The Internet has empowered a lot of people to start their business wherever they are. You only need the right idea and the tools to start. This is what most people dream of—to be their own boss. However, the initial phase is only the start of your long journey and getting it right in the beginning is the key to your success. Start your online business on the right path with these three tips.
One of the most talked about and heavily debated topic in the digital marketing industry is lead generation. No matter how small your business is, generating leads is an essential aspect of your business. Lead generation is a marketing technique that involves the process of building the interest of a potential lead (customer) towards a product or service.
According to https://www.journalreview.org/—a renowned blog about business and lead generation—an online business needs to generate leads consistently to increase profitability. Here are some simple yet effective ways on how you can do it:
- Add a phone number – Adding a number on your website won’t magically generate leads for you, but it will improve the credibility of your site, which means more people will contact and do business with you.
- Offer something for free – Free items always gets the attention of potential customers, but it has to be something remarkable. For instance, if you have a business that sells baby products, you could offer a downloadable PDF about the benefits of using organic products. Soon-to-be parents will find this useful and will be inclined to download the file. In return, you ask for their contact details like their name and email address.
- Testimonials – Just like adding a phone number on your website, testimonials have the same ability in enhancing your credibility as a business since many potential customers rely on existing reviews from those who have previously experienced your company’s service. Testimonials could be in the form of a text or video. These things are a great way to convince people to do business with you.
- Get social – Going social means that you have access to over 2 billion people who likely have accounts on at least one social media platform. Sign up for social media sites that align with your business. For example, if you’re selling an enterprise level software, your best bet would be LinkedIn. You can also use social media tools like Facebook Ads to target your customers better.
2. Be Searchable
Search engine optimization or SEO is a strategy used by business owners that involves modifying a website’s code and content so that it adheres to search engine standards. When you employ a good SEO strategy, you can benefit from higher rankings on search engine results pages. Optimizing your site is a continuous process, and may sometimes involve hiring an expert. However, there are simple SEO strategies you can start doing today, such as:
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- Know what your keywords are – Keywords are words or phrases that your target audience will probably use when searching on the Internet. For instance, an online business that sells all-natural dog food could use keywords like “healthy dog foods” or “natural dog foods.”
- Avoid keyword stuffing – It’s easy to fall into the trap of using your keywords repeatedly in the hopes of ranking better for it. That kind of practice is counterintuitive. Write naturally and use keywords sparingly. Search engines reward websites that are readable.
- Focus on creating quality content – Create content that is engaging and valuable for your audience. When you write bad content, people will exit your pages more frequently, and over time, search engines will penalize you and rank your site lower.
3. Provide Good Customer Experience
In this age of information, a customer can quickly post a bad experience they’ve had with a business. A good example would be the United Airlines incident in April 2017. A United passenger was dragged out of a plane, and the video recording became viral. This incident resulted in a massive loss of consumer trust, which affected United’s profits. Imagine having this same level of problem for your growing business—how would you recover from it?
Here are more reasons why providing a good customer experience translates to more profits:
- Satisfied customers will buy more – If your customers feel that they’re being taken care of and their needs are attended to promptly, they will have more reasons to continue doing business with you.
- Satisfied customers will rave about you – Customers who have had a good experience with you will find ways to share this experience with others. When this happens frequently, your business will develop a brand identity of being customer-centric.
- Satisfied customers remain loyal – When the time comes and you screw up, these loyal customers will think twice before they leave you for good. More often than not, they’ll stay and won’t mind the mistake.
Conclusion
Nowadays, it’s easy to start an online business, but what’s difficult is trying to stay in business and becoming profitable. Only by having a good start and laying the right foundations can your business be successful. Start by generating leads for your business, make sure people can find you, and most importantly, make use of customer experience as a unique selling proposition.
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