The best thing that you can do for your online business is to turn it into a brand. Instead of presenting yourself as a mere website name, you need to present yourself as an authority. Instead of having some forgettable domain name, you should focus on turning your website into a recognizable and memorable experience.
For example, Google.com isn’t just a domain name. Today, when people want to search online, they say they are going to “Google” something. Can you turn your own business from a noun into a verb?
If you can, you won’t just be some guy with a website. You will be “that guy” with “that brand.” Branding your online presence might seem like a huge task. Few top brands built themselves up in a day or a week. However, you can learn from the pros and break branding down into a series of action steps that aren’t that hard to do.
— Focus on Solving Your Market’s Problems
Very likely, your first website visitors won’t come to your website to buy. However, they may visit to get their questions answers or their problems solved. If you develop quality content that discusses their problems, you should be able to hold your visitor’s attention long enough to get them to fill out your lead forms and maybe even buy your products or services.
At the very least, you should hope to hold their attention enough to make them open to revisiting when you post new content or sharing you content on their own social media accounts. Of course, your end goal is to make sales. At first, you might just need to be satisfied with generating activity.
— Let People Know Your Website Exists
The sad truth is that you can create the best website on the Internet, but you won’t build a brand if nobody knows you’re there for them. You are probably familiar with most of the online platforms that you can use to let people know about your truly useful content. These include social media platforms, video sites, and of course, guest posting and commenting on other related blogs or forums.
In the early stages, it might pay to invest a bit of money advertising on social networks or in search engines. However, you can also accomplish quite a bit by merely investing sweat equity.
— Let the Market Know Your Brand Cares About Them
This step involves separating yourself from the pack of the majority of your online competitors. You really do need to care about your brand. The way you can accomplish this is by caring about your online visitor’s experience. This could be the topic of an entire book, but simple examples include making sure your website works well, replying to mentions on social media, and ensuring that you provide great customer service during every step of the process.
Online or offline, customers tend to buy from brands that they trust. Of course, your brand has to be one that online visitors trust to provide quality content, good advice, and an excellent customer experience during every stage of the buyer’s journey.
Your Brand Matters
Once you have established your name or website into a recognizable brand, everything gets easier. Now, others are eager to include you in their social networks and let you guest post on their own blogs. Instead of distracting their own audience, your presence makes other marketers look good. Also, your marketing can focus on closing warm leads and not just letting people know that you are out there swimming in a sea of countless other competitors.
Establishing a brand takes some planning and work. However, the rewards are enormous. Now that you’ve become a brand, you’re not just representing another website. You are a trusted brand that others are willing to share and buy from.
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