In two hours and at no cost, you can significantly improve your international online presence. There are a number of international websites that allow small Business owners to build their global presence by leveraging the SEO (search engine optimization) strength and exposure of the sites. By utilizing these sites, your business can quickly rise to the top of the search engine rankings and expand your global exposure.

Start by creating personal and company profiles using keywords and concise descriptions on websites such as Google and LinkedIn. This will increase your international presence and a visitor’s confidence in your business. If you already have profiles on these sites, it’s imperative that you refine them to ensure you are portraying your business and your team in the best manner possible.

Prior to creating your profiles, answer these three questions about you and your business and then utilize the answers in the text and focus of your profiles:

• How would you describe your business in 50 characters or less so anyone you meet in the street would understand what you do?  Write out the answer and this will be the basis for your company description.
• How would you describe an expert in your business field? What skills would they have to give you confidence to work with them? Ensure that your team is conveying those skills to the public via the personal profiles you create.
• What are the 10 words or phrases that people searching for a business similar to yours would use?  These are the keywords you want to use in your profiles.  For example according to Google the most popular searches in the USA for scuba diving in Bonaire is “Bonaire Diving” with 1,300 per month—so that would be a key phrase to use in a company profile.

Google Business is a service that can help you add your business information to Google. This service is especially important for offline businesses since the search results include a description, map, address, website and a link to call the business. With a profile, businesses are able receive reviews from customers which encourages clicks in the search results.  A recent search of “Aruba Car Rental,” for example, features three local businesses as the top results (under the paid ads) and the results includes a website link, phone number and reviews. Jay’s Car Rental, which has a physical “place,” appears higher than the websites of Budget, Thrifty and even Expedia.

For the three websites below, it’s best to create a personal profile for each member of the senior management and also a company profile:

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social network. Creating a company page allows you to create a profile of the company, connect individual profiles to Company positions and attract followers with regular updates. You can have multiple administrators that have posting rights once the page is created.

Create or edit existing personal profiles for the senior management. Under the positions section, ensure each person’s current job links to the same company page. Use the Personal Profile to connect with influencers outside of your country.

AngelList claims to be where the “world meets startups.” It allows the creation of a personal profile and a company profile as well as job postings. Your personal profile includes a 160-character mini-resume, which generally displays in Google search results. The resume can include links to current or past company profiles on the site.

The company profile includes a very concise pitch section, the four markets of your company (ex: financial services and Europe), and a longer product description that can include your keywords and supplemental information, such as website and videos.

Crunchbase allows the world to “discover innovative companies and the people behind them.”  The site claims to receive 2.2 million unique visitors with 37 percent of visitors earning more than US$100,000. The site allows individuals and companies to create profiles.

Other important sites that help to grow your presence are:

Quora is “the best answer to any question.”  Your personal profile as an industry expert will be included in the Google search results for this website. Quora allows you to answer questions posted by other users and for the best answers to be voted on. It’s an excellent way for you to demonstrate expertise and build your presence independent of location. Also each answer builds keywords and search results for you and your business.

Facebook Business Page
Ensure you have a business page and not just a personal page. Your company description should use your keywords, it should be clear how to contact you, and the page should be marked as publicly accessible.

TripAdvisor
If you are in the tourism, it is important to list your business on this site or claim the profile that was automatically created by TripAdvisor.

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