3 Tips for Creating an Online Web Presence

Starting a new business from scratch can be an absolute bear when you don't have a mentor to show you the ropes. The Internet is this massive highway with a stupendous amount of traffic, content and general rules that need to be followed in order to succeed on it. There's good news for anyone who's looking to get started with their own web presence however, and it doesn't involve college courses or hours of mindless studying.

Actually, all you need to do is confer with the Internet itself to find your answers.

First coming first, there's an order of operations here. You've probably heard all about search engine optimization (SEO), link-building, advertising, social media management, front-end this and back-end that, software that promises to bridge gaps and automate processes, and so much more. It can be quite overwhelming, so we're going to gracefully gloss over three important details here to get you started. Read on:

  1. SEO is your first starting point.

    Without SEO, your site has no grounds, no basis, no outreach. Imagine a tree without roots. Who's going to visit your site if you're not incorporating words and phrases that attract the attention of the search engines that people use to find services like yours in the first place? While there are complex solutions and an exact science that's often entertained on forums and blog posts alike, 80% of SEO is as simple as just placing keywords in your site text.

  2. After that, graduate to link-building.

    Link-building is the practice of exchanging links with other businesses online that share similar interests with yours in order to increase your exposure and open up your visibility. The benefit is two-fold: First, people can click your link on the other person's site in order to reach yours, and second, search engines that find link-swapped sites will also place yours nearby on the list.

  3. Google AdWords is your friend.

    AdWords is an advertising service that links sites such as yours from algorithmically discovered key phrases embedded in other sites. It can also work in reverse, automatically selecting key words from your site's content and expanding their outreach to improve your exposure in the long run.