an internet presence is not even needed. But, the truth is that your customers/clients want it, need it and you can bet your bottom dollar your competition will beat you if your not using it.
Minimum Internet Presence
The absolute minimum internet presence will comprise of a Google Business account that you make sure is as detailed as possible. Also, a business website with at least some business information as well as contact information. These 2 things are critical, equivalent to being in the yellow pages 30 years ago. People go to the internet to find your products and/or services, if you are not there they will find someone else.
Social Media
There is a number of ways you can look at the use of social media for your business. If you are not going to post on it regularly, should you even have the accounts? Some will say yes because having your website link on social platforms is good for SEO. Others will say that if people discover you on social media and see you are not active it hurts you. I happen to be of the thought that if you are not going to use it and use it correctly then do not waste any time or effort in it at all. But, be warned once again, your competition is certainly using it. Dedicating resources, time, money and personal towards social media will always pay off in the long run. As years progress and your followers grow, you will always have a large group of people you can instantly communicate with on social media.
Reviews
Google reviews and replying to those reviews is probably the most underused free tools among business owners. Literally, this is what a huge percentage of people look at before doing business with you. It is important to actively request reviews from your clients/customers. You must look at these review instantly when they come in and reply. If it is a negative review then the reply is even more important. A professional timely reply to a bad review can sometimes open communications resulting in you being able to resolve their issue. They then can change that review. If that is not the case then showing others that you care about that bad review by offering to fix it carries a lot weight for potential customers and clients.