In this digital-first world, being active online is more important than ever for small businesses.
Why? Because all your customers expect it.
And we do mean all of them. According to Google, 96% of consumers search online before paying businesses a visit in person.
Without a strong online presence, you risk being invisible to potential customers. But building a home online can be daunting, especially for small business owners who aren’t familiar with designing websites or maintaining social media profiles – or don’t have the time to learn.
So, we’re going to introduce the website management services that can help.
These user-friendly (and budget-friendly) online services help you create and maintain a website that becomes a useful information hub for customers and a valuable source of foot traffic for your business.
What does “online presence” mean?
Online presence refers to all the ways your customers can find and interact with the business online. That might include the website, social media profiles, online reviews, paid listings and partner review sites.
But you likely don’t need to be in all those places at once. Unless your brand specifically requires extra channels, building a stable and user-friendly website should be your first priority.
"Online presence" refers to the visibility and representation of an individual, business, organization, or any entity on the internet. It encompasses all the digital assets, activities, and interactions associated with that entity across various online platforms and channels. A strong online presence means that the entity is effectively engaging with its target audience and establishing a notable and credible presence in the digital realm.
Components of an online presence typically include:
Website: A website is often the central hub of an online presence. It serves as a digital storefront or portfolio where visitors can learn more about the entity, its products or services, and its mission or message.
Social Media: Presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others. This involves sharing content, interacting with followers, and building a community.
Online Reviews and Ratings: Monitoring and managing reviews on platforms like Yelp, Google Reviews, or industry-specific review sites.
Content Marketing: Creating and sharing valuable content through blogs, articles, videos, podcasts, and other forms of media. This content can help establish authority and engage with the target audience.
Search Engine Visibility: Ensuring that the entity appears prominently in search engine results when people search for relevant keywords. This involves search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.
Email Marketing: Building and maintaining an email list to send newsletters, updates, and promotional materials to a subscriber base.
E-commerce Presence: If applicable, having an online store or platform for selling products or services.
Online Advertising: Running online ads through platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or other paid advertising channels.
Online Communities: Engaging with online forums, discussion boards, and niche communities related to the entity's field or interests.
Public Relations: Managing the online reputation of the entity, responding to media coverage, and issuing official statements when necessary.
An effective online presence can help individuals and businesses connect with their target audience, build brand awareness, establish credibility, and ultimately achieve their goals, whether that's increased sales, brand recognition, or community engagement. It's a crucial aspect of modern marketing and communication strategies in the digital age.
A well-built website is the cornerstone of your online presence because it:
- Provides 24/7 access to business or company information
- Builds customer trust
- Streamlines customer interactions
- Generates leads
- Makes your business visible in search results
- Helps customers locate your store and/or find contact details
A good website builds your business. And to build a great website, you need two things: web hosting in Australia and reliable website management services.
Web hosting in Australia: An address customers trust
If a website is a business’s home online, web hosting is the block. Web hosts store your site’s information and make it accessible to visitors.
While there are many options ranging in price and performance, choosing a web host in Australia has several advantages over offshore hosting:
- Local servers mean faster loading times, which provides a better user experience and improves search engine rankings
- Australian web hosts have good relationships with Google and other search providers, helping to get you higher in local search results
- Web hosts in Australia comply with local data privacy and processing laws
Web hosts in Australia should also be able to offer .au domain hosting and custom email addresses to help you build a trustworthy brand.
What are website management services?
Anything that keeps your website running smoothly, securely and effectively is a website management service. To continue the metaphor, if web hosting is the block, then website management services are the structure, finishes, fittings and flourishes that make your ‘home online’ ready to receive visitors.
Website design and development
Most free website builders, including our own website builder tool, roll design and development together by offering easy pre-built templates. You don’t need to be a professional web designer to build a professional website.
Our tip: Choose a responsive, mobile-friendly template with SEO baked in to build a great website without knowing any code.
Content creation and management
With the website built, you need to produce content for users to interact with. That could mean writing about your business, publishing blogs and guides, creating images that reflect the brand or uploading how-to videos to help customers use your product.
Our tip: Make content relevant and helpful to ensure your customers can always rely on you to have the answers.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
SEO involves optimising your website’s content, code and architecture to make it easier to find in search results. Good SEO combines user-friendly decisions with technical tactics like using keywords, improving site speed and designing a mobile-friendly site.
Our tip: Keep contact information, store hours, business name, and company name details up to date on your website and Google Business profile so people in your area can always find you.
Performance monitoring and analytics
Keep a close eye on performance using free tools like Google Analytics or your website builder’s dashboard. Look out for issues like low engagement times, server errors or broken links to ensure your online presence is stable.
Our tip: Use free tools like Lighthouse to diagnose website performance issues.
Security and maintenance
If you choose website hosting in Australia, the provider should handle SSL certification (look for https:// instead of http:// in your URL), plus maintain the servers to keep your data and visitors secure.
Our tip: You can reinforce security by looking out for updates to website themes, plugins and third-party integrations.
Build your online presence with Registry Australia’s website management services
Small business websites shouldn’t be expensive to build or difficult to manage. You already have enough on your plate without needing to learn a developer language or diagnose website security issues.
Our all-in-one website management services bundle web hosting on Australian servers, .au domain registration and a free website builder, giving you everything you need to build and manage a stunning website.
We’re committed to growing small businesses by providing user-friendly online business tools, business name registration and renewal, and affordable website management services.
