5 ways to create a professional, online presence

5 WAYS TO CREATE A PROFESSIONAL, ONLINE PRESENCE

1. INVEST IN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY OR VIDEO

This is easily the most effective tool in creating a professional appearance! Photo and video have become increasingly important in today’s digital climate. Customers want to see what your product or service really looks or feels like! Investing in these tools will also create an increased perceived value of your product or service as well. If you spend money on making your business’ appearance, people will assume and be willing to pay top dollar for what you provide! It’s just as important that you also come through for your customers and provide that top dollar service or product. But if you do already provide that high quality service but you aren’t able to get customers to spend that money, then try investing in your appearance!

2. CUSTOM DOMAIN EMAIL ADDRESS

Nothing is tackier than an @yahoo.com or @gmail.com email address for your business. I feel like this one goes without saying but a lot of business owners are missing the mark on this one. hello@yourdomainname.com giving your business it’s own email address is a professional touch. It might seem small but it is important!

3. STAY CONSISTENT IN BRANDING ACROSS PLATFORMS

Read about the importance of brand consistency here. To summarize, don’t mix up your fonts, colors and image presets just to try something new. Your fonts, colors and consistency in images are building layers of trust + perceived value between you and your potential customers. Don’t mess it up just because you want to use a font that’s fun and trendy.

4. MAKE SURE YOUR WEBSITE IS MOBILE FRIENDLY

I am always so amazed when I discover big brands whose website’s mobile versions are awful!! 70% of users are accessing websites through a mobile device which means you should absolutely design your website for mobile! When I come across a website with an unoptimized mobile version, I immediately become distrusting of the business.

5. CLEAN AND LEGIBLE DESIGN

Last but certainly not least - clean and legible (readable) design. This is rule #1 in graphic design 101. If it’s not legible, it’s not usable. If it’s not usable, it’s inherently a bad design. This goes for your logo, fonts, social graphics, website elements etc.