Even as brick and mortar stores push back against online retailers, e-commerce continues to thrive. For this reason, a growing number of land-based stores are transitioning to the online world.
Just because you take your brick and mortar business online does not mean you have to ditch your physical presence. Instead, you can use the internet to increase your reach, improve efficiency, and hopefully boost revenue and profit.
business online
With a rapidly growing population of digital shoppers all over the world, of which 59% spend more than 3 hours a day on their mobile phones, there has never been a better time than now to take your business online.
These are just a few of the excuses that could hold you back from making the transition. If you buy into these, you may never make that move:
“But I don’t know anything about the internet.”
“But there is no way the transition will work for my business.”
“But I have done so well without the internet in the past, that it doesn’t seem to make sense.”
5 Tips to Kickoff Your Online Website
The initial process of getting a website up and running can be overwhelming when you don’t have the facts. So much so that it may scare you away from taking the first step.
There is no reason to be intimidated. By taking a few key steps, you will find yourself on the right track. Here are five suggestions for any individual or business that wants to establish a strong and productive online presence.
- Focus on Design and Infrastructure
As tempted as you may be to “throw up a website,” there is more to the process. It is imperative to focus your time, attention, and resources on the design and infrastructure of your website, as this will be your face to the online public. This is even more so the case if you are rolling out an online store. Though we provide ready made website templates, it is always best to take your time when adding information to your website to avoid making mistakes.
Regardless of your industry, you are sure to have competition. For this reason, your design and online experience needs to be top of the line.
- Safe and Reliable
Have you ever encountered an online store with bugs or error messages? How about one that appears unsafe? If you answered yes to either question, you know one thing to be true: you run the other way as fast as possible.
To achieve success with your online store, a safe and reliable experience is mandatory. You cannot cut corners. You have to have an SSL certificate on your website.
- Get Help
If you are new to website designing, it can be difficult to understand the many steps of rolling out an online store. Fortunately, there is help to be had.
You can hire a web designer to give your store a professional appearance. You can hire an e-commerce expert to improve conversion rates. You can hire a content writer to create copy for each product.
With expert advice on your side, you will feel better about your ability to transition effectively.
- Rely on Software
There are many types of software that can improve the appearance, efficiency, and productivity of your website.
For example, WordPress is a popular content management system on which you can build everything from a simple website to a robust online store.
- Take it Slow
You may be excited about taking your offline business online, though you can take a few days to do it, on business online business you can do it in a few minutes by using any of the ready made website templates. However, it may be wiser to move slowly, one step at a time, to ensure that you don’t leave out any important information.