In 2019, it is essential that your business has an online presence. In the United States, ecommerce makes up 14.3 percent of all retail sales – or over $500 billion.
This is a huge market that you are leaving untapped if you don’t sell (or at least advertise!) online. Fortunately, there are tons of services and platforms that can teach you how to get your business online, so that you easily create a website so that you can begin selling your products and services to a digital audience.
How to Get Your Business Online
Getting your business online is a straightforward process. You need to find a web host, who will also sell you your domain name. You’ll want to pick something simple and easy to find. Acme Business having a website like “acme.com” or “acmebusiness.com” is a good example.
You can and should search around to compare different hosting companies. GoDaddy and WebGator are just two of the many available examples, and each will give you a different quote.
Once you have purchased your domain name and secured web hosting, have to actually build your website. There are tons of platforms out there that are relatively easy to use, like WordPress or Wix, which require no formal coding knowledge. However, for best results, it’s usually better to hire someone to handle this for you.
This useful page, for instance, outlines what you can expect from an all-inclusive web consulting service. Having a third-party group of experts take care of your web design, hosting, and updating keeps things simple, and lets you focus on doing your job instead of learning someone else’s.
Benefits of a Digital Presence for your Business
Before you begin the process of putting your business online, you need to know why it’s worthwhile. There’s no point putting effort into an initiative if it won’t pay off somewhere down the line.
Attract New Customers
The most important benefit of having a website is that it will attract new customers. Depending on what you sell, you can allow customers to order online, opening up markets that you would be otherwise unable to easily reach. How else would you attract a customer in Wisconsin if you were in Texas?
A website also allows you to target customers in your immediate area, if what you offer is limited by borders. For example, a lawyer in Ohio can’t sell their services in New York. This means that you include lots of articles talking about Ohio law, and invest money in online ad platforms that only target a specific part of the state.
Attract New Talent
An often overlooked benefit of having an online presence is that it also attracts more job applicants. Posting openings online and using an online platform to screen applicants can increase your talent pool. This is important both for startups and new businesses that are looking to rapidly scale their operations, and older firms that want to maintain their business relationships and reputation for quality.
Brand Awareness
Another thing to note about having a digital presence is that it will increase brand awareness for your firm and its services. Even people who do not click through to your website will see it pop up now and again while browsing. Simple saturation will make your logo, name, or brand more recognizable to them in the future.
While related to attracting new businesses, you should think of this as a separate benefit that shores up the reputation of your business. If people recognize your name and know that you’ve been around for a while, they’re more likely to see you favorably.
Feedback and Reviews
Your website can also give your customers a forum to provide feedback. You can choose to display testimonials publicly as a form of advertising, or keep it anonymous as a sort of suggestion box.
This is a good way to gain access to valuable market insights. Constant complaints about a specific feature on one of your products, for instance, can help you figure out what needs to be changed. It also allows you to set your priorities: if you have tons of bad reviews about your customer service, while none talk about your pricing, you know where to focus on improving.
A New Communication Channel
In addition to the above points, a website gives your business another chance to speak to the public. Online sites can be used as a way to get news out, in any form. This includes advertising a new product, announcing the opening of a new location, or in a crisis situation, handling a recall and the PR necessary to maintain your public reputation.
Getting Your Business Online is Only Half the Story
Now that you know how to get your business online, keep in mind that a website is not a static page or advertisement. In order to attract new customers, you need to be dynamic in your digital presence. This means constantly posting updates, making use of other digital tools like online ad platforms or social media networks, and encouraging in-person clients to engage with you online, to name just a few examples.
Only by keeping your website and larger digital presence constantly updated will you continue to grow it. Growth of your online presence is a core part of attracting new customers, and their money, to your business.
For more information about developing your business, either in the digital space or in the real world, check out the startup and marketing sections of our blog. There you will find a ton of fresh information that will keep your bottom line in the black.
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