So you have heard and also seen that there is a market online waiting for you to take advantage of. Now you want to take that huge step and bring your business online. How do you go about it?
To make this easier and comprehensive, let’s list the things you would need to do as steps, starting from step one. Note that this article examines how to set up a website for your business and not necessarily a social media account. The importance of online business or having a presence for your business online should not be overlooked. Take that step today and set up a shop for yourself online.
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How to take your business online # Step One
Start with a plan. Like every venture you aim to be successful at, you should also develop a good plan for taking your business online. You would even need a plan all the more if e-commerce is new territory for you. So take a while, do your research and consultations and build a plan. Learn all there is to know, there is no such thing as ‘too much knowledge’. So dig deep and grab all you can.
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How to take your business online # Step Two
Draft up a website name. You don’t have to immediately find the perfect one. You can write down as many as you want. Don’t even try to rush this step. Why? Because whatever name you settle for is going to be part of your business trademark for a really long while. So while choosing a name, think of the feature, think about whether or not the name will still represent your business even if you expand. For example, if you are into the turkey farm now, think about whether or not you may expand to start rearing other kind of livestock. In all, pick the name that you can still proudly bear and that would still adequately represent you ten years from now.
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How to take your business online # Step Three
Find a hosting company that will fulfil all the needs you must have written down in your plan. Some hosting companies give you a package that allows you to build the website to look the way you want it to, plus their hosting services. It would be more effective to find a website that offers a web-hosting and web building package combination. The web host can also take care of your online transactions with customers or clients. You can also get an electronic shopping cart program so that visitors to the site can easily complete transactions online.
How to start a profitable internet business that will make you rich before the end of this year
Now that the website is ready…
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How to take your business online # Step Four
This step is more of an aggregate of all the other things you MUST put in place if you want people revisit your site. They include:
- Make sure your contact information is on the Home Page: In the rush of it all, most people tend to make the devastating mistake of forgetting this. If your contact information is not on the site, most people might flag you down as a fake. And it is most important for it to be on the Homepage because people should not have to hunt for it on the site. Make sure it is legible too.
- Less design, more legibility: Yes, it is important to have a really eye catching website design, but if people cannot read what is on it, it would all be for nothing. To this end, go for more legible fonts rather than flashy fonts.
- Catchy Graphics: Nobody wants to revisit or even spend too much time on a website that has little pictures or dull images. Make sure that every picture on your site are of high resolution and very clear. Especially if the site is for selling products, people should be able to see clearly what they intend to pay money for.
- Do not underestimate site speed: This means you should put everything in place to ensure that your site loads fast. Nobody wants to waste time on a site that takes up to 5 minutes to load a single page. Nobody has that kind of time to waste. Especially if your competitors are offering them a 30 seconds speed page load.
- Make sure the site is user friendly: No one wants to spend time struggling with a site that is packed with frustrating glitches. To keep people coming back to that site, make sure it is user friendly and free of any kind of glitches.
- The site should correlate with your offline business: If what you have offline is different from what you have online, people might think one of them is a fake. To avoid such, make sure what you preach and showcase online is exactly what people will get offline. How? Do not use two different logos or two different motto.
- Make sure your message is concise: In business, it is always advisable to go straight to the point. If anyone stumbles on your site, they should be able to tell at a glance what the site is about. Don’t put content that would have them guessing or confused. Or content that would put you out as confused.
Putting your business online can be one of the best or worst decisions for your business, it all depends on how you go about it. And if you are wondering if the stress would be worth it, be rest assured, there are many benefits of having an online business.
These and many more procedures i learnt far back in my days of autodidact ventures. To be more informed, check out Fifietalkslive archives
