Go Miles into Your Online Business with These Easy Steps

Wisdom Nuggets to Spur Your Business Further

The growth in population that is being witnessed across the globe has led to various phenomena occurring. These are not only negative as usually portrayed but there are positive aspects to this commonly unwelcome news. Like the two sides of a coin, the growth in human numbers has brought inequality especially in employment, but in the same vein, more people are now venturing into business. It is said that the word risk appears in the definition of an entrepreneur, but as with nature, there are ways to balance that out. Today with technology, it is easier to get a business up and going and the model of online businesses in being rapidly adopted by numerous entrepreneurs.

Blog and Website

Every minute of every day, someone is out there searching for something; the first thing to do to promote a business is to create a website about it. Though it might require little professional help to set up, running websites is now cheap, and with templates available, it is a quick thing to achieve. It does not have to fancy or complicated, remember people go online to save time, make it classy but simple. Having a website or a blog is not enough; constantly update it with a post containing keywords that apply to the goods or services you’re offering. Customers looking for you will search using these keywords and thus automatically drawn to your site. Showcasing your USPs (Unique Selling Point) of your services can benefit in converting your visitors into customers. You can display your happy customers reviews like Youi’s service page and boost your online presence.

Social Media

More than half the world’s population is online. That statement in itself is enough reason why your business should have an online presence and not just a website either. Fresh graduates, professionals, and organizations now refer to your online presence when dealing with you. Sites that specialize in networking have come up and with these; you can create a profile sort of like a resume’ for your business which people can find when they search for your products. Twitter and Facebook allow for businesses to create groups or pages in which you can engage you clients one on one in real time. As friends share and retweet about your business, its traffic increases with every share. Though it may sometimes not translate into financial gain, it helps to advertise your business further.

It is proven that videos have more impact on people and more likely to elicit a reaction from the viewer. With cameras now being installed on almost any device, creating short videos has never been easier and this one needs no professional assistance. Linking a YouTube channel to your business is a worthwhile idea, or you could create funny clips and advertise with this on social media. The advantage of using a YouTube channel is that it allows you to leave video replies. This is where you comment on other people’s videos with your own, but there is a trick to it; don’t go for those with very high or very low views, you will either get lost in the crowd, or you won’t reach the targeted market. The videos you reply to have to be relevant to yours and your business.

Remember Hyperlinks

When working on a document on any operating system, there is always a way to link text to other places for either more information or similar articles. Today some sites specialize in news, and especially articles contributed by anyone. These sites allow you to write articles about various subjects and these are categorized to accommodate everything. Contributing to these sites increase the traffic that flows in your direction, one such site is known as Street Articles. Using sites like these, you can link keywords to your website and draw more clients. Use catchy and easy to relate titles to draw attention then write on the products or services you offer but DO NOT sound too promotional. Here it might also be wise to use crowdsourcing, meaning you do not have to write the articles yourself.

To stand out on searches, you can run a pay-per-click campaign on either Google Adwords or Microsoft adCenter. Pay-per-click means that you pay for each click on your ads thus temporarily raises your visibility on the Google and Bing search engine respectively. This might seem expensive but it the results are almost always worth the investment. There is also the reverse of this, instead of paying to advertise, you get paid to do the same. You can allow certain parties to advertise on your website and you can carry adverts from Google, Amazon or eBay, and you get paid a commission as per the terms of your agreement. To get generate free PR, you could interact with the media by offering consultations on queries concerning your industry, registering on Help A Reporter Out (HARO) allows to interact with various media houses and you get mentioned in publications for your contributions.

Email Marketing

Every person with a Smartphone has an email. Most people check their emails regularly; this means there a global market waiting for you to reach them. The first trick is to make sure your emails do not get relegated to the spam folder. Do not flood your clients’ inbox; emails should be discreet and engaging to draw any palatable response. Have an opt-in option on your website and send regular emails to clients, start a newsletter and conduct surveys to check your popularity and get feedback on your products and services. Create a catchy email signature, include various media such as images, videos, and allow social media sharing in the emails.

Creating forums, Q&A sites and networking other complementary business is also another way you can push your presence online and creating brand awareness. Email handlers, Google (Gmail), Microsoft (Hotmail/Rocketmail) and Yahoo have communities where you can promote your business by holding workshops, how to guides and you can offer incentives for loyalty and likes or followers.

The latest innovation being employed by almost every online business is the creation of apps. These run on various platforms and allow for automation of various tasks. This not only means you will hire fewer people, but it also enhances the client’s experience.