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Last Updated on January 20, 2024 by Work In My Pajamas
An online business does comes with its own fair share of benefits, but there are also some unique risks and challenges. For many small business owners, one of the biggest drawbacks is figuring out how to successful expand the company’s online presence. Here is a look at 5 crucial steps that must be taken to prevent any major mishaps.
In This Post:
1. Get Serious about Social Media
Business owners cannot sporadically update their Facebook status and hope for any serious results. Social media is integral to the success of any online business and should be treated as one of the most important marketing tools. Create a schedule of updates for all of your social media accounts and send traffic back and forth between your site and these accounts.
2. Claim Your Listings
Many people do not realize that there are a wide variety of listings throughout the internet that they are not claiming. While some of these listings are for larger search engines, there are also a variety of geographically-based listings and business profiles for smaller companies. Some key places to claim your digital listings include Yelp, White Pages, Yellow Pages, Merchant Circle, Yahoo Local Listing, Bing Business Portal, and Google Places.
3. Start Producing Content
They only way to build legitimacy for your company’s website is to position yourself as a leader in whatever industry you are in. One of the most efficient ways to do this is to begin producing useful, pertinent, and up-to-date content. This should come in the form of regular blog releases, YouTube videos, white papers, infograhics, and guides.
4. Expand Your Payment Options
The purchasing process for your clients should be as easy and streamlined as possible. If you are only accepting one or two payment types, then it is time to start upgrading with companies like eMerchant Club. Any business that does not accept all major credit cards or have a secure shopping cart will begin to lose out on customers.
5. Know When the Pros Are Needed
One of the differences between a decent business owner and a great business owner is knowing when to get outside help. Online business owners that have become overwhelmed with their expansion should know when it is time to call in professional help for marketing campaigns, PPC campaigns, social media management, credit card processing, and content production.
The state of the economy does not need to change how successful your online business will be. Instead, start looking at some of the tools at your disposal that can be used to create a powerful online presence.
