If you’re looking for a solid strategy that will help you substantially grow your business, then boy do we have an article for you. Online businesses are blooming, and have been for the past recent years. The online world presents hundreds of opportunities to business owners, which would be a shame to not explore.
So, to give you clarity, we’ve decided to help you understand better how to grow your online business. This article will be a lengthy one, so don’t go anywhere.
Contents
1. Choose a Platform
Source: A WP Life
Every online business needs a website, simple as that. With the fast expansion of the World Wide Web, we are getting closer and closer so that every business owner sees the importance of owning a functional website.
But before you even consider starting a website, you need to consider a few things. First off, do you plan on hosting it yourself or do you plan on going with a platform?
If you’re a person that has no knowledge of websites, then the latter will certainly be the better option. Regardless if you have a boutique, a store, a bowling business, or anything else under the sun, a fully functional website is a must-have thing.
So, if you do decide to run with a platform, then you got a few options to choose from.
WordPres.org is definitely the most popular website building platform out there. Its popularity is so huge within the industry that WordPress powers 35% of all websites! While there are certainly other options to go with, WordPress should be the one you should definitely consider due to the wide variety of tools, widgets, and tutorials out there that can help you achieve perfection.
Other notable mentions include Shopify, Wix, Gator, Constant Contract, BigCommerce, Weebly, Squarespace, BoldGrid, and many more.
2. Start Creating Content
Source: fulltic
There is a very justified reason why the phrase “content is king” is so true to the meaning. Anyone that owns an online business should know that there is a very simple way for people to start knowing you, and that is through content.
While that sat content should be marketed, there is a way to lure in visitors by creating high-quality, original, and helpful content for them. The phrase “content is king” has never been more true to the name, as Google and various other search engines are putting more and more emphasis on those websites that create original and high-quality content.
If you’re a complete rookie, content is anything that the viewers can see on their screens. This could be media such as text, graphics, video, and more. The most popular type of content on the World Wide Web is in text form, followed by graphics and last video.
3. Focus on the Design
Source: quantumweb
It goes without saying that a website that looks poor will never attract visitors, and those that do stick around will have a terrible experience.
When it comes to the design of the website, there are many tools that help you achieve perfection. From programming tools such as CSS and JavaScript to readymade themes found on the WordPress plugin store.
However, if you do choose to run with a readymade theme, you should come up with a way so that the theme can complement your business.
According to breakthruweb.com, a website design service that specializes in creating high-quality websites for their customers, the correlation between typography, color, animation, and layout patterns all play a key role in creating the website’s design.
4. Organic Traffic Through SEO
Source: Shutterstock
Remember when we talked about content? Well, another reason that you should focus on it is because of SEO. SEO, for those that don’t know, is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization, and it is the single most important aspect of an online business that helps you gain organic traffic.
Content has a direct correlation with SEO, in a sense that one cannot work without the other. When optimizing the content around your online business, you must do a darn good job to make it SEO friendly. While we can’t get into the specifics about how to do, what you should know is that there aren’t any rules as to what will work specifically for you.
What you should know about SEO is that you will be using keywords related to your content.
For example, if your business specializes in selling dog food in the area of Michigan, some of the keywords that you will be using for your website pages should relate to it. An example of keywords that you could use is Michigan dog food, online dog food, Michigan area dog food, etc.
5. Create a Content Strategy
Source: xantrion
Yeah, creating SEO friendly content is good and all, but what use of it if you don’t have a strategy in place that will organize it? A content strategy is a very important aspect of running an online business. A content strategy is everything from what type of content to create, what to post, where to post it, how to use it, etc.
It is an aspect that helps you build an audience by utilizing all forms of media such as text, graphics, and video.
The best way, however, to organize all of your content so that your readers can browse it is by creating a blog post for your online business. And while once this was an instant red flag for an online business that isn’t a news outlet or entertainment media, it now represents a very viable move.
Almost every large or big corporation has a blog section where readers and visitors can see announcements, news related to the business & industry, and more.
When running an online business, your top priority should be to become a place of interest for many people. You could become the go-to website where your customers can enquire about industry-related things.
If we take the dog food business for an example, you can start a blog and post articles around the topic of dog food such as which is the best one, which ingredients are the best, how much to give, etc. By doing this move, you will not only become a reputable business that helps its customers make the right decision, but also one that people can turn for information.
