One of the best ways to increase the number of clients, customers or sales leads you get, is to make sure you are as visible as possible to the right people.

That’s what today’s post is all about. It contains tips and ideas on how to be more visible online and offline!

Where are you?

As regular readers will know, I live in a small village in South Yorkshire, England. We get a lot of tourists all year round, who usually come for a boating or walking holiday. I see tourists pretty much every day at home – yet for the past week, I have been a tourist myself. My family and I have been exploring North East England and South Eastern Scotland.

As a tourist, you see a location very differently. You have little if any local knowledge, so you rely on maps and road signs in order to navigate yourself around. You quickly learn that some places are better signposted than others and that many areas would do a lot more business, if they only realised that they were really hard for tourists to locate.

As business owners, we need to ensure that OUR businesses are easy to find.

If your business relies on people visiting your premises

• Start by making sure that your marketing material contains crystal clear directions on how to locate you.
• Assure people that they are welcome to call you, if they need directions. Very few businesses make a point of saying this in their marketing material, even though almost all of them would happily do it – so be one of the few who actually says it!
• Tip: Test your directions! A great way to see how effective your directions are is to ask someone, who has never previously visited your location, if they can find you using just the directions you send them. Always try and use someone, who matches your client or customer profile.

If your business relies on people being able to find your website

• Start by making sure all your online accounts (Facebook, Twitter, Google+ etc) point to your site. Don’t make any of those social networking sites the focal point of your online presence. Those accounts can be suspended, deleted or rendered useless with a change to their terms and conditions. Build your primary Internet presence on a site you own and control.
• Make sure your emails all contain a link to your website in your email signature.
• Use SEO software, so that your website or blog can have all the core on-site Search Engine Optimisation in place, easily. I use Yoast’s WordPress SEO plugin. A well optimised website or blog will help people find your site, when looking for your specific type of product or service.
• Make your site easy to share. Once someone finds your website, make it easy for them to share it with their friends. Add social sharing buttons like those below this blog post. They allow people to link to your site from their favourite social networks, with just the click of a mouse. If enough people link to your site, you will get the additional benefit of improved SEO.

Don’t take visibility for granted

It’s easy for us to forget how difficult it can be for people to find us. Take the tourists view of finding your business and ensure it’s as visible as possible.