How far should your business' online presence go?

There are so many ways for business to be found these days, the choice is truly staggering.  Having a website is the obvious one - you really can't operate at your best if your business doesn't have a website, which is why it's the first thing all new business ventures do.

But then what?  How about a blog?  Or a vlog (video blog)?  Or Social Networking sites?  How about loading your website with an avatar video of yourself (or your marketing director) welcoming your visitors to the site and telling them about your great products or services?

And then once you've created all of this and uploaded your company profiles, logos and information to each site, what next?

You need to start populating each site/channel with relevant, fresh information.  You need to keep your website updated.  You need to Tweet.  You need to write your blog post.  You need to record more video footage to upload to YouTube.

It's a big commitment.  Will you stick with it?  Or will you get bored when your creative juices run dry, and let things wither on the vine?  (And by the way, there's a very good chance you will - the internet is littered with the bones of once-loved blogs and poorly-populated Facebook and Twitter accounts.)

And there's nothing like a 3-year-out-of-date "latest information" page to send out the signal that "we tried but gave up".  Probably not the best way of enticing your visitors to come and do business with you!

Because many businesses dabble with internet technologies, it tends to look like their marketing is done in an ad-hoc way.  You wouldn't allows this with your office reception area or your printed marketing collateral, and yet we do it on the internet.

The best way for sure is to start out with an agreed marketing plan.  Sit down and give some serious thought to which internet channels are right for your business.  Think carefully about blogging and Social Media, but make sure it's an integral part of your 1 year, 3 year and 5 year strategy, and then make sure it's fully resourced and has the support of senior management.

Follow it through and you'll reap the rewards, and once you're embracing some of the current internet technologies, you're far better placed to see in the next wave, whatever that may be and whenever it may come!

Have a chat with WSI Internet Marketing Preston for your online business strategy.