Sometimes as an entrepreneur, you have to take steps that you may not have predicted. It is ironic how we make hundreds of predictions, budgets and assumptions, without a concrete idea of how the global business environment in the future would support these predictions.

Small businesses formed in 2019 probably began with high hopes and aspirations. The world was for them to conquer. But COVID-19 had it written otherwise. Small business owners were left high and dry with their investments, as the business environment around them came to a halt. Countries across the globe entered a period of self-enforced lockdowns to mitigate and manage the impact of COVID-19.

If you are a new entrepreneur or a small business owner stuck working from home, you might be wondering about ways to utilize your time right now. While there is very little you can do remotely, your digital presence is one aspect that you can manage from home.

If your business has a company website and social media, there are TONS of goals and objectives you can achieve during this unproductive period. There is always a silver lining, and as an entrepreneur, you should be searching for that ray of hope during these tumultuous times. Some of the actions you can take digitally include:

• Tidy up your digital presence like Marie Kondo would.
• Run through your content, business profiles and strategy and improve them all.
• Pick up new digital skills to bring in more attention to your brand. Many digital courses are currently available at discounted rates.
• Test strategies you never had the time for previously. Make the digital world your canvas.

With the reinvigorated enthusiasm of someone previously bored to their guts, you might feel like jumping onto your digital presence immediately, and channeling your inner Picasso. However, enthusiasm can take an even more effective turn when it is given direction. In this article we study some 20 plus tips you can follow today to spruce up your company’s digital presence. Step aboard the digital train, because we’re geared for destination success.

Start With Some Tidying Up

1. Check Your Citations

Start by checking your citations, including your NAP (name, address and phone number). This information matters a lot to Google, and the search engine uses it on your Google My Business page as well. Anyone in your vicinity, looking for the products or services you offer, should get your correct contact details rather than a 2-year-old number that’s dead.

You can start by reviewing the various listings for your company to validate this information. Start from Google Business and go through LinkedIn, Facebook, Yahoo, Yelp, Bing Places, Yellow Pages, Trip Advisor and Better Business Bureau. Claim all unclaimed listings so you can maintain a strong presence across all these platforms.

2. Run an SEO Audit

An SEO audit is quite the rage today. You can get free trials from Moz or SEMRush to get an audit of your website. These audits are generally helpful as they can find everything from redirected loops to broken URLs, thin content and missing meta descriptions – these are all important factors that Google considers before ranking your website. If you want to rank well, it is necessary that you check up on these factors and improve your website’s overall appearance.

3. Do a Content Audit

Companies and entrepreneurs that don’t already have a content tracking system in place can benefit from performing a content audit. Content audits are similar to SEO audits, only that you will be manually involved a bit more.

You can start by creating a spreadsheet and mentioning all of your case studies, whitepapers, blog posts and other forms of content. Regularly maintain the spreadsheet and go through it twice every year, using a content audit checklist. Review the entire spreadsheet and amalgamate similar content, while deleting extra sources.

4. Create Improved Meta Descriptions for Posts and Pages

Ever gone fishing? Think of content as your fishing rod, while the meta descriptions are your hook. While generating traffic would be impossible without content, it also gets extremely difficult if you don’t have a decent hook.

Your meta descriptions should do a decent job at bringing in new customers, which is why now is the time to renew and improve them. Multiple resources online can guide you toward writing the perfect meta descriptions.

5. Test Site Speed

Site speed is a major consideration for Google and its algorithm today. People today have shorter attention spans, and no one is going to wait more than half a minute for your website to load. Google realizes this and only wants to deliver the best results, which load quickly and don’t take up time.

Lots of issues like server problems, massive images and unnecessary videos can cause slow loading times. You can use Hubspot’s Website Grader to not only identify problems with load times, but to also fix them in time.

6. Plan a Website Redesign

If your SEO and content audits tell you that your current website is doing your digital presence more harm than good, then it is probably time for you to think of redesigning your website. Your website is an important part of your digital presence, and there is no way you can succeed online with a website that has ‘slow’ and ‘ancient’ written all over it.

Before you begin the process, it is ideal that you read up on some of the redesign tips we have mentioned in our blog. Only proceed if you’re sure that you really need a new business website.

7. Turn Blog Posts Into Infographics

People just love infographics. If you previously did not have the time to create infographics, now is the opportunity for you to speed up the progress on creating new infographics.

Repurposing content is fun, and can also increase the lifecycle of your online content. And by the way, you don’t really need stellar designing skills to create an infographic. The process is simple and can be better managed through platforms like Visme.

8. Tidy Your Social Media Profiles

It is hard to believe the amount of clutter most businesses have on their social media platforms. We understand that social media profiles don’t have to be as formal as websites, but you still need to maintain the branding standards you have set over the rest of your digital presence.

Run an eye over your website and align your social media presence with the branding standards you have set there.

9. Engage With Customers

Isn’t this the perfect opportunity for you to engage with customers? Customers are stuck at home, you’re stuck at home and both of you have plenty of time to converse with each other. Talk to your customers and get to know them better.

Learn New Digital Marketing Skills

10. Teach Yourself Analytics and SEO

Most business owners do not have the time to read up on digital analytics and SEO during their busy daily routines. However, with the lockdown currently in place, business owners really are in an ideal position for polishing their SEO and analytics skills. You can start by taking digital marketing courses and understanding the A to Z of SEO.

11. Read a Book on Digital Marketing and Business

Reading a book on digital marketing can be a good way to kill time and learn some amazing details during the process. Some of the books we recommend are:

• Indispensable by Joe Calloway
• Sell or Be Sold by Grant Cardone
• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
• The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki
• SEO for Growth by Phil Singleton

Try New Digital Tactics

12. Run a Small-Scale Google Ads Campaign

Based on the budget you have currently, you can run a small scale Google Ads campaign today. Google Ads is a paid method of promotion followed by Google, also previously known as AdWords. Start by taking one of Google’s intro classes on the subject and incorporate the teachings in your digital strategy.

13. Try Social Media Ads

Social media ads are perfect for businesses and entrepreneurs that have a small budget and want to put up their services and products in front of a greater audience. Social media ads are best suited for Facebook and Instagram. Facebook also offers tutorials to get started. The process is self-explanatory and not difficult to master.

14. Learn New Reporting Tools

The default dashboard that shows up on your website for Google Analytics is awesome, but did you know that Google offers a full gallery of exciting custom reporting templates for SEO, content analysis and social media? Try one of these customized templates to leave an impression on your stakeholders.

15. Test New WordPress Plug-in

The world of WordPress plug-ins is vast and exciting. WordPress offers a wide array of plug-ins that can improve your website’s SEO among many other things. You can check with your developer or learn a new plug-in. If not, you can try one out by yourself.

16. Boost Local SEO With Reviews

Reviews are a necessary part of your digital marketing strategy. Not only do they factor into your rankings, but they also influence customer perception. New customers almost always check up on reviews before deciding whether they should work with you or not. Ask satisfied customers to leave you positive reviews on Google and other platforms like Yelp and BBB, so that you are able to influence customer purchase decisions.

17. Join HARO or Quora

A great way to position yourself as an industry expert and a thought leader is by helping people who have questions related to your industry online. Most of these questions are asked on platforms like Quora and HARO. You can create an account on these two places and help customers out with their confusion, ultimately bringing them toward you.

18. Use Heatmaps

Websites around us are developing rapidly, and many businesses today use heat maps to determine where customers show interest and where they don’t. A free heat map tool like HotJar can help you identify areas where customers click and where they are more reluctant to do so.

This can be ideal for businesses looking to find barriers in conversion. All you have to do is identify where customers are reluctant to click currently.

19. Launch a Newsletter

Newsletters are quite common and successful today. Since most customers are currently at home as well, you can benefit by sending them regular updates on their email. Try to converse with them through Newsletters and publish exciting content.

20. Create an FAQ Page

Most small businesses do not have a Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ page on their website. Hence, once a customer has a question in mind, they are left unanswered and unsatisfied. You don’t want a potential customer to leave your website because they couldn’t find an answer to their question. Hence, it is best for you to mention FAQs and answer them as well.

21. Add Testimonials and Reviews to Your Website

Customers almost always spend time researching their options before actually buying something. Customers like hearing from other customers who have worked with you, and take their word as a guarantee of your services. This is why it is important for you to add reviews and testimonials to your social media presence. Attract customers to your business through the power of other satisfied customers.

All of these ideas and techniques can come in handy if you want to make your company’s digital presence more awesome during this lockdown period. Many digital marketing tools and courses are available for free during this COVID-19 period, and this is your opportunity to try something new and exciting. We’re all in this together!