13 Online Visibility Strategies for Small Businesses on a Tight Budget

Starting an online business and succeeding is not an easy task, but it's not impossible either.

By now, you know the power of the Internet to increase sales and give visibility to your brand or business, so there's not much to say about that.

However, I will say one thing: it's not enough to just be present.

You need to stand out and grab the attention of the over 3.8 billion users connected to the web worldwide.

The problem is that entrepreneurs do not leverage all that power for the benefit of their company, despite spending large sums of money on online advertising. Look at the annual evolution of online advertising spending in Spain from 2007 to 2018 (in millions of euros)

The most common mistake is to invest a large sum of money in advertising and promotion at the beginning and then reduce the budget later.

Are you one of the digital entrepreneurs who has made this mistake?

Don't worry.

Whether you've done it or are thinking about it, you still have time to gain visibility on the Internet without needing a super millionaire budget.

Do you want to know how to do it?

Next, I will show you 13 online visibility strategies for small businesses (or entrepreneurs) on a tight budget.

Let's go!

Search Engine Optimization

Having the support of an SEO consultant from the start is the best idea you can implement in your online business.

• You will position your business in the top positions of the search engine for terms related to your product or service.

• You will obtain qualified web traffic interested in your product.

• You will improve your visibility and brand image.

A very common mistake is to seek all this through Google Adwords paid ads, which ultimately end up being much more expensive and less permanent than working on organic traffic acquisition.

If you have a budget, invest in SEO and paid advertising. If you don't, invest in SEO.

Note:

In terms of link building and reviews about your business, you can register on Unancor and publish premium press releases. I recommend reading our link building guide 2018 first to create an effective online visibility strategy.

Keyword Research

Before you dive into creating your business website or blog, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the search terms related to your activity. These terms will drive traffic to your page when you rank in the top results of Google's ranking, so pay attention to how important this is.

Normally, you would hire a keyword research service from a professional SEO, but if you have some knowledge and dare to tackle it, you can read these tips from Webpositer or this article from No Sin Mis Cookies.

Open a Corporate Blog

The previous strategy directly leads to this one.

In addition to positioning your categories or homepage for certain keywords, you can also position blog articles to attract more traffic and attention in SERPs and on social media.

Hire a content writer with SEO knowledge, give them the list of keywords you want to rank for, and they will work their magic. Then share that content on social media or give it visibility through link building, and you'll see what happens.

Create an Email List

Another very common mistake is not capturing emails from interested parties in your sector, product, or service from the start.

Create a lead magnet with a powerful title or offer some type of deal, discount coupon, or gift to everyone who subscribes to your email list. You will be surprised at how quickly it grows.

Guest Posting in Your Sector

At this point, it's true that some sectors, like online marketing, have done it very poorly because they have sought easy dofollow links.

And no. Guest posting is much more than that.

You have to work on quality content, even of higher quality than what you publish on your own website.

Also, don't fall into the trap of commercial guest articles. Nobody likes them.

If you have a light bulb business, you can reach out to websites specialized in sustainability and talk about the most eco-efficient bulbs, for example.

It's about giving a twist to write content that adds value to the audience of the page you contact.

By the way, if you want to write a guest post on the Unancor blog, you are more than welcome. Send us your proposal.

Comments on Related Blogs

Let's call it semi natural link building.

In the end, what's important is that people read you, see that you are a professional in your sector, that you add value to conversations, and that you know what you're talking about. The rest will come naturally.

Participate in Forums and Social Media

Just like the previous case. If you can sneak in a link to improve your off-page SEO strategy, that's even better, but the goal is to highlight your professionalism, so don't post any nonsense to gain easy visibility.

Use thematic forums in your sector, publish long threads in different tweets (it's the latest trend on Twitter), engage in conversations and debates in your sector, and make yourself known. Everyone who reads you could be a potential buyer of your product or service.

Facebook groups have quite a bit of visibility depending on the sector. Try searching for a group related to your business and participate.

Note: Leverage your social media to position your brand in the top results of Google. I recommend checking out our article on brand positioning with social wheel.

Create Your Own Hashtag on Twitter

Does the term #seorosa ring a bell? If it doesn't, then you don't know David Ayala. What a stir he has created with his posts under that hashtag... Check it out on Twitter and you'll see. He has built a brand, and now everyone knows that hashtag belongs to him. You can do it too.

Consider Selling on Amazon

The largest sales portal in the world. What more can I say?

Having your own online store does not mean you can't sell your products on Amazon. I don't know much, but my friend Jordi Ordóñez does, and in fact, he has shared his knowledge on this blog. Check it out and decide if it's profitable for you.

Create a YouTube Channel and Upload Videos

In this, we are all a bit lazy, and they've been talking about the “boom” of multimedia content, videos, YouTube SEO, blah blah blah...

If you feel capable of dedicating time and enjoy addressing people, don't hesitate and create a YouTube channel.

Upload videos related to your business sector, explain things that people usually ask, resolve doubts about your product or service, or even create videos for new launches.

Google My Business Reviews

This is even recommended by Mr. Google himself, as it is his platform, of course.

We are in a time when potential buyers seek information, testimonials, and opinions from other users before purchasing anything. If they find positive reviews when searching for your business name, you will gain their trust more easily.

Contact Influencers

There has even been talk of a bubble in digital marketing when the term influencer is mentioned. And it's true that 6 out of 10 marketing directors launched campaigns with influencers in 2016.

That's quite something.

What I recommend, aside from not going in “guns blazing,” is to offer your product or service completely free.

Influencers love free samples, but keep in mind that they receive so many offers daily that yours might get rejected. What I mean is that the more appealing what you offer is, the better.

Sometimes, you don't need to spend money if your product is good, so it's an option to consider to improve your website's visibility.

Create an Affiliate Program

But create it right away. Not doing so is throwing money out the window.

In the end, the articles written by experts on making money with this method serve to create positive and fresh content in SERPs talking about your product or service and also achieve sales in exchange for a small pre-established commission. What could go wrong?

As you can see, there are many online visibility strategies for small businesses on a tight budget that you can use to take your business to the top without starting by throwing money away from the beginning-