When it comes to running a successful online business, your first step is to ensure your website stands out from competitors. If you put the groundwork in and manage your website well, it has the power to reach an audience that you never thought was possible. Whether you’re about to launch a startup or you’re a fully-fledged established company, here are a few things you can do to grow your website like a business.
Purchase Your Own Domain
To hook consumers from the beginning, the last thing you should do is put your website on a free domain. Those who choose to use a free domain run the risk of their audience not taking their services seriously. Consumers may think differently of you and assume you’re a newbie or cheap, so it’s best to purchase a domain name, especially as they are cheap to buy, meaning it won’t make too much of a dent in your budget. For those who are looking to expand their business online, it’s best to head to a domain registrar and purchase a domain that suits your brand.
Make Your Website Stand Out
Once you have purchased a domain name, it’s crucial that you fill your website with informative content that is relevant to the products and services you deliver. If you primarily run your business online, visitors will have to go off what they see on your website, so to increase sales, making your website stand out is a must. Using a website builder is a straightforward way to help grow your business online. It’s important that you pick a template that is easy to navigate for your audience, and ensure your page is regularly updated.
Implement HTTPS
An HTTPS connection encrypts data that has transferred between a consumer’s computer and your business website. The main purpose of an HTTPS connection is to protect the users’ sensitive data (such as login credentials and credit card numbers), giving users a sense of safety and security. To implement HTTPS, you will need an SSL certificate, which is free to purchase and tends to be provided by most hosting companies. When visitors head to your website, they want to be confident that their personal information and financial data is kept strictly confidential, so make sure that you do what you can to ensure this.
Optimize Your Website Speed
The speed of your business website will play an integral part in your website beyond just loading quickly. For instance, Google will rank pages that load quicker far higher than those that do not. Understandably, you will want your business to draw in as much traffic as possible, which leads to sales, so optimizing your website speed is important. Try and see things from the consumers’ point of view. If you were to head to a page and have difficulty with it loading, the chances are you will close the link and head to a competitor. Fixing any broken links on your page, and compressing your images are just a couple of strategies that you can take to optimize your website speed.
Add Website Tracking
When it comes to improving your business’s website performance, it’s vital that you keep track of progress on who is visiting your page. With the right data, you can examine when consumers visit your page, how long they spend on your website, as well as what areas of your site are more popular than others. Web analytic tools such as Google Analytics can come in handy, which is free to use.
Keep Visitors Happy
When visitors get a good experience on your website, they’re far more likely to stay loyal to your brand. Understandably, your main goal is for your audience to share your content with their family and friends, as well as spend money on the products and services that you are selling. If you’re wondering how to keep your visitors happy, there are tons of things that you can do, such as making your website load faster, creating an easy-to-navigate experience, as well as being on hand 24/7 to deal with customer inquiries.
Be Present on Social Media
With billions of active users accessing social media platforms each day, it’s crucial that you establish an active social media presence. To ensure you’re targeting the right demographics, it’s best to focus on the places where your audience is most active. For instance, if your business targets a younger audience, you may need to create accounts on platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat, whereas, creating a Facebook business page is useful for targeting an older demographic.
When creating a business website, it’s important that it’s effective, easy to use, and informative, which can help draw consumers in. Whether it’s by purchasing your own domain, implementing HTTPS to keep data secure, optimizing website speed so your audience doesn’t have to wait around, or making use of social media to market your brand, these are just a few things you can do to grow your website like a business.
