Taking Your Business Online: What You Need to Know

Published on 2020-05-08 21:21:02
2 min read

Almost every business runs some form of an e-commerce website. If yours does not, know that there are numerous reasons why you should. If you are considering going online, here is a short guide that will help your business succeed.

You Should Start with a Website

Your website will be the primary point where people buy from your business. Luckily, there are now hundreds of good platforms where you can build your e-commerce website easily and quickly. Many of them have drag and drop builders so you can build a beautiful website even if you have never done so before. Some of them also come with templates that you can edit and have your website ready to go in minutes.

One of the most important aspects of your website will be the checkout process. You want to make this as seamless as possible if you want to improve sales. There are providers who build fast, friction-free checkout integrations that fit seamlessly into your website. They are a great option to check out.

Social Media Is Your Friend

Social media is a great place to get leads and customers. The first thing to do is to open accounts on all the major social media sites like Instagram and Twitter. You may also want to create a Facebook page for your business. 

Next, you want to post about your business as much and as frequently as possible. When you do this, the algorithms on these social media sites start recommending your social media pages on their search results.

If you are not tech-savvy or do not have the time to do all this, you can hire a social media manager to manage all these pages for you. For businesses that cannot afford this option, there is always the option of asking their employees to help by posting on these accounts and sharing the content posted there with their friends, families, and followers.

You Still Have to Deal with Inventory and Shipping

Running an online business means that you still have to deal with inventory and shipping, just in a different way. For inventory, you can find suppliers who can send the items you purchase to central storage. Next, you want to contract a shipping company that can pick the items from the warehouse and deliver them to your customers. Ensure that you pick a shipping company that can keep to a schedule and that takes care of all packages you ship with them.

Customer Care Is Important

When running an online business, you will need to address different customer concerns from time to time. You can set up your business phone to forward to your phone when you are out of the office so people know they can reach you at all times.

You will also need to set up a business email account where people can talk to the business directly. You should also encourage people to get in touch through your social media accounts.

For the best results, you can even hire one or two people when your business starts to grow and the volume of calls and messages increases.

There are a few things you need to know if you would like to take your business online. The good news is that running an online business is like running any other business and you will get the hang of it rather quickly.