Online Presence Evaluation Process

Your company's website is your digital home. When guests arrive on your website, you want them to feel wanted and welcomed; just like they do when they walk into your office. In addition, you need them to be able to quickly and efficiently find what they are looking for. Currently, that may or may not be the case.

Your company should have a healthy online presence on platforms other than your website as well.

Our Online Presence Evaluation tool helps you evaluate new, potential, or current clients (perhaps neglected) in order to ensure you are serving them the best way possible.

The Process

When evaluating the online presence of your business, it is important to look at a number of areas. Is the branding consistent across all platforms? Is the message consistent across all platforms? Is every aspect of the online presence working together and for each other? Are there any counter-productive aspects when it comes to the overall messaging and goals of your company?

Examples of platforms and aspects you should evaluate:

  • Branding
  • Company Website
  • Social Media Platforms
  • Google Business Listing
  • Email
  • View analytics from websites and social media. (See what customers view and use most.)
  • Read customer reviews (Is the brand trusted? What do real people have to say about the user/customer experience? This is one of the most important steps to understand what we can improve.)

Branding - A Deeper Dive

Case Study

What is branding? Let's take a comparative look at two airlines.

When you think of Southwest Airlines, what thoughts pop into your mind? Now, how do those thoughts differ from those about, let's say, Singapore Airlines? Although both airlines carry passengers from point A to point B, the way they communicate how they do it are very different. The differences you see in your mind's eye is due to branding.

Southwest Airlines portrays themselves as a fun, low fare, regional airline. They want you to think of them that way. Their logo is a playful, multi-colored heart. Flight attendants sing songs to passengers, tell jokes over the intercom, sometimes wear unconventional uniforms (shorts and Halloween costumes), and serve peanuts on their flights.

Singapore Airlines represent themselves as an upscale international carrier. They are the professional, serious airline. Their logo is a sleek, abstract, gold bird with blue lettering. Their all female flight attendants, known as Singapore Girls, wear impeccable designer uniforms, serve chef-prepared meals, distribute hot hand towels to passengers, and perform their duties formally.

How do we know this? Both of these companies market themselves well by delivering a consistent image and message across every channel they use. That message communicates who they are, what they do, and how they do it. The combination of all of these, is their brand.

When you visit Southwest Airlines' website you see a low-cost emphasis on their Flying with Southwest page. The items they choose to promote are "Two Bags Fly Free", "No Change or Cancel Fees", "Flight Credits that Don't Expire" and so on.

On Singapore Airlines' Flying with Us page, they tell you about their heritage of innovation, premier pre-flight lounges, the luxury of their inflight cabins and suites, and chef prepared meals. Fees are never mentioned.

These airlines appeal to different clientele. Everything they do communicates a message that draws the particular clientele they want, into their business.

Your Brand

Does your company have a public image? Do you know what it is and what you want it to be? Have you thought through your branding guidelines? If you don't have any, this is a good place to start. This may or may not be obvious to you, but your online image begins with your company's name and logo.

Business Name

If you are just starting out, choosing a business name that communicates who you are and what you do is important. You may not want to choose a name like "Jelly Beans" if you manufacture keys. Having said that, not every business name has to make sense.

The Apple name did not communicate phones and computers when they first launched in 1976. Apple was, and still is, a fruit. However, today, you are just as likely to think of an iPhone as you would a piece of fruit when you hear the word "apple".

If you are an existing business, and your name is not working well, don't be afraid to change it. When Federal Express recognized that their clients overwhelmingly referred to them as FedEx, they shortened their name. The change cost millions of dollars, but it was important for their brand to be consistent. Listen to your clients.

Recently, Dunkin Donuts shortened their name to just Dunkin. Their menu is broader than donuts and they want you to know that. They want you to think of them as more than donuts, and their well-known name stood in the way.

In 1981, established Japanese car maker, Nissan, completely changed the name of their exported cars from Datsun to Nissan. Nissan cars had always been known as Datsun in America, but they wanted consistent branding across all their markets. The new designation reflected the parent company's long-standing name and helped expand their brand worldwide. Consistency is key to healthy branding.

Business Logo

Is your company's logo up to date? Was it designed in 1998 by your very talented high school aged nephew? He may have done a great job, but if your logo is that old, more than likely it needs some touching up, and probably a complete overhaul. If you are unsure, seek the advice of a professional.

Very few companies have kept their logo as it was first designed. Through the years, iconic brands Coca-Cola and Apple both have updated their logo a number of times. Apple's first logo was Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. You probably didn't know that.

Dunkin, Shell, and even Uber, a relatively young company, have all made updates to their logo. You can probably think of others that have done the same.

 

"Do not be afraid to change with the times, be afraid not to." - Marc Bowman

 

Is your branding consistent across all platforms and channels? Consistency is a word that we have used throughout this article, because consistency is king!

Logo Design

Having more than one logo design or utilizing different colors and fonts, is a terrible idea. Stick with one good design and go with it. You don't want to confuse your customers. What is a good logo design?

When designing your logo, keep in mind that it will be used across many different platforms such as social media, business cards, flyers, advertising, and perhaps even a tradeshow banner.

For the most part, simple designs work well. Think of Nike, basically, the logo is a check mark. McDonald's uses the golden arches, and MasterCard is two circles overlapping. Don't overthink it.

A good designer will take into consideration these things and will provide a design that looks good on a transparent background or a background with color.

The design also needs to consider how much space it takes on the page, or website header, or ad. If your designer submits a logo that is short and wide, or tall and skinny, does that work for you?

Maker sure it is a "vector" format. Vector images are scalable without producing pixelation.

Lastly, make sure your designer provides you with a logo in both CMYK and RGB formats. RGB is used for websites and online applications. CMYK is a four color process used in printing.

Website

Have you heard the age-old expression, "people eat with their eyes first"? Diners eat food that looks appetizing. They see it, they analyze it, and if they like what they see, they take a bite. If they don't like what they see, they won't take the bite. It may taste good, but if it looks bad, many will just take a pass. That applies not only to food, but also to information.

When a visitor arrives on your website, they already made the decision that your business was relevant to them. Perhaps they trusted a search engine, or maybe someone referred them to you. Either way, you only have a few seconds to convince them that you really are relevant and that your company can meet their needs.

Visitors to your website make the decision to stay and continue browsing or move on to another website in less than three seconds!

Design your website to get people to stay on your site and take action. You want them to make a purchase, engage your sales process, or provide you with their information. How do you do that? By understanding the consumer and creating an environment where they will want to take action.

Why Do People Visit Your Website?

Ask yourself this most basic question, "Why do consumers visit my website in the first place? Why are they here? What are they looking to find?"

Now ask yourself, "Can visitors to my website easily determine what we do, if we can help them, and can they do it quickly?" If not, you are losing customers. If you are unsure, let's evaluate it.

  • Is your business' overall message and objective clear the moment the website loads? If you are renting cabins in the Smoky Mountains, visitors to your website should know this immediately.
  • Is there an action step in full view without having to do any scrolling? Can visitors to your vacation rental website begin their search for a property without having to make several clicks or scroll through a bunch of pictures and text? If not, the website needs a redesign.
  • Is the branding prominent and easy to read? Is your logo so small they can't see it? Are the colors making it hard to see on the background? Is it even there? Some sites put there logo at the bottom of the page. Yes, they do. It is hard to imagine. Potential customers should be able to identify you easily and keep that identity across different channels.
  • Is the design up to date and does it match your message? If you want guests to know that you are current and relevant, your website needs to be current and relevant too. People like to shop where the website looks good, is current, has what they need, is simple to find, and the process is quick and easy.

Mobile Responsiveness

Have you ever visited a website on your phone where everything was so small you could not read it? The entire website was on your screen, but it was scaled down to the point it was impossible to read. You had to zoom in to see it, and only then in sections.

Before smart devices were a thing, this was not an issue. Today, with so many mobile devices in the hands of consumers, it is a problem. Websites should be visible on different screen sizes, whether large or small. This is known in the industry as being responsive, or mobile responsive.

More than 63% of Internet searches are done on a mobile device. For food and beverage, it is more than 70%. If your website is not mobile responsive, you are losing customers.

Speed is Important!

How fast does your website load? As mentioned earlier, visitors make the decision to stay and continue browsing or move on in less than three seconds! If they have to wait while your site loads, you have already lost them as a customer.

Mobile devices utilize phone data much of the time, which is generally slower than broadband and Wi-Fi. Your website needs to account for this difference.

Bonus Tip - Lowering load times:

  • Use compressed images. Don’t use high resolution photos for small thumbnails or even medium sized images. This process of scaling image sizes is called optimization. The difference in load times is incredible. If you don't know how to optimize images, ask a professional.
  • Simplify your design and use the same designs across different pages when possible. This will reduce the load time, if coded wisely, as well as reduce duplicate files.

Miscellaneous Best Practices

Phone Calls: if you want customers to call you, make sure your phone number is prominent. Do not hide it in the footer or use small fonts. Also, make it easy for mobile users to call by making the number clickable. The fewer the steps that are needed, the more likely they are to call.

Testimonials: including testimonials from real customers is critical to leading others to use your products and services. How many times have you used a company because someone told you how awesome they are? Let your customers be your best sales agents.

Social Media Platforms

Although social media was created primarily with individuals in mind, it is a superb tool in the hands of creative businesses. Its sole purpose is for users to grow a community of followers by sharing great content with them. The better your content, and interesting, the more followers you acquire and engage.

Great social media managers offer exceptional content, even when it is unrelated to their business. Your goal is to build an audience, not to sell, sell, sell.

In 2023, a 30 second Super Bowl ad cost $7 million. Why? Because companies were willing to pay that much to get exposure for their product. Not everyone watching the Super Bowl was a customer. But the audience was huge! Build your audience, and every now and then offer them something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKJr8e_cvRc&list=PLLSovFY-eK2_1isRMtrNS_me4zDrs2CuS&t=0s

Social Media Checklist

  • Which social media apps are you utilizing and which ones should you be using? You may want to consider Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Rumble, WhatsApp, and others.
  • Followers on social media don't want to be "talked at," they want you to talk "with them." You need to have a personality for your presence. How can you make your content relatable and increase interaction?
  • Check posting consistency. If you think your social media presence is good, and the last post you made was three months ago, much less weeks ago, you are mistaken. Consistent engagement with your audience is key.
  • Check follower engagement. Track likes, comments, shares, tags, etc. Know what your audience likes to see and hear by analyzing how they engage and with what they engage.
  • Offer a reason and opportunity for people to follow you. Do they know you have social media channels? Do you offer weekly specials that no one knows about? Let them know!
    • Have a sign in your physical store, either on the door, at the register, or other visible area so they know you have a social media presence.
    • Invite customers to follow your social media channels utilizing various forms.
      • Website - include links to your social media channels and share links on your content.
      • Email - include links to your social media channels in the signature area of your emails.
      • Business Cards - include your social media accounts on your card
      • Contests -
      • Fun Videos - make interesting and fun videos that people are likely to share, linking back to your social media account.

Email

Who has purchased a product online and immediately began receiving promotional emails from the company? Everyone! Why do companies do that? Because it works. Sometimes they send too much email and we unsubscribe. But when done correctly, it is quite effective.

Email marketing remains the most cost effective tool for engaging your customers and promoting your business. Even with rising popularity in platforms like social media and Google ads, email marketing sits above the rest in both ease and return on investment (ROI).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iay2ifyGbYQ

Helpful Resource Article: The 5 Basics of Email Marketing

Do you have an email list of clients and/or potential clients?

  • If not, the first step is to develop an email list.
  • If so, evaluate the effectiveness of the email campaigns.

Things to look for when evaluating an email campaign (Resource: MailChimp)

  • Skimmability
    • Short and simple content is easier to skim and understand quickly, which could help increase your audience’s intake and retention. White space is important to readability. Use short paragraphs with space between. Long paragraphs ensure the copy will not be read.
  • Text & Visuals
    • Text and visuals together are what create content. How you combine them makes a big difference in your campaign’s performance. At least use 1 graphic and make sure your headers are short and straight to the point.
  • Links & CTAs
    • Asking users to take a specific action through a compelling call to action is how you drive results from your campaign. Make sure you're adding CTA buttons, website, and social media links. Don't leave any header and photo unlinked.
  • Typography
    • Your font sizes, styles, and consistency go a long way towards making your email campaigns look polished, professional, and easy to read.

What's Next?

After you've finished your online evaluation, make sure to discuss the results with a professional. If you are ready to move forward, your next step is to:

  1. Clearly define your goals for the immediate quarter as well as general company goals.
  2. Create an online presence strategy with realistic expectations and objectives based on your goals.
  3. Divide these objectives into tasks and begin delegating to your team.
  4. Get working!

Ankerpoint is here to help you get started or move to the next level in your online marketing. When you are ready, give us a call.