Companies that want to reach their consumers these days have to invest in digital public relations efforts. Some of the basic ones include creating a business website and taking ownership of a company's search engine listing.

Google Business

The Google Business Profile of a company is what allows businesses to show up in the Google Maps results, any local Google search results, as well as claim the Knowledge Panel in the search results whenever someone looks up the company's name or location. This is a completely free feature that Google provides companies, and businesses should be taking advantage of it to provide potential consumers with the information that they might need. Companies that claim and verify the ownership of their business profiles can do that through the Google Business account, which also allows them to create advertising campaigns on the platform. Once a company has ownership of its listing, it can start working toward optimizing it so the business can start showing up higher in search engine results pages for any relevant searches. Additionally, companies that rank on local search queries and on Google Maps get the opportunity to constantly promote themselves through the platform and also get the benefit of sharing updates and promotions directly to the searchers through this listing, which is going to appear whenever a potential consumer looks up the company.

Website

No matter how old-fashioned an industry or a company might be, everyone needs to have a website these days, as for both current and potential consumers, the business website of a company has turned into their go-to source of information for that company. Even if a potential consumer finds a company through search engines or social media platforms, they're going to end up visiting the company's website soon after, which, similar to a Google Business listing, can promote a company nonstop. That's why it's important for companies to invest time and effort into creating a business website that's going to improve the performance of all other promotional efforts and align with the style guide, as well as meet the needs of the target audience.

The business website of a company should effectively communicate the story behind the company and what it provides its consumers, provide them with the contact information they might need during business hours, and what the company does, as well as showcase the unique selling point and personality of the brand. Then, whenever a company creates other promotional campaigns and efforts, the landing pages are going to be hosted on its business website, and link those page visitors directly to the business website too. Not only that, but whenever the company shares valuable information on other communication channels such as the company's blog, third-party publications, social media platforms, or anywhere else, it can link back to the company's business website. With this strategy, companies will be able to direct a lot more traffic to their website, and then rely on analytics to figure out which strategies are the most effective at generating traffic, leads, or sales, as well as learn other vital information about the target audience.

About the Author: Mike Paffmann is CEO of Virgo PR, a leading PR firm.