So, you’ve built and launched your new website…what’s next?
Having a company website is just the first step to having an online presence. There are many elements to building a strong online presence after you launch a website. When used and maintained correctly, all of these elements and tools work together so you can acquire more traffic and attract better and more engaged customers.

To protect your website investment, make the most of marketing efforts, and get you valuable website traffic, here are some key tools to maximize your online presence:

1. Website support protects your primary online presence

Like a vehicle or computer, a website is an investment that requires regular maintenance and updates to function at its best. We recently went into more detail on website support here. Your website is the foundation of your online presence, and you always want to make sure it’s live and functioning. Ongoing website maintenance support is necessary to ensure optimal site functionality and security, which should never be overlooked.

Here’s why maintenance is necessary for your site:

• Maintain the best functionality and load speed
• Latest security settings (read more about how to avoid hackers)
• Developers can understand the template customizations and can make quick and easy updates

Many companies offer various levels of maintenance and support packages that cover things like:

• Tech-support calls
• Regular backups
• Reviewing logs
• Updating software/template
• Security updates
• Edits and design changes
• Fixes to bugs that arise (trust us; they always do!)

If your site is down for even a second when someone is trying to access it, you could lose a very important sale. Online website support should be a priority after launch. Ask your web agency about the packages they offer for ongoing website maintenance.

2. SEO strengthens the foundation of your online presence

Not familiar with the specifics of SEO? You can read more about SEO here.

In short:

• SEO is good for visibility
• SEO provides credibility (people trust search engines)
• SEO brings you traffic
• SEO has one of the best ROIs

It bothers me when websites are built without SEO in mind. I mean, what use is a website that your audience can’t find in a search engine?! If your website is not search engine optimized, you need to consider making some updates to get better placement on Google, Bing, and Yahoo organic searches. SEO can take several months to start seeing results. If you’re interested in seeing much faster results you should consider a combination of SEO and Paid Search Marketing (which I talk about next). We recommend this combination to really enhance your online presence.

Some elements that may be included in an SEO Package may be:

On-page SEO

• Meta tags and meta descriptions
• Image optimization
• Content optimization
• Keyword analysis within site content
• Optimize load speed
• Ensure easy bot crawling accessibility
• Authorship, schema and rich snippets

Off-page SEO

• Link building
• Map listings
• Local listings
• Directory submissions
• Video promotion
• Article writing, forum posting, or blogs
• Reviews
• Classifieds submissions

There are various levels and depths of SEO services. Ask your web agency about the packages they offer for SEO.

3. Paid search marketing targets leads

Paid Search Marketing is buying traffic through paid search listings. It’s the best and fastest way to get your brand or your campaign “out there” to a more targeted (AKA warm leads) audience. Are you a beginner to Paid Search Marketing or want to learn more details? Here’s a great guide outlining the basics of paid search marketing.

Compared to the costs of other advertising channels, paid search is a very cost-effective channel of advertising. And tracking ROI is a breeze. Why? You’re only paying when someone clicks your ad, and the return on investment and conversion metrics are right at your fingertips. When will you know it works? We recommend giving it at least a few months to see if the overall campaign will work for your business, but you’ll begin to see results immediately–much faster than SEO.

Search Engine Marketing can include:

• Google, Bing, and Gemini ads
• Product shopping ads
• Display ads – either through a display network or purchased ad space through a specific website
• Retargeting (showing ads to site visitors for a period of time after they leave your site)
• Public Relations and Social Media advertising (see next item for more detail on that)

Usually, the biggest investment is the cost to set up the campaigns. Because of the variety of settings to a campaign, you’ll want a certified Google or Bing partner to set it up. Once the campaign is set up, you can set your daily or monthly spending to any amount that fits within your budget. Ask your web agency for their online paid search options and what they would recommend for your business.

4. Public relations drive traffic to your online presence

Maintaining a favorable public image of a company or organization is key when you’re trying to reach your audience. Here are some PR-related projects that can be tackled on a project-by-project basis, or some of these may be included in an ongoing annual contract with a marketing or PR Agency.

• Press release writing, posting, and promotion
• Strategy, generating PR-worthy ideas and pitches
• Contacting editors and reporters for coverage based on a specific event
• Coordinate publishing editorial features in relevant publications
• Media/analyst relations
• Bylined article development and placement
• Identification, pitching and leverage of speaking opportunities
• Executive briefing before appearances
• Results measurement and reporting
• Social Media campaigns

Ask your agency for their public relations packages.

5. Social media marketing to increase online presence

Want to learn more about Social Media for businesses? We recently went into more detail in this article.

Regular social media posts improve SEO, drive traffic to your website and much more, which directly relates to business profitability.

• Increased brand recognition
• Improved brand loyalty and brand authority
• Conversion opportunities
• Increases inbound website traffic
• Decreases marketing costs
• Improves search engine rankings
• Improves customer experiences
• Improved customer insight

An agency can help you develop a social media strategy, which may include:

• Competitive Analysis – assessing industry standards to set realistic benchmarks
• Establishing your company’s social media voice across platforms
• Identifying the best social platforms for your business
• Defining objectives and measurable KPIs
• Developing creative campaigns
• Creating social media editorial calendar, with specific tactics for reaching goals

You may also want some help with Social Media Management, which may include:

• Profile generation and optimization
• Copywriting of posts
• Image gathering and color correction
• Inserting scheduled posts into a social media platform
• Management of paid social media campaigns boosted posts and paid ads
• Analytics reports
• Results tracking

Ask your web agency for its social media strategy and management packages.

In conclusion, all is not said and done when your website launches. It’s just the beginning of your epic online presence journey. If you take these tools into consideration and start executing any and all of these items within the coming months and years, you’ll be on your way to a stronger and greatly improved online presence.