During the initial stages of getting my business online and having to deal with a raging pandemic, things weren’t rosy. My dropshipping business model was rock solid, but getting the idea out seemed to take forever. But when I resolved to take practical steps to getting my storefront online, it became less challenging.
How to Get Your Business Online
Get a domain name
Select a domain name that suits your business. Choose a domain name that’s the same with your offline business if you already have a brick-and-mortar storefront. Domain names are relatively cheap, and several of these entities are available for less than $20.
A domain marketing platform has several unused names you can select from; pick the best name for your business. As a business, try to select a domain name that ends with .com, .uk, or .ca, and avoid complex additions. Numbers and special characters should never be a part of your online business.
Construct a website
After registering the domain name, you can go ahead to build your own website. Your website’s architecture should depend on your product offerings. Several ecommerce platforms also provide users a platform to create their own website from ground up.
Design the website
Designing a website is different from creating one. Your website shouldn’t go online with default settings; you need to design it to reflect your business. Ensure you make the following alterations to your default website:
- Change the logo
- Switch background, navigation pane, font to your preferred options
- Prepare your landing pages and other sections of the website to feature content
- Include links to your social media handles (at the top and bottom of pages)
- Set up a sign-up form link or pop-up window
Making these critical designs ensure you can get your business online with a custom feel to your website.
Sort out your product offerings
It’s clear that you already know what goods to sell or service to offer. Make them available on your site.
Finalize all legal requirements
Any legal aspect of setting up your website should be settled. Ensure you get all the proper documentation like a DBA license, EIN, HOP (for home workers), and more. What you may need to register for varies by state, so check what applies to your business before signing up.
Add information to your webpages
Include essential content to drive your online presence on important pages. Your homepage, About Us, Products, Contact Us, and Refunds/Returns pages should contain ample information.
Organize payments
Your site should have a well-defined, functional payment system to receive cash transfers for orders.
Go public with your transition
Get the word out about your business through social media, influencers, paid ads, and other avenues. Publicity to your business will surely direct more traffic to your interest.
4 Other Options to Get Your Business Online
YouTube
If you sell products that need to get more publicity through various media, consider using YouTube. Videos posted on YouTube provide your business a platform to inspire, inform, and entertain your consumers.
People tend to visit YouTube for entertainment or to seek useful information. When your business has an active presence on YouTube, it becomes easy to reach new consumers. Apart from being a massive ad tool, YouTube can also convince your consumers to make more sales.
Signing up on YouTube is easy, especially when you already have a Google account. After creating your YouTube channel, proceed to add the following information:
- Your logo,
- Landing page banner, and
- Business name
Create videos your subscribers will find relevant and that makes quick work of introducing your business. As a business, your first videos should contain:
- Information about your brand
- Your product or service range
- Why your business is better than that of competitors
YouTube provides a platform for your business to grow organic leads, boosting traffic to your online store with ease. Content to be posted on your channel can be a group effort if collaborators are on your team. And here’s the most interesting part – having a thriving presence on YouTube can be sustained with a tiny budget.
Mobile Apps
Apart from a YouTube channel, your business could thrive with a well-launched mobile app. Some mobile apps provide businesses the opportunity to pinpoint their services toward a fraction of consumers. Bonuses, special offers, and more freebies can be launched from your app to make access easy for your subscribers.
Google Maps and Search Listings
Reaching out to customers in your locale should be the focus of your online business campaign. And apart from covering the target market around your vicinity, tools like Google Maps and Search are indispensable.
After setting up your business profile, the next step involves making your interest discoverable. Include the following information on your business profile to make it more visible:
- Information about your business (the name of your business, and what it offers)
- Opening and closing hours (along with opening days)
- Phone number
- Images of your business
- Contact/walk-in address
- Reviews
If you have a storefront, adding such information could thicken your bottom line to a level you never imagined.
Social Media
The advent of social media has made it possible for small businesses to thrive online, sometimes, even without a website. Social media platforms provide businesses an avenue to interact directly with customers in a better form than other channels.
You can easily post instant updates about your business and see it get a massive reach across platforms. However, a thriving social media channel for businesses doesn’t work by wishful thinking. Time, content, and customer service investments are essential to the success of a business’ social media page.
Final Thoughts
After understanding critical aspects of getting my business online, it became almost a walkover throughout. Offline businesses let the untapped potential of being online go to waste. Getting your business online can attract more customers, helping you bring in more revenue.
And most of your competitors will surely have embraced being online. If you don’t get on the train soon enough, your business could be left far behind and may not recover quickly. Engaging customers on the internet with an ecommerce platform gives your business much-needed online bite.
Digital marketing campaigns will be incomplete without the express support of an online presence. Use the information gathered in this piece to your advantage. Getting more from your business interests will be more comfortable when you do.
