Your small business’s online presence shouldn’t just look pretty. Just like every other part of your operation, it needs to generate revenue.

For almost a decade, Brockton Creative Group has helped companies of all sizes do just that. The agency’s team of content experts, designers, programmers, strategists and social media specialists develops campaigns that have delivered impressive results for clients.

How does your online presence stack up? And if it isn’t working like it should, what’s holding it back?

Brock Stechman, the founder of Brockton Creative Group, and Tim McCoy, the agency’s president, talk about some of the most common mistakes that small businesses make in their online marketing.

What’s the biggest mistake that small businesses make when it comes to online marketing?

McCoy: The biggest mistake a small business can make is to start their online marketing efforts without having a well-planned strategy and a solid foundation in place.

And a key piece to building a strong digital foundation is to have an effective website. Most of your online marketing efforts should be to drive inbound leads to your website. A very common mistake small businesses make is that they spend a lot of money on a new marketing campaign without having a good affordable website design in place first. A great website will help convert potential leads and track and improve the campaign’s effectiveness. The day of the “brochure website” is dead. In fact, it died a long time ago because of its ineffectiveness in converting leads to sales.

As a small business, try considering your website as an employee—more specifically a customer service rep. Now, how is it doing? How do you evaluate its effectiveness in its role? Heck, what is its role? Do you get complaints from customers? Any compliments lately? Does your website speak the same message as your new marketing or advertising campaign, or is it sending mixed messages? When’s the last time your website closed a sale?

Now that you’ve answered those questions about your employee of “so many” years—should you fire your website?

Why do small businesses need to take their online strategy more seriously? What are the potential benefits?

Stechman: Brand awareness—I think it’s safe to say that all of your readers understand the ability to reach exponentially more potential customers than ever before. The more (good) content you publish online, the more brand awareness and recognition you will gain. It’s that simple!

Brand reputation: In the new digital era, it’s become a very small world. And as weird as it sounds, the Web can feel even smaller if bad things are being said about you or your brand. Ensure your online reputation is intact and that you are managing your brand’s voice online instead of someone else (like a competitor, for instance).

Lead generation: Getting eyeballs on your brand, product or service from a new potential client is one thing, but finding out they are actually interested in purchasing from you is another—that makes your marketing actionable and turns it into a potential sale. We work with some companies who get over 50 percent of their leads through Twitter. It may not be the right online space for you, but then again …

Customer engagement: Having an effective online strategy enables small businesses to compete with the “big boys” and greatly expand their presence and reach. It’s now easier than ever to efficiently and inexpensively engage with potential prospects, partners, suppliers and others across the globe. Use your online presence to, answer questions, ask questions and build trust. Ultimately, be a resource to lead that potential client into your sales funnel. And if they’re already a customer, nurture them and keep them happy.

Sales: Managing your online presence effectively is like having an extra sales rep. If you have great content on your website, and it can answer questions about your products and services, a lot of times customers will have already decided to buy by the time they call you. And if you have e-commerce, not only are you putting more prospects into your funnel, you are closing deals directly and doing nothing else but listening to the cash register “cha-ching”!

How often should a small business revisit (or revamp) its website? Why is that a good idea?

McCoy: Our clients who have the most success in generating leads or increasing customer engagement are fine-tuning their website and adding new content constantly. We know this sounds daunting, but it doesn’t have to be with a well-defined strategy.

In fact, if you continually update your site to improve its functionality, then it is not as overwhelming and takes much less time than trying to do major overhauls all at once. If you dedicate time to update your website on a scheduled basis, then it starts to become a habit and part of your regular business activities.

For more information about Brockton Creative Group, visit www.brocktoncg.com.