2.

Building your online presence

Topic: Your first steps in online success

Hey! We’re going to look at the first step to going digital: staking your claim online.

You’ve got lots of options for building a digital presence, including things like local listings,
websites, mobile apps and social media.

If you get these basics right, it could make a world of difference.

These days, it’s easy for anyone to make a home online.

But while a website might be the first thing that comes to mind, you don’t necessarily need to
start there.

Let’s say you’re a hairdresser for example, your first step to finding customers online, and being
found online, might be to list your shop in local online directories like Google My Business.

Then when someone searches Google for hairdressers in your area, you’ll appear in the results —
no website required!
You could also start a Facebook page to give potential customers a glimpse into your business
and what you can do - like photos or videos of some happy customers with great hairstyles that
you’ve created.

If this is all a bit much, don’t worry. We’ve got loads of videos here to help you explore social
media in more detail.
There’s a lot you can do without a website, but at some point, you might want to build a home of
your own on the web, a one-stop-shop where your customers can find everything they need to
know about you online.

Great, let’s get going!

The most important thing as you start to plan your site, is to think about what you want people to
do there. For example:
Do you want them to ring you? If so, include your phone number prominently on every page.
Perhaps you want them to find your physical shop? Well, include a map and driving directions.
Maybe you want them to make appointments online? That’s a feature you can build in.
Or lastly, you might want them to actually buy products from you online— by placing an order
or submitting a payment. That’s called e-commerce, and there are a range of options—from
simple to more complex—that we’ll discuss in more detail in other videos.

Websites aren’t the only online homes anymore. These days many businesses create mobile apps
for customers which they can keep on their smartphones or tablets.

Apps open up all kinds of digital doors - for example, you can create loyalty programs or
automatically send reminders about upcoming appointments.

Right, to be clear: If you want people to find you on the web, you need to stake your claim
online.

That can be a listing in a local business directory, a presence on social media sites, a simple
website or one with e-commerce, a mobile app—or all of the above.

Whatever you choose, this is the place where people find you, get to know you, and hopefully
become your customers.