By Jill Schoolenberg
While small business owners might have been locked away from the cold for the last few months, it’s time for some spring cleaning, getting a fresh start and developing a strong online presence for your company. Failing to be online – no matter the size of your business – carries a high risk of losing customers to competitors.
According to global research commissioned by GoDaddy in 2015, most very small businesses aren’t fully plugged into the Internet, with 59 per cent saying they don’t have their own website. In Canada, very small businesses were exactly in line with the global findings, which was also at 59 per cent without a website. Around 40 per cent of Canadian respondents said they thought their company was too small for a website — but they also understood that they placed themselves at a competitive disadvantage by not having one. The remaining 60 per cent of people without a website were split fairly evenly across thinking it was too time consuming, too expensive or too technical.
So why do some entrepreneurs get cold feet about promoting their trade online?
Perhaps some assume that launching a website requires them to possess great technical knowledge. Or perhaps there are too many other things to think about — like managing the day-to-day business tasks — and as a result, a website gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list.
However, with inexpensive and simple tools available, getting your business online doesn’t need to take a lot of time, or require lots of tech expertise.
So where should you begin?
What’s in a name?
Thanks to the availability of hundreds of domain name extensions (such as .COM, .CA and .BIZ) and an array of easy-to-use tools to launch a website, it’s possible to give your business a distinct and customizable identity online. Today the choices are endless, so the first step is to really think about how you want your business to be perceived in the long-term and begin your domain selection.
For example, opting for the geographically descriptive .CA puts your business on the map, no matter where you are based, while .PHOTOGRAPHY sets expectations about what you provide. Small businesses generally don’t need to buy hundreds of domain names across their brands to help protect themselves. However, you may want to think about which domain names you would not want your closest competitor to have, and register those. A small investment of five to seven domain names could be sufficient to help ensure your core brand territory is covered.
Open for business
The next step is to create your website. Think of it as a shop window with an ‘open all hours’ sign on the front. Customers can visit whenever they want, so it’s vital they are greeted with a great user experience.
It’s important to design your website as if you were the customer. Remember, when looking for a new service, they want to find the right information as quickly as possible. Details such as your location, operating hours and contact information should all be featured prominently.
Keep your website simple to navigate by avoiding clutter. Cutting down on unnecessary information ensures that visitors can explore without getting lost.
Technology has evolved to give us more flexibility in how and where we work and interact, proven by the fact that mobile now exceeds PC Internet usage. It’s therefore certainly worth taking this into account when designing your website. We all know how frustrating it is when browsing a website that isn’t mobile-friendly; keep each page of the site consistent to ensure a feeling of continuity as users scroll through on their phones.
Services such as GoDaddy continually work to support the website-building process, with a team of technical experts at your disposal to answer questions you may have along the way.
Launching your online presence can come in the form of affordable, introductory packages (which can cost less per month than an ice cream cone) or free trials of specific products to help you fully understand and meet your needs. This gives small businesses the same opportunity to be as heavily present online as larger corporations.
Ultimately, being online can be a simple way of generating business. Your business – however big or small – should not be hidden from the world. Opportunities arise from people seeking a service; if they can’t find you, they won’t engage with you. Getting your business online can turn cold leads warm.
You work too hard for your business to be invisible.
Jill Schoolenberg is the Vice President of GoDaddy Canada, the world’s largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses. For more tips and information, visit www.GoDaddy.ca and GoDaddy Garage.
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This entry was posted on March 31, 2016 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags GoDaddy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Guest Post: It’s Time For Small Businesses To Get Online And Bloom
By Jill Schoolenberg
While small business owners might have been locked away from the cold for the last few months, it’s time for some spring cleaning, getting a fresh start and developing a strong online presence for your company. Failing to be online – no matter the size of your business – carries a high risk of losing customers to competitors.
According to global research commissioned by GoDaddy in 2015, most very small businesses aren’t fully plugged into the Internet, with 59 per cent saying they don’t have their own website. In Canada, very small businesses were exactly in line with the global findings, which was also at 59 per cent without a website. Around 40 per cent of Canadian respondents said they thought their company was too small for a website — but they also understood that they placed themselves at a competitive disadvantage by not having one. The remaining 60 per cent of people without a website were split fairly evenly across thinking it was too time consuming, too expensive or too technical.
So why do some entrepreneurs get cold feet about promoting their trade online?
Perhaps some assume that launching a website requires them to possess great technical knowledge. Or perhaps there are too many other things to think about — like managing the day-to-day business tasks — and as a result, a website gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list.
However, with inexpensive and simple tools available, getting your business online doesn’t need to take a lot of time, or require lots of tech expertise.
So where should you begin?
What’s in a name?
Thanks to the availability of hundreds of domain name extensions (such as .COM, .CA and .BIZ) and an array of easy-to-use tools to launch a website, it’s possible to give your business a distinct and customizable identity online. Today the choices are endless, so the first step is to really think about how you want your business to be perceived in the long-term and begin your domain selection.
For example, opting for the geographically descriptive .CA puts your business on the map, no matter where you are based, while .PHOTOGRAPHY sets expectations about what you provide. Small businesses generally don’t need to buy hundreds of domain names across their brands to help protect themselves. However, you may want to think about which domain names you would not want your closest competitor to have, and register those. A small investment of five to seven domain names could be sufficient to help ensure your core brand territory is covered.
Open for business
The next step is to create your website. Think of it as a shop window with an ‘open all hours’ sign on the front. Customers can visit whenever they want, so it’s vital they are greeted with a great user experience.
It’s important to design your website as if you were the customer. Remember, when looking for a new service, they want to find the right information as quickly as possible. Details such as your location, operating hours and contact information should all be featured prominently.
Keep your website simple to navigate by avoiding clutter. Cutting down on unnecessary information ensures that visitors can explore without getting lost.
Technology has evolved to give us more flexibility in how and where we work and interact, proven by the fact that mobile now exceeds PC Internet usage. It’s therefore certainly worth taking this into account when designing your website. We all know how frustrating it is when browsing a website that isn’t mobile-friendly; keep each page of the site consistent to ensure a feeling of continuity as users scroll through on their phones.
Services such as GoDaddy continually work to support the website-building process, with a team of technical experts at your disposal to answer questions you may have along the way.
Launching your online presence can come in the form of affordable, introductory packages (which can cost less per month than an ice cream cone) or free trials of specific products to help you fully understand and meet your needs. This gives small businesses the same opportunity to be as heavily present online as larger corporations.
Ultimately, being online can be a simple way of generating business. Your business – however big or small – should not be hidden from the world. Opportunities arise from people seeking a service; if they can’t find you, they won’t engage with you. Getting your business online can turn cold leads warm.
You work too hard for your business to be invisible.
Jill Schoolenberg is the Vice President of GoDaddy Canada, the world’s largest technology provider dedicated to small businesses. For more tips and information, visit www.GoDaddy.ca and GoDaddy Garage.
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This entry was posted on March 31, 2016 at 8:08 pm and is filed under Commentary with tags GoDaddy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.