This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of .com & .net, powered by Verisign for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.
These days, any and all businesses should be operating online in some way, shape, or form. However, too many business owners still believe it’s extremely difficult to stand up an online presence. The truth is that it’s easier than they think. It’s a task you can accomplish on your own with a little help from the right resources and an expert third party.
Let’s go ahead and walk through the process here in this post. We’ll start with the very first step.
Step one: You’ll want to pick a domain name and find a great web address. This is not only positioning your brand on the web, but it’s also important so that other companies don’t take your ideal online names.
Step two: Build or set up “something” to put on that web address. Verisign has a great article about setting up a social media profile as an alternative to a main website. If you can’t build a website right away, this is a solid option.
In my opinion, however, building a website is the way to go in the long run. While the pros of having a social media profile for your online presence is how quick and easy it is and the lack of worry you have for security and hosting charges, the upsides of having your own self-hosted corporate website outweighs them.
Consider this…
Unless you build your own website, you don’t own anything inside of it. Think about all of that data that is so essential to your business. Now you can track brand impressions and purchases (if it applies) on your very own website. Why wouldn’t you want that data? Better yet, why wouldn’t you want to be able to customize your customers’ experiences with your website online? It’s kind of a no-brainer.
Don’t get me wrong. Either way, you’ll need to put in hard work to grow your web presence. But at the end of the day, it’s always worth it.
In the end, the fact of the matter is that you need to be online. Whether you build your own website or social networks to drive customers to, it’s not as important as taking the plunge before it’s too late.
I encourage you to read the full article from Verisign as aforementioned above. After that, feel free to leave your comments below.
