There are some SMBs who are still catching up to the online world. This is how to explain the benefits of online to someone who’s not there yet.
Last week I had a very unique experience at a family gathering. My partner and I spent time wining and dining with the extended clan – and somewhere between relishing in the homemade osso bucco, devouring the citrus flan and sipping on sparkling wine, his Mother (Jen, my mother-in-law for all intents and purposes) got talking business with me.
As a marketing professional working in an IT services business, I often get asked rather surprising questions including, “Oh so what exactly is hosting?” or “How do you actually put information onto the internet.” For a retired 55 year old looking to sell cushions and homewares online – she had the simplified idea that if you build it, they will come.
By now most of you (we hope) are reading this thinking, she has no idea. This was no insult to my mother-in-law. Jen is as sharp as a tack. Throughout her career she has successfully run a SMB with over 50 staff and has no use or time for muddled thinking. I can easily imagine her reading my article with a frown, then looking at me quizzically and saying, “What exactly are you trying to say here?”
One must remember that online shopping has grown over the last two decades and so have user needs and expectations, related to the online shopping experience. Actually setting up shop online is the easy part (and it is by no means simple), but getting your customer there and creating an experience that satisfies target users is a different story altogether.
So here are my top three tips to starting an online business (for Jen and others like her):
- 1. Build your site so they will come
One of the most important points I can never stress enough is be found first. You can build a beautiful, visually appealing website, but if visitors cannot find you – what is the point?
Use a combination of online and offline tactics; a content management system (CMS) for your site, run analytics tools and take advantage of available channels to get your target market to your business.
Analytics tools from the major search engines are mostly free and will show you how users are actually coming to your website and what they are doing when they get there. With the information you gather, you can make edits to your site and enhance the things you are getting right with your CMS.
If you are just starting out, make sure to investigate the best low cost channels to support your business. For Jen it was to get on Pintrest, set up a Facebook and start engaging in forums which may help to boost your business and increase traffic to your site in the long term. Make sure your site links back to your associated online activity.
- 2. Create a memorable name and register everything!
Creating a short, intuitive, and memorable web address that matches the business name is probably one of the steepest uphill battles you will face in the beginning – do not discount its importance. Avoid creating something long that most customers cannot find for example, jenshomewareandcushionsstore.com, and make sure you secure alternate spellings like jenshome.com, jenshoem.com and gens-home, just in case potential customers misspell your name.
Don’t forget at the time of registering your domain name that you also need a Twitter handle, Facebook address and everything in between. Even Google Plus has started rolling out unique addresses, so get yours quick.
- 3. Worry more about navigation and ease of use than aesthetics.
Looks matter but navigation and user experience matter more. Let’s not kid ourselves though, you can’t keep attention if your site looks similar to the MS-DOS screen from the 80’s, however – if you ignore usability, you will have lost the visitors long before they become customers.
Creating a professional-looking website is easier these days with the right help, so get the basics right and then focus on how a visitor finds a product, buys a product, and becomes a regular.
Once your design and navigations are set, building confidence and trust in visitors is crucial. Make sure to prominently display clear policies, trust certificates, security badges and contact information so that a customer will not feel wary putting their credit card details and personal information on your site.
In the end Jen and I worked out a “Sunday dinner for online tips” exchange program and we are in the midst of giving her latest venture a go. The best decision she made was to ask someone who lives and breathes this stuff for advice in the first instance. I give her major kudos for that and encourage anyone in her position to do the same. Good, honest advice is the best starting point and it only cost her a home cooked meal!
