Taking your business online offers a lot of opportunities, but with so many options, it's easy to spin your wheels and lose focus. Setting specific goals can help as you begin to navigate the digital world.
Let’s take a look at all the options for launching your business online:
- Local listings
- Social media and video
- Websites and mobile apps
There are many options when it comes to using digital tools, and technology is always changing. Websites and social media can be used to reach existing and potential customers. You can use these channels to get your messages to as many people as possible. Using emails and apps, you can choose who gets which message and when. So when you want to reward regular customers or gather feedback, an app or an email will do the job. A map could help new customers find your business.
Search engine marketing (SEM) is different to search engine optimisation (SEO). In SEM, the business pays to enter an auction. They then bid for advertising space on a website, and whoever wins gets to show their search ad. Tagging keywords within your content could increase the chance of your website appearing higher up in search engine rankings. This is called search engine optimisation (SEO) and is a free way for Hamish to reach more potential customers.
Analytics can tell you a lot of things about how people interact with his website, like which parts are popular and where the user is coming from. But without asking the user, analytics can't find out if there is anything specific they don't like.
Using this data, users can draw conclusions and then adapt his approach. For example, if lots of people access his site from a mobile device, he could make sure his website is responsive, or launch mobile-friendly display ads.
From websites to local listings, mobile apps to social media, there are lots of ways to be found online. If a website is the best fit for your goals, you'll need to have a basic grasp of how they work. Even more importantly, having design and usability best practices under your belt will help you build a website that tells your story well, and allow your customers to find what they need.