Marketing + Web

A Strong Digital Presence Makes a Great First Impression

Before diving back into our digital footprint discussion, we want to take a moment to say that we at Cross & Crown are here for you during the unprecedented times our country and economy are currently facing. We know that many businesses and organizations are navigating uncharted waters and juggling a number of unexpected circumstances that are out of your control. While there is much uncertainty, there are also many opportunities for brands to think bigger and beyond the sandbox within which they currently operate.  

We prize and prioritize innovation. And we have more than a few ideas that could help your business embrace a digital transformation that can sustain your marketing efforts in spite of social distancing and whatever else may come as this pandemic continues to unfold. We would love to help you think through ways to work virtually and reach more customers online so please reach out and let us know how we can serve you. 

In many ways, this digital footprint series is well-timed because a thorough examination of how your brand occupies space online is a great place to begin improving and expanding your virtual capabilities. While we are being encouraged to practice “social distancing,” this is a great time to do some online “housekeeping” and review your company’s digital brand experience. A strong digital footprint will produce leads and new opportunities for your company, so it’s worth taking the time to get a complete picture of what people find when they search for your business online. 

You Customers Will Research Your Company Before They Visit You

Keeping track of your digital footprint may be some of the most cost-effective PR you can do for your company. People often forget that there are a myriad of ways that information about your company appears online. It’s not just the content you create—your online presence also includes content other people are creating about you. This could be anything from a newspaper article to a 140-character comment on Twitter. 

While you cannot control what others say about you, there are ways you can intentionally address reviews and create content that ultimately outranks any less desirable content that may exist about you online. A proactive approach to taking charge of your digital footprint includes: 

• Regularly monitoring and reviewing listings in online directories 
• Updating and—if necessary—cleaning up outdated information and low-quality images that weaken the relationship between your brand and your customers
• Following and responding to customer reviews 
• Engaging your audience on social media 
• Optimizing content for local search and virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa 
• Establishing a strategy to manage it all 

In our last post we encouraged you to take a minute and run a quick search on your company name, just to see what comes up. If you saw some results that you wish weren’t there, working through these bullets will push those less desirable results down so that your best and brightest content appears above the things that are old and stale. 

Your Brand’s Credibility is on the Line 

Step one is making sure everything online about your brand that’s within your control is up-to-date. It’s critical to sweep the web for basic information on your company at least once or twice a year (more is better). Customers will lose faith and trust in your brand if search results reveal inconsistent or out-of-date information. 

Be sure to check down to the smallest detail. You’d be surprised how many companies are listed in directories with incorrect contact info. Once while working with a new client we discovered several online directories where their phone number was listed incorrectly. Aside from the obvious problem here, statistics say that seventy-three percent of people will lose trust in brands whose business listings are inaccurate. This one small fix can make a big impact on lead generation and overall online impression. Talk about a quick win! 

Make it a Habit to Check on Your Company’s Digital Footprint 

This may seem like a lot to keep up with but creating a process for reviewing your company’s digital footprint isn’t too difficult to accomplish but it can take time. The hard part is scrubbing every directory to make sure all the vital information is accurate. 

Hiring a professional service to track this for you can save you a lot of time and the burden of having to keep up with it all on your own. Cross and Crown uses a proven system that easily assesses and updates directory information to ensure that your company’s information is appearing the way you want it to. If this is an area where you need support, don’t hesitate to reach out and let us know. 

We will discuss why digital brand consistency matters, and what you can do to achieve it, in our next blog post, so stay tuned for more digital footprint goodness to come!