Lesson 1 of 5 · 15 min · Concept content, does not go stale
Online presence: what it is and what you need
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
- Name the six pieces of an online presence and say what each one is for
- Tell the website (your own house) from social media (a rented house)
- Say the minimum your type of business needs to have
- Take stock of what you have and pick the two pieces to fix first
The bakery that does not show up
Mr Amaral has run a bakery in Ponta Delgada for thirty years. A tourist passing through takes out a phone and types "bakery Ponta Delgada". Three results appear. Two have opening hours, photos of the bread and a phone number you can call. The third is Mr Amaral's bakery: the listing says it closes at 5pm (it closes at 7pm), the phone rings and nobody answers, and there is not a single photo.
The tourist goes to the first one. Mr Amaral never knew he existed.
This is not a lack of quality in the bread. It is a lack of online presence: the pieces that make a customer find you, understand what you do and be able to reach you. Let us see which they are.
The six pieces
Think of an ordinary shop. Each online piece has a matching one.
1. Domain, the address. It is your name on the internet, like padariaamaral.pt. Without it, your address is borrowed (for example, a social network's). If it is missing, you have no name of your own and you can lose what you built. It has a lesson of its own.
2. Website and hosting, the house. The website is the page where you say what you do, where you are and how to get in touch. Hosting is the service where it lives. If it is missing, everything you say about yourself is in the hands of other platforms.
3. Professional email, the letterbox with the name of the house. An address like geral@padariaamaral.pt, instead of amaral1962@ followed by a free service. If it is missing, customers are wary, and when someone leaves the business the email goes with them.
4. Google and maps listing, the sign on the road. It is the business page with hours, phone, address and photos that appears when someone searches nearby. If it is missing or wrong, it is Mr Amaral's case.
5. Social media, the square. Instagram, Facebook and others: where people chat and see news. They are for showing day-to-day life and replying. If they are missing, you lose some visibility, but you do not lose the business.
6. WhatsApp, the counter. For many people it is the first contact: "do you have a table for Friday?", "is there any King Cake left?". If it is missing, or if nobody replies, the customer gives up and goes elsewhere.
Tip
A phone that nobody answers is worse than having no phone. If you cannot reply during the day, state the hours when you do (for example, "we reply between 9am and 1pm") on the listing and on WhatsApp.
The website is your house; social media is a rented house
This is the most important idea in the lesson.
A social network is another company's space. You can have thousands of followers there and, overnight, the account is blocked by mistake, or the network changes its rules, or what you posted stops showing up for people. You have nobody to complain to who will do anything.
A website, with your own domain, is yours. Nobody shuts it down because a rule changed. Use social media as much as you like, but the real house is what is in your name.
Watch out
Do not mix up "having a Facebook page" with "having a website". The page can vanish, and the address is never yours. Use social media to reach people and the website as the place where they find the essentials: what you do, where, when and how to get in touch.
The minimum for your type of business
Not everybody needs everything at once. Three examples.
Service by appointment (Marta, hairdresser in Calheta). She needs a correct Google listing, a WhatsApp that answers, and Instagram to show her work. It can wait: an online shop, a blog.
Accommodation (Rui, 3 rooms in Velas). He needs a Google listing, a simple website with photos, rooms and how to book, and a professional email for bookings. It can wait: lots of social networks.
Shop or product (Inês, sweets sold online from home in Lisbon). She needs a website with the shop, a professional email and the pages the law asks for (we will see them in the next lessons). It can wait: a Google listing, if she does not receive customers at home.
Notice that the rule is the same: first let them find you and contact you, then the rest.
Tip
When you only have one hour a week, spend it first on the Google listing and the phone. It is the quickest piece to fix and the one that brings the most new customers to a local business.
Exercise
How I know it worked a sheet with the inventory of the six pieces and the two priorities you chose.
If it didn't work
- Your business does not show up on Google? It may not have a listing yet, or the name may be spelled differently. Try the name plus the town, then just what you do plus the town (for example, "hairdresser Calheta").
- Not sure whether you "have" the domain or the email? Mark "don't know". In the next two lessons you will see how to check.
- Not sure which pieces to prioritise? Pick the Google listing and WhatsApp. They are the quickest and the most noticeable.
- No competitor nearby? Pick a business of the same type in another town and compare all the same.
Videos
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