There are millions of small businesses that have yet to develop any sophisticated web presence. Among the reasons given, a lack of a globalized audience, no money or no knowledge are common excuses. The reality of the situation is that social media does not have to be complex, expensive or targeted to a large audience. There are plenty of success stories out there of local businesses that have used social media to their advantage. If you currently have wondered what needs to be done in order to jump-start your social media presence or simply do not know where to begin, then continue reading to find out about three simple tips designed to put you on the local map.

Establish Your Profiles

While many small businesses may wish to tinker with different social media platforms in order to reach a specific audience, there are four main social networks that you cannot avoid: Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and LinkedIn. Each serve a particular purpose and complement one another very well. After you have established your four social media profiles, you can then proceed to link two or more of them together in order to save time whenever you post the same or similar posts to each one. All of these updates and social signals will be pinging to Google and other major search engines, which will help further associate your brand with local searches that pertain to your products or services.

Content Creation

In order to have a successful social media presence, you must produce both a consistent amount of content and content that is valued. Your readers and customers will want to see content that is informative, creative, persuading and useful. From online promotions to infographics about your industry, you can encourage readers and followers to interact more with your brand. Many businesses also interact with other causes and projects within the community in order to build a sense of trust and belonging. You do not have to create an immaculate image or video each time you wish to make a post, but quality and multimedia rich content has a place in social media; your success will rely upon it.

Adjust Your Focus

Once you have consistently utilized all four social media platforms for several months, you can then begin to get an idea of which ones are more valuable in terms of time and effort. For instance, metrics and analytics on your website will show you which platforms have directed the most traffic to your website, while the number of followers and likes can give you an idea of which platforms receive the most traffic themselves. Since you are pinging to Google Search in the hopes of increased exposure, it only makes sense to focus on the most popular and prominent social media platforms. You should not, however, abandon any of these four social media networks.

When starting social media from scratch, there really are only three important tips to remember. You want to be prevalent on all major social media hubs, create consistent content that is desirable and useful to your readers and adjust your focus after a few months to focus on the social media networks that are the most popular venues for your brand.