For the longest time, it was quite OK to just have a website as a brochure. People would check to see if you have a website because it provided some sort of level of authority or that you spared no expense to be visible online.

That is different today. There are millions of websites out there and you have mere seconds, if that, to compel your visitors once they are attracted.

You need more than an online brochure, you need a traffic generating, viral, interactive tool for yourself and your visitors. That's a web presence!

What do YOU HAVE vs. what do YOU NEED?

We've done some research in the area of Professionals (Dentists, Lawyers, Doctors, Optometrists, Consultants, etc) and found that a high percentage don't even have a website and many of those who do, have template websites with lots of stock photography that look like templates, or are old-fashioned brochure sites, with search engine stealthing iframes and outdated navigation.  

What's even scarier is that many of those who have sites, have spent a lot of money on a brochure site that looks pretty but has no "stickyness" or "dynamicness" to it, thus is pretty useless in today's environment where you need a presence versus a brochure.

So, what is the difference between being present online and having an online presence?

You are present online when

• you have a website

You have an online presence when

• you have a website that attracts visitors
• keeps them coming back
• and they tell others about it
• search engines can find you and put you on the first couple of pages for keywords that your customers would use to find you
• your site is authentic, e.g. reflects YOU and your business

What do you need to establish your online presence

• a fast loading website (no distracting animation)
• rich, authentic, and dynamic content (content that reflects you and your business, changes periodically, and is engaging)
• interactive features (signups for information, free products; contact forms; voting and commenting opportunities; surveys; etc.)
• traffic generation strategies (PPC, backlinking, external blogging, online and physical networking)
• integration of various types of offline and online marketing strategies and reputation management
• something that distinguishes your site (or company/persona) from your competitors'
• Search Engine friendly site features (A solid SEO Strategy)
• care and feed of your site (tracking of visitors and campaigns, updates, split testing, SEO updates/adjustments, etc.)

To implement all that you need some good tools and a nimble webmaster who keeps up with trends, tools, and you and your business.

Check us out at ProSuccessOnline where we outline our services for our web presence clients. We provide turn-key websites and web presence features for our clients who don't currently have a site or need a complete re-do and upgrades for those who already have a working site they like.

Oh, and go to www.seo-browser.com to see what search engines see when they spider your site. It could be good, bad, or ugly.