Keeping Your Online Business One Step Ahead

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The rising costs of overheads and the general sense of uncertainty in the high street has meant that conducting business online has never looked so attractive. The main downside to this, however, is that it looks attractive to everyone and in order for your website and business to stand out from the crowd you will need to ensure you stay one step ahead of your competitors.

 

Business concepts

 

Easier said than done? – perhaps, but with a little know-how and some patience it is achievable.

 

Simplicity

The internet is awash with information and that means you need to keep your offering streamlined so that it sits well in the digital realm. Your homepage needs to let the customer know where they are, what you do and direct them to further information.

 

Clutter is confusing and confusion is stressful. Choose a simple colour scheme and keep the initial message simple. People will only be inclined to look at your homepage for a few moments before deciding whether to proceed or hit the back key on their browser.

 

Avoid using audio or movies on the homescreen as they can be very irritating and may seem like intrusive advertisements; even if they are not. Ensuring that the potential customer is as few clicks away from a shopping basket as possible will translate into a far improved ratio between visitors and sales completed.

 

Technology

Registry escrow and network security can be provided affordably and effectively by providers of technology escrow which will optimise your website and ensure that it is effective. It is worth avoiding flash as it is not compatible with all platforms and always test your site on as wide a number of platforms as possible.

 

Failure to do this will render your website useless to a large number of potential customers. Source code escrow passes through Microsoft’s extensive testing for such compatibility issues and could save you a lot of headache further down the line.

 

Marketing

Emails are by far the most cost effective and reliable means of marketing your products. By asking visitors to opt in to your newsletter (perhaps by offering future discounts) you are building up a targeted marketing campaign that goes straight to people who have expressed an interest at no cost to yourself. Affordable advertising space is abundant online and can be purchased on a ‘by the click’ basis allowing you to closely manage your expenditure.

 

And remember…

Make sure that you have the means to contact you in person clearly displayed on your website. Potential customers might well have questions that are not answered on your website. The human touch is one that that is invariably lacking from any website so pitch your choice of language carefully and aim it at your key demographic.