Bring Your Small Business Online
Building an online presence from the ground up can be very intimidating for small businesses. Creating a Facebook page and Twitter account and calling it a day just doesn’t cut it in today’s competitive business world. Check out the following points on building an online presence for your own small business.
- Invest in a professional website.
A lot of small businesses have a website but many can be outdated and poorly designed. Your website is a reflection of your business. Therefore, it’s worth it to invest in making it up to date and easy to navigate. Don’t forget to make your website mobile accessible as well. The mobile market is growing with more people visiting websites on their phones and tablets instead of on a desktop or laptop. As a result, it’s important to keep in mind important mobile aspects when designing a client-friendly website. Check out Responsinator. This tool shows how your website looks on different phones and tablets so you know exactly what customers see when visiting your site.
- Be social!
Small businesses should embrace social media such as Facebook andTwitter because it’s a great tool to reach customers directly. Publishing news, running contests, and gaining feedback from customers are just some of the many advantages of social media for businesses of any kind. It’s also an excellent way to keep up-to-date with industry trends allowing you to stay on top of your market segment. Always remember to keep your social accounts updated with fresh content. There’s nothing worse for your customers than providing them with a boring social presence. They will quickly unfriend or unfollow you. And remember, social media doesn’t end at Facebook or Twitter. Check outInstagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr too.
- Maintain a blog with new and exciting content.
Blogging is perfect for keeping your customers in the loop on topics such as sales, deals, events, and much more. You don’t have to bombard your customers with posts everyday. A post once a week is ideal and allows customers to receive fresh content without feeling overwhelmed with too much information.
- Create a LinkedIn presence.
LinkedIn is great for building relationships with other small businesses. There are many professional groups that you can join to find potential business contacts as well as to stay on top of trends happening in your industry. It’s also very useful to connect with potential employees by posting current and future employment opportunities.
- Enable customers to purchase your products online.
Customers are choosing to shop online now more than ever. Depending on the type of business you run, think about setting up an ecommerce site that allows customers to purchase your products online. Take a look at this post about making your ecommerce site customer friendly so that your customers keep coming back for more!
Having an online presence is essential if you want to expand and promote your business. Keep these points in mind when setting out into the exciting online world.
