As 2020 draws to close, we experienced a near total change in the way societies function all over the world. In the wake of the first COVID-19 surge and now, as the next wave looms, we have been forced to reevaluate and reshape the way we do business. The online market is more important now than it has ever been.
Online sales at even the largest companies across America have been affected by this pandemic. Best Buy alone saw their online sales increase 242% during its second fiscal quarter in 2020. Other large retail stores, like Anthropologie and Free People, were able to see a strong double-digit growth in online sales in 2020 as well (CNBC).
More people staying home during the pandemic means more shopping is done online. Taking your business to the web has developed a whole new urgency. While you might feel a lot of pressure to boost your online presence, it can be difficult to know where to start, or how to choose the best strategy moving forward.
As you get started, consider the following factors:
Create a website.
Creating a website is the first and most important step. As of this year, there are already over two billion online shoppers worldwide. To put it into perspective, over a quarter of the world’s population is shopping online. Even if you still operate a brick and mortar store or business, 63% of buyers begin their search on the web. That means six out of ten people search for your product or service online first before choosing to buy it, no matter if they choose to buy it online or in person. That makes having an online presence key for generating business in this new era.
Get quality managed services.
Once you have a working website, keeping up with the daily barrage of IT issues and updates can be daunting. Keeping up an online business requires regular maintenance, troubleshooting, and problem solving – just like opening a physical location does. There is also the added complication of security, network connectivity, data retrieval, and keeping up with the constantly evolving technologies available. Investing in managed services is a good way to ensure that once you have it, your website continues running smoothly.
Mobile friendly access.
The fastest growing segment of the internet is mobile users. People are constantly using their smartphones and mobile devices to search for information and stay connected. In many countries, more people own smart phones than personal computers, making it more important than ever to have a mobile friendly website. A non-mobile friendly website is difficult to view on a smart-phone and requires pinching and zooming to be able to read the content. This can be frustrating for many users and might cause them to abandon your site altogether and choose a competitor with a site that’s easier to view.
Social media marketing.
While social media alone is seldom an effective way to generate business or sell your products and services, it is often complementary to your business and helps drive more traffic toward your website. Many businesses, both small and large, generate steady interest from their regular clients and reach more potential customers by having a strong and active presence on other social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Create an SEO strategy.
Local Search Engine Optimization or SEO, as the strategy is more often called, use genre specific keywords and phrases that help make your website appear among the top search results when someone types a query into a search engine like Google. Because effectively using SEOs in your web content equates to greater visibility and searchability, investing in and creating a solid local SEO strategy can garner more traffic to your website and improve your bottom line. Small businesses with blogs utilizing local SEOs get 126% more lead growth than those without.
Start Building Your Online Presence with Imagine Monkey
Consumers have higher than ever expectations when it comes to viewing information and products online. If your platform is not appealing and user-friendly, they will quickly choose a competitor instead. Glitchy, hard to navigate websites with an unappealing layout will quickly be dropped by potential customers.
Imagine Monkey’s experienced team specializes in ensuring that your website gets—and keeps—traffic by creating a sleek, efficient website design tailored to your unique business and market. Imagine Monkey offers a range of custom-built websites made specifically to highlight your brand and specifications. We offer extensive IT managed support, custom mobile-friendly design, e-commerce development and more.
When you’re ready to move your business to the online platform and take advantage of the ever-expanding online marketplace, Imagine Monkey can help make the transition a seamless one. Contact Imagine Monkey today to learn more about the packages and services we offer.
