The last few years have seen an explosion of web businesses, blogs and online content. After all, it's becoming so mainstream even your grandmother has an email address (and an Instagram account). Kicking off your business's online presence is as simple as getting a web address and building a website.

But if you truly want to stand out from the crowd, taking a casual approach will no longer cut it. You need to know what you are doing. Here's a list of things you can do to make sure your promotional efforts are hitting their targets.

Become an online authority

Google is regularly refreshing the Search Quality Rating Guidelines it uses to rate websites. The emphasis can be summarized in the acronym 'E-A-T' – expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. If you want your business website to rocket up the check your Google rankings invest in quality content that is relevant and emphasizes your knowledge on the topic you want to rank for. Google will then assign more trust to your site, which will improve your rankings.

For example, if you are a chiropractor who wants to attract new patients, you should feature content on your site that explains how your service works, what type of treatments you can perform, your fee structure, how to book an appointment, your business location, customer testimonials and so forth. It's ok to add new pages to reduce page load time and to reduce excessive scrolling, but you need a functional content structure to hang it off.

If you plan on publishing regularly on topics related to your area of expertise, add a blog and include options to facilitate social media sharing. Returning to our example, the chiropractor could add a post or video with tips for stretching or improving posture, or an op-ed on a topic trending in their industry via a blog. These posts can then be linked to social media for convenient and far-reaching sharing and promotion.

When creating content, make sure it's easy for users to skim by utilizing short paragraphs, sub-headings, images and summaries. Link to other pages of your site (known as "Supplementary Content") but do so only on pages where it will improve the visitor's overall journey through your site. Make sure you're maximizing all of your existing content and maintain a healthy flow of new blog posts, sharable content and customer testimonials.

Create an enjoyable online experience

Bland looking websites that are a nightmare to navigate don't exactly encourage repeat visits – so for best results, focus on keeping things simple and elegant.

Start by investing in a quality design, because everything from your colors to your fonts need to be on-brand, consistent and suitable to your industry. Don't forget to test your design elements either, sometimes a change as simple as adjusting image sizes can have a huge impact on the success of your website.

Clearly explain who you are and what you do in language that your target audience will understand, and ensure that action buttons ("buy now", "read more" or "download now") are easy to find and strategically located.

Provide shortcuts for those who know what they are looking for, and if you need users to sign up for something, keep forms as brief as possible. Every aspect of your website should provide answers or improve usability, so avoid adding unnecessary bells and whistles.

Test your designs on users to get instant feedback by what they click. When Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer was at Google she was famous for testing every single design element, including 40 shades of blue, to see which shade made users click the most. This decision reportedly generated the company an additional $200M in revenue. In 2013, at Yahoo Mayer tested a new logo every day for 30 days before she unveiled the current company logo.

Become a master of keywords

Find out what keywords people are searching for in your industry and include them throughout your content. Unfortunately Google's free analytics tool no longer provides keyword data for organic search. Good alternatives include Google's keyword tool, but you'll need an AdWords account to access it. Or grab data from Google webmaster tools to see what keywords people are using to find your site.

Google has also created a series of tools to help you monitor and measure the search queries people use to find your site, including one that displays the keywords Google sees in your content. Keywords make a page easier to scan, and using the right ones will seriously boost your online visibility.

Another thing to note about keywords is they should be used naturally – not stuffed in as an afterthought – and be included in your titles, headings and even in your secondary links. Dropping keywords into your content just for the sake of it will most likely reduce the number of people who engage with your content, as it will be perceived as overly advertorial and not genuine.

Keep it fresh

Remember the E-A-T principle we mentioned earlier? These last few tips will help you apply it and reap the benefits.

Update your website, blogs and online profiles regularly so that there is always a reason to stop by. Comment on news related to your industry, share interesting articles and keep people up to date with your business by highlighting your latest moves, reports and results – tell us all about those star team members of yours and if you win an award, by all means make it known. Also consider offering tips to customers for ways to get more out of your products or services and make sure to share the stories of some of your best clients – testimonials are pure gold when it comes to online advertising.

Additionally, using appointment reminder software can help you streamline scheduling for customer consultations or services, ensuring that your updates are paired with actionable steps to engage directly with your audience. You can also consider using a LinkedIn email extractor for B2B outreach. This allows you to efficiently collect verified leads and build targeted campaigns based on professional connections.

Be seen in the right places

Find out which social media platforms are most relevant to your target audience and join those that work well with your business. Facebook and Google+ are the places to be for technical and engineering businesses, LinkedIn for B2B and corporates, Pinterest and Instagram are great for image-friendly businesses; and Twitter is ideal for fast changing businesses such as SaaS (Software as a Service), marketing, news and sports.

You don't have to be on every social platform. Be guided by the social network your audience hangs out in AND uses for advice and referrals, and start to build a community there. Look for opportunities to guest blog on popular sites, make appearances at relevant industry events, and get listed on respected industry directories – especially those where your competitors are.

Share your story

Tell us how you started out, what challenges you overcame, and the things you learned along the way. Include pictures of your younger self or early versions of your brand, even if they are a little embarrassing. The idea is to make your brand as personable and "real" as possible. Focus on a few main points, include details that aren't already known and don't be afraid to use humor. A good business story should not only entertain and educate, it should show the human side of your business and make it easier to relate to.

If you are ever going to compete with the big brands in your industry, your online visibility is vital. Make sure that you aren't just visible online, but that people will be glad they found you.

Want More?

Need more insight into how to make the most out of your business? Maybe these articles can help:

How to Make Your Business Blog Shine

3 Easy Ways to Get a Standout Homepage

Is Marketing Losing Its Magic with Big Data?

Written by Jo Sabin on Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Jo Sabin is Head of Designer Community at DesignCrowd. She's led the company's public relations and social media programs since 2012. With more than ten years' experience working with Australian and international tech startups in the creative industries, Jo has been instrumental in meeting DesignCrowd's objectives in Australia and abroad. Get in touch via Twitter.