In today’s technological age, businesses are forced to keep up with the times and introduce their products and services to a wider audience in order to survive. With the online shopping trend skyrocketing (particularly since the outbreak of the pandemic), many businesses have been forced to make the transition to the e-commerce world. With some dedication and careful planning, this shift could transform your small, local business into a well-known brand.
If you are brand-new to the world of online business and keen to know where to start, this guide will provide you with some helpful tips for keeping your business running smoothly:
1. Hire IT support
Have you ever considered what may go wrong if your online business were to suffer an IT malfunction or worse – a cyber-attack? When your IT systems crash, this can not only cause havoc for your in-house operations but also wastes valuable time during the working day. By hiring IT Support, you have the peace of mind that you are always protected against severe cybercrime activity, including phishing attacks, fraudulent activity, and data breaches. Additionally, this service helps you establish clearer communication with customers through the configuration of email addresses, phone numbers, and video web links. If you have very limited experience with technical operations, IT business support can monitor and rectify any issues within your tech infrastructure and improve functions for greater daily efficiency.
2. Protect your online reputation
One small error made online can harm your business’ reputation on a global scale. This could include making offensive comments or having a public disagreement with a customer on social media. Public image is essential in the online business world, so it’s essential to make the best impression possible to secure and retain customers.
Be sure to educate employees on the importance of brand reputation through a professional training course. Essentially, your staff acts as the face of your brand, so they must be updated on company guidelines to retain consistency within your corporation.
3. Make your contact information noticeable
As you don’t have a physical store for customers to visit, making your contact details noticeable is crucial to online business success. If customers struggle to get in touch when they require help or advice while making a purchase, it only takes a matter of seconds for them to back-click off your website and find a competitor. In turn, you could lose out on a significant number of sales.
It is always a good idea to have a ‘contact’ page on your website that includes various methods of contact, including a business email address and phone number. Alternatively, you could ask customers to fill out a contact form so you can assist with their queries straight away.
4. Foster professional relationships
Keeping a business running isn’t just reliant on finding new customers – it is also about connecting with your professional network. Those in your business circle are often a key piece of the puzzle when it comes to online growth. Keep in touch with those who offered you help and advice in the early days and gave you a stepping stone to get your business up and running. In doing so, you are not only showing gratitude for their kindness but benefits you by ensuring you stay top of mind if ever relevant business opportunities came up that could be passed your way.
5. Get traffic from search engines
One of the biggest hurdles for online businesses is staying at the top of search engine results to gain organic traffic. Failure to do so may mean being overlooked in an overcrowded market. The method to online success is the use of SEO (search engine optimization) strategies. Google uses a set of guidelines to determine how websites are ranked. The search engine commonly promotes websites that contain relevant content, strong backlinks, and easy navigation.
Some of the aspects that can impact SEO include the number of keywords used, URL structure, image and video usage, and the article title.
6. Understand your competition
While you may be used to contending with businesses in a local area, you now have a world of competition at your feet and you simply can’t afford to get left behind. Therefore, it’s important to know exactly who your competitors are and how you can encourage customers to choose you. Do some research to determine the strategies they are using that are helping to establish them as industry leaders, as well as any potential aspects that could be improved upon.
