Perhaps you have an offline business and now, you’re seeing the benefits of bringing your business online. Well, congratulations for figuring that out! It’s past time, my friend.
Offline businesses that don’t bring their expertise online to share with people in their marketing area, be it local or international, won’t be taken seriously. Can you believe that?
Yep. Used to be the other way around. How times have changed.
But let’s say that you’re a dentist. You have a really great reputation for being a great dentist and for knowing tons about the topic of dental care. You’re considered an expert in your field.
Guess what? If you’re just getting online now… Your offline rep means bupkiss. Unless you take the time to prove your expertise for this new audience that now extends across the United States and possibly throughout the world, you’ll just be another site on the Web that doesn’t get traffic.
Authority Is Everything
What’s crushing it for online businesses these days is authority — authority in the number of pages your website holds and authority in Web authorship. You need to blast what you know everywhere!
LinkedIn is probably the first place you thought of, and that works, it’s true. You need to build up your profile as much as possible there because people will seek you out on LinkedIn. But there are a couple of other ways that you can strut your stuff.
Show ’em what you got
First, of course, I’m going to suggest that you start writing a blog. Three times a week is optimal, but even once a week is better than never. Blogging shows your expertise in a way that no other type website can. It’s your ideas, your writing, and well… you. Start a blog to add authority to any website.
But also think about joining Quora and answering some questions about your niche there. People vote your answers up, if they’re good ones, and you could become an authority star overnight. Quora is also good for your authority as Google sees it, and in the future, Google will start looking at you as an author and personality on the Web.
You see Google is starting to rank search results according to authorship and the popularity of the content that you place on the Web — in blog posts, in articles on other sites, and in social media. If you want some of that amazing organic (free) search traffic, becoming an authority in your niche online is every bit as important as being an authority offline.
Love Google+
Google is also making participation in Google+ important, too. If you don’t have a Google+ page for yourself or for your business, get busy! It’s important! Be as specific about your business as you can, and be sure to post updates at least every 72 hours.
Start a Facebook page for your business, too. Everything you do online counts, and if you can’t afford the time, pay someone who can do this social media stuff for you. It’s that important.
But listen, if you’re just starting to explore the possibilities of being an Internet star, you have some catching up to do! There are plenty of us who have been adding content to the Web for years! It’s not too late. Start today!
