We have to be honest, running a brick and mortar business without some kind of web presence is like hiking Mount Everest without proper gear. You may have the spirit, the strength for it but without the proper gear and supplies, you can only hike up so far before your body just shuts down.
There is good news, building and expanding your business online has never been easier, faster, and affordable. Web development technology has evolved so much that you literally do not need to be a nerd, who lives and breathes programming codes.
Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress, Weebly even Wix have it all very convenient and approachable for all people. You do not need a website developer in Singapore – even your 63-year-old grandma can design (not build) her very own website without knowing a speck of code, literally just a few clicks. The only thing you really need to know are the basics along with battle-proven strategies to skyrocket your business.
Top 8 Best Online eCommerce Business Strategies and Guides:
Here are 8 of our best, step-by-step strategies and guides for successful online businesses.
1: Define The Purpose Behind Your Website
Remember this, control. . . you have 100% control of when a potential customer visits your online business domain. You must understand with this control comes responsibility, just because they visit your website does not mean that you just let them loiter. Remember, due to the age of social media everyone’s attention is like a goldfish. Quick, easy to forget and move on.
You must make it obvious what your company does. What’s your product, service, demographic, etc. Imagine, if it was you browsing for a business that might have something you need because you read/hear/watch something that led you to this website – now imagine, how you would feel if homepage, services, about me… were all confusing and you even make sense of the website even after spending 30 seconds on it.
Remember to always maintain the theme, the control on the entirety of the website; keep it simple, but direct. If you have services to offer, create payment plans, create the ability to purchase online.
2: Keep Your Website Domain Name Simple & Easy
Do me a favor, look at your business name; is it long or short? Is it easy to remember or is it overly complicated with a bunch of fancy acronyms, abbreviations, and numbers? Whether you’re using your actual business name or you’re Doing Business As (DBA), the point is to keep it simple and avoid confusion.
Here’s an example: www.tacobell.com – simple, easy to remember. It’s not called Tricon Global Restaurants business. Its suffix doesn’t end with a .tv, .xyz or .app- it’s just .com (you can also use .biz or .net). And just like in real life, check if someone already has trademarked your desired domain name. You can check and also register your domain name on websites like GoDaddy.com, Namecheap.com, Name.com, Bluehost.com, etc.
3: Suitable Web Host for Your Online Business
A web host is essentially your landlord. But you have more control, you can pick, choose and even refund a hosting plan if you aren’t happy under 30 days (sometimes under 90 days).
Now, if the web host you choose happens to be a website builder (essentially an all-in-one) like Squarespace, Wix, or Webbly — the web hosting is already part of their payment plan. Therefore, they will be a bit more costly than web host providers like BlueHost, SiteGround, and GoDaddy; who only charge you around $4-$9 per month (yes, you read that, right! “$4-$9 per month) to host your website or make your business appear online i.e. searchable. We suggest start with a shared hosting plan, it’s more affordable and you can always upgrade later.
4: Great Websites are Informative
When designing your website, don’t limit its potential by just using a home page. Create more webpages, each webpage should be dedicated to each different aspect of your business; have the following webpages:
- : this is where you create a direct link for your customers, provide all necessary information i.e. contact information, email, and address.
- : included in this webpage is historical information about the staff or founder(s). Mission, vision, values about your business. This is essentially a flyer, full of everything they need to know to find out who you are and what your values are.
- : this is where you place all of your products and/or services, with clear pricing. Possible coupons for discounts and reviews about your products, all with a clear call-to-action.
5: Your Website’s Payment System (Payment Gateway)
Almost all online businesses have a payment system they use for their e-commerce products and/or services; depending on where you are you can use PayPal, Square, Stripe, DragonPal, Payoneer, and a whole lot more. They all essentially provide the same features. You get a free account, in exchange, they will charge a percentage for every financial transaction.
6: Test, Test, Test… Monitor, Monitor, Monitor
As with every business venture, you gotta test before you actually launch into the marketplace by doing this, you ensure that you safely test out your idea without costing you a fortune as well as saving you time and frustration from future customer complaints.
Once, you’ve tested that your website works on all major web browsers i.e. Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. Now, check every webpage and see if all images are showing up, all of your links are correct and your website’s formal all works smoothly.
Now, when your website is live; make sure to always monitor page performance. See if there are any downtimes, how are the speeds, how are your analytics, are the contents you publish catered to the specific demographic that you are targeting.
7: Market Your Website
It’s time to make your target demographic know that you exist whether that’s on social media (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Linkedin, or Twitter) and search engines such as Bing, Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, Yahoo Ads, etc.
Make sure that your promos are genuine, informative, and with a clear call-to-action. Be sure to inter-link all of your social media platforms and your website with one another. Think of it this way, each platform gives you a certain percentage of potential customers.
Now, that’s active marketing. There’s also a more passive (long term) marketing strategy i.e. SEO. To keep it simple, Search Engine Optimization means that your website has very clear information, with very specific keywords for your business e.g. cooking would equal to keywords like chicken recipes, chick broth or your business is real estate then your keywords can be ROI, multi-generational families, etc – meaning you use these specific keywords strategically throughout your website.
8: Stay Current To Potential Website Clients’ Needs
In order for you to be successful online, you must maintain current, relevant information regarding your business’ niche. You must always be up-to-date or else, you will be overtaken by someone more hungry and thirsty than you are. Make sure that all of your tools, plugins, add-ons, software are updated and ready for battle.
If you aren’t updated, both internally meaning your security system isn’t updated, you can be hacked – and externally meaning the latest trends, competitor moves, etc. Keep it fresh, and always moving is the secret to beating your competitors.
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