Getting Your Small Business Online: A Guide

During the pandemic, hundreds of businesses found themselves without the usual footfall that keeps their sales steady and their business in profit. Many struggled to find extra funds to pay their bills and rent and, because of this, sought new ways to do business in a rapidly changing world. Perhaps the smartest of these options was to take their business online, creating a webspace through which they could sell in the absence of physical customers. If your business is yet to digitize and head online, but you’re keen to avoid future disruption to your sales, this guide is written with you in mind.

Website

The fundamental digital asset you’ll want to develop as a business is a website. You may well already have social media, through which you share updates on your store and stories to your customers. You could even have a mailing list, which helps you stay in touch with customers who give you their email addresses. However, a website will be your real home on the internet, and it’s where you can have complete control over sales you make online.

Building a website for your business can be difficult if you have no experience in web design and architecture. Poorly designed websites tend to draw in very little traffic, which can leave you out of pocket and with an ineffective digital asset. As such, it’s wise to secure website design services from an experienced agency, which can build your business website for you.

Selling Online

With your website built, you’ll be able to start selling online. Your entire website should be built around your sales pages, especially if you’re a vendor of goods. Product listings will feature prominently on any website optimized for sales. When consumers fill a cart and head towards checkout, you’ll want them to be able to pay in several different ways – entering their card details or with their preferred digital payment system.

If you’re selling services, your website will look slightly different. You’ll be more interested in providing information and reviews of those services and contact or booking information for consumers to get in touch or secure those services fast. Here, you’ll want a website that helps visitors contact you via various means: email, phone, and website form. And the key to success will be replying and booking in fast.

Other Options

As well as a website, there are plenty of other ways to expand your presence online and secure more business for your firm. One of them is to use social media – sharing your products and services with those who follow or like your pages. Another is to share your products on Shopify and Amazon – leading online retailers which help you quickly build a store to advertise your wares.

Further, if you’re looking to expand your reach and traffic online, consider asking customers to leave a review with your website or services on Google, get listed on Google Maps, and work on methods to improve your SEO, which helps consumers find you when they key search terms into Google.

Getting online as a business is easy – you’ll just need to follow the steps outlined above.