“Ignoring online marketing is like opening a business but not telling anyone.”
– Anonymous
It is no secret that the internet is one of, if not the most impactful platforms that allow modern businesses to thrive. As a leader, your understanding of the internet and how it can be used to your advantage is paramount to success. Simply put, it should be any modern leader’s responsibility to be proactive in their awareness and optimization of their online presence.
Many leaders create website or social media accounts with the intention to reach out to others, but often they fail to take in a full account of other’s ability to reach them. A major part of this is being easily searchable via google or other search engines. Leaders should start out by googling themselves and seeing the top results. If these results are something undesirable or not your main communication sources, look to change this by utilizing Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and other tactics that make you and your business more Google friendly.
Another major factor of a strong online presence is consistent branding. With many leaders and businesses being present on a variety of platforms, be it their own websites, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc., it is important to have a singular name across all platforms. Make sure that every piece of information devoted to your or your business can be easily grouped together under one common name.
Even if you are easily recognizable and searchable, it is important to be very aware of the content that your platforms direct the most attention too. Oftentimes, businesses or leaders have something in particular they want to promote, but it can be buried under older, more popular content has been posted in the past. To combat this, it can be beneficial to ‘pin’ desired content to front pages of all platforms and delete old content that is no longer relevant.
Whether it be focusing on SEO or curating your content so it best represents your goals, leaders who take initiative when it comes to their online presence put themselves in a position to succeed in the digital age.
Kelly D. Scott
Chairman/CEO
The world’s leading business advisory and executive coaching organization
