“Raise my online presence” is one of the most common answers to question 1, what do you want to do? But what is an online presence, exactly? Put simply, it’s everything someone finds when they look your business up. For most businesses, that comes down to four places.
1. Your website
Your website is the one place online you fully control. It explains what you do, shows proof that you do it well, and gives people an easy way to get in touch. Social media platforms change their rules and directories come and go, but your website stays yours.
The minimum good version: a clear headline saying what you do and where, a page for each main service, real photos, reviews, and contact details that are easy to find on a phone. Step 6 covers websites in more detail.
2. Your Google Business Profile
When someone searches for your business name, or for something like “electrician near me”, Google often shows a box with business details, a map, photos and reviews. That’s a Google Business Profile. It’s free, and for many local businesses it’s seen more often than the website itself.
The minimum good version: correct name, address or service area, phone number, opening hours, categories, a short description, recent photos and a steady flow of reviews.
3. Your social media profiles
Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok profiles show that your business is active and give people a feel for who you are. Around half of Australian businesses now use social media as part of their online presence, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (51% in 2024–25).
The minimum good version: one or two profiles on the platforms your customers use, with a clear bio, a link to your website, and posts that aren’t years old. An abandoned profile can do more harm than having none. Step 9 covers social media.
4. Your reviews
Reviews are other people vouching for you, which makes them one of the strongest trust signals there is. They appear on your Google Business Profile, Facebook and industry sites, and they increasingly feed the answers AI assistants give (more on that in step 8).
The minimum good version: ask every happy customer for a review, make it easy with a direct link, and reply to every review, good or bad, politely and promptly. Never write fake reviews or offer rewards only for positive ones; in Australia that can break consumer law.
Consistency ties it all together
Make sure your business name, phone number, address or service area, and the services you offer read the same everywhere. Inconsistent details confuse customers, and they make it harder for Google and AI assistants to be confident about who you are.
A 30-minute self-check
- Search your business name on Google. What appears? Is it all correct?
- Search for your service plus your suburb, for example “bookkeeper Parramatta”. Do you appear, and where?
- Open your website on your phone. Can you work out what you do and how to contact you within five seconds?
- Read your five most recent reviews. Have you replied to them?
- Check when you last posted on each social profile.
Write down anything that’s wrong, out of date or missing. That list is your first set of online presence jobs, and fixing it is often the cheapest marketing win available.
Previous step: Who are your customers, and where do they look?
Next step: What makes a website work (it’s not just looking nice)