Online Presence Imperative
to Micro Business Success
As a small business, even a micro business with 2-3 people, if you don't have a web presence you're missing out on a dramatic opportunity to attract business in an ever increasing e-commerce world. What used to be a luxury is now a necessity for anyone starting up his or her own baby shop venture. The good news is that there are a multitude of options available to any entrepreneur needing to get a site up and running.
But to begin with, why do you need a website? First, in today's multi-channel environment, a website is a critical element in your marketing mix that gives you a credible and professional image. Second, it lets your customers find out more information about your company background, products and services, as well as customer testimonials if you include them, which can help to facilitate the selling process. Finally, websites are needed as a foundation for any online marketing effort and, with the increasing use of search engines, even small local juvenile product shops can effectively market their businesses online if they have websites.
New technological developments have made building and hosting websites easy and inexpensive. Follow these simple steps and hopefully you'll be increasing your business by leaps and bounds.
Design Your Site to be Fresh, Informative,
and Reinforce Your Brand
Make sure that the look and feel of your page is consistent with your other marketing materials so you are reinforcing the core messages with every interaction you have with customers. And don't forget, each page of your website should be dedicated to a particular topic to ensure effortless navigation. This starts with the home page, which is your first impression to customers.
Start by creating a captivating home page, since this is the most important page of your website. This page should communicate your core business identity and value proposition briefly and accurately. Some designers will tell you that the more you have on your home page, the better off you'll be, but a streamlined home page could be more effective for you. You also must have an "About Us" page to reveal a little about yourself and your business background. Take this chance to make a more personal connection with your visitors, along with basic information like your address and hours of operation. You can even go further by including a map, which will serve as a great visual reference of your location.
It's important to make it easy for customers to request information and provide feedback by including a ‘Contact Us' form on your site. Then, extend special offers or create a mailing list using this information. Also evaluate value-added content, for example a list of products and services with prices, but also creative uses for these products (recipes, gift ideas, etc); links to related sites; customer testimonials; FAQs; and any other content that will help customers understand the value you offer. All of these elements will help to drive more visits to your website and ultimately result in more sales.
Work to Drive Traffic to Your Site
Just having a site nowadays isn't enough. You need to embrace your site as a way to generate business and acquire customers. But how do you actually drive people to your site? For starters, putting the site's address on everything you use to network, like business cards, is important and can be done immediately. But there is also an opportunity to try your hand at direct marketing. You can announce your website with a postcard mailing that offers your customers a special discount when they visit your site, which will encourage response.
There are also search engine marketing techniques that you can embrace to help drive traffic to your site and by showing up in search queries. There are a number of options you can embrace, including paid search ads or organic search methods, which will hopefully increase your search ranking on sites like Google, Yahoo, and Ask. Every major search engine has tools and guides on how to boost your search capabilities. You can even track success and learn how to effectively modify your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts.
Essentially, your juvenile product shop has a unique opportunity to connect with customers that are seeking out your product and market your message online, rather than ignoring this valuable resource. And in the ever-growing web landscape, micro businesses have to work harder than ever before to be competitive and visible. If your business isn't on the information superhighway, it might never get noticed at all.