The ability to make a healthy income from the comfort of home is unmatched in terms of convenience. The competition of online businesses is intense due to this convenience and the financial potential if the business is a success. Businesses that are run online can vary from digital marketing services to eCommerce.
Taking the business to new heights is going to take a targeted approach. Small improvements consistently can lead to immense increases in annual revenue.
Growth should be taken slowly instead of forcing growth and lowering the quality of a product/service. The following are tips to take your online business to new heights.
1] Design the Website with Goals in Mind
The website is going to be the first impression that most people have of a business whether it is based online or not. The design of the website should align with the goals of the website. A certain company could sell directly off of the website while another uses the website to create leads to sell services.
Setting these goals before a redesign of the website can allow for optimum results. There can be more than one goal set as different pages will have different goals.
The "About Us" page should be used to help humanize the company to the website visitor. Plenty of consumers want to support smaller businesses and work with them due to increased customer experience.
An online trainer is going to want to speak directly with a potential client. The ability to set meeting times and dates for a video conference or telephone call will be the priority.
The wrong design can lead to reduced leads and meetings set to express interest in working together. Online businesses need to make the website convert in order to help maximize revenue.
2] Make SEO a Priority
SEO or search engine optimization has to be a focus for an online business. Products or services listed that correlate with certain keywords showing up at the top of search results will maximize organic traffic. Content marketing and SEO are related as the right piece of content can create backlinks for a company website.
Looking into digital marketing freelancers can provide the most value for your dollar. Enlisting the help of a large digital marketing agency might not be in the budget at the current time.
Identifying keywords that are searched to purchase products will allow a company to target these keywords when link building. The one aspect to watch out for is paying for links that look inorganic. Google penalizes websites regularly so a piece of content put on a website made just to build links will do more harm than good.
3] The Checkout Process Should be Seamless
Anyone that has worked in eCommerce understands the importance of an easy checkout process. You need to keep the checkout process simple yet secure. Leaking information can lead to a PR nightmare for a company regardless of size and lost customers due to the breach.
Amazon has a great example of a checkout process that is not only intuitive but also extremely easy for repeat customers. Automated populating of certain details like address can make it far easier for those purchasing on a mobile device.
In today's world, it is imperative to optimize for mobile devices of all types in order to allow all customers in your target demographic to purchase easily.
4] Take a Look at What Competitors are Doing
Taking a look at what direct competitors are doing in terms of marketing/advertising is important. This can show you what not to do or something that you might need to change in your online business approach. Finding backlink opportunities is a great example by viewing what competitors are doing.
You might see they are buying links on terrible quality sites without any organic traffic. Knowing what the competitors are doing can reassure you that you are taking the right approach.
5] Meet with Huge Clients/Buyers in Person to Negotiate a Long-Term Deal
Meeting with huge clients should be done in order to maintain a great working relationship. Allowing a business travel management company to book the trip can help reduce your overall workload. The last thing that you want to do is to book a subpar accommodation.
This can impact your ability to travel throughout a city due to traffic/lack of public transportation. Entertaining clients can be the touch that allows them to get to know you personally. Taking out a client to a nice dinner will more than pay for itself in overall revenue if a new deal is signed.
As you can see the small details in business can make a huge difference. Doing an assessment of where the business can be grown is extremely important.
Do not modify areas that are doing well but rather focus on the struggling aspects of the business to start out. Put together an actionable to implement in order to start growing your online business today!
