If you have been in business for a long time, you’ll know that you are constantly having to change and adapt your business model and marketing campaigns in order to stay current and up to date with the times. It is a constantly changing environment and if you don’t keep up you will fall behind and soon be out of date and trailing hopelessly in the wake of your competitors. Your customers, especially new ones or the not-yet will pick up on this and very quickly they will want to look elsewhere to find someone more in touch with the world today.
Knowing where to begin is tricky as there seems to be just so much going on and so many options. There are blogs and videos on just about any aspect of doing digital business it is easy to get overwhelmed and not know where to start. Here are a couple of fundamentals that can swiftly get your business into the digital space.
Where will your business live online?
Your domain name or URL is your business digital address. It is where people or customers will go to find you. It is your website and it is where you will keep all the information on your company. You also need to establish a hosting partner who can provide the back-end support, online space, storage and versatility that your site will need to enable your web presence to achieve what you intend it to achieve.
What will you call your business?
At the point of establishing a domain, you will find yourself having to come up with a URL or website name that is easy to remember. Make this easy and simple to spell with no strange hyphens, dashes or strangely spelled words. It is a pain to have to spell your email address or website every time someone asks for it and you can be sure if you’re having to spell it, there is a greater chance it will be spelt incorrectly, or they’ll struggle to remember it.
Often the simple are obvious URLs are already taken but there are companies who buy the domain names and hold on to them for moments like these and you can buy it off them for a fee.
How will people find you?
Once you’re online you need to create pathways that lead people to your website. There are several ways to do this. One way is through what is called search engine optimisation, or SEO. This uses keywords in your website, primarily through articles and blogs, that search engines use to help connect the searcher to the website. Another tool is through social media and newsletters.
By running a social media campaign, advert or competition, people will be exposed to your brand and through clever wording and enticing speak, you should be able to encourage them to click on a link that takes them through to your business page.