7 Ways To Grow Your Online Business
Sunday, September 18, 2022This post is sponsored, but all opinions are my own
Whether you're starting an online business, or growing an existing one, there are lots of things you'll need to consider. Growing your online business can be hard, especially when there is a lot of competition to consider. There are lots of ways you can promote your online business and grow it - you just need to find what works for you. Here are the best ways you can grow your online business and be successful in a competitive market.
Choose The Right Platform
As a small, online business, you need to make sure you're using the best platform for you. Whether you sell products on your own website or use a third party selling site, make sure you do your research. Selling on Etsy and Amazon is a great way to grow your business and get lots of sales, but they will take a cut of your profits. As a small business, you'll need as much profit as possible to keep yourself going and support yourself.
If you run your own website, you will need to put the time into setting it up and getting traffic to your site. You won't have to pay fees, and it limits your competition as buyers can purchase only your products. As your business grows, your site will look more professional, and you'll be clear from Amazon and other big brands.
Decide which one is best for you, or even look into a combination of the two. Whichever you decide, that will be where you're trying to direct your traffic to. To help, you can consider your online business idea, and look at where similar businesses are selling their products.
Invest In Customer Care Teams
Customer support is a vital aspect of any business operation. New leads and existing clients alike may need to contact the company for a wide range of reasons. Choosing the best live chat solutions for websites ensures that they get the answers they need. Moreover, it saves you from becoming distracted by queries. As your business grows, it may be worth investing in a virtual assistant or team member to deal with customer related queries. Virtual assistants typically work from home, so can be an affordable way to manage your customer contact without taking away from your time. Plus, better customer service can help your business grow! If a customer knows they are going to be receiving good customer support, they are more likely to come back when they need something. It's also good when there are complaints. Unfortunately, you will experience issues when starting a business and there may be customer complaints to deal with. Having someone to support you while dealing with those issues can make for a smoother resolution!Use Mock-Ups
Mock ups are templates that you can add your own designs and logos. Whether you're designing a clothing range or want to see your logo on merchandise, you can use a mock-up! Mock-ups can be used to give your customers an idea of what the finished product will look like, even if you don't have it. You can make them yourself, or purchase pre-made ones, which will save you a lot of time.
A mock-up can help your business grow as they save time, especially if your products are digital. They allow you to put products on your website quickly, even if they haven't been created yet. It also allows you to showcase new and upcoming projects to customers to build up hype. Mock-ups are an affordable way to quickly put items on your site. If you sell customisable items, it's a great way for your buyers to see what the finished piece would look like.
Utilise Social Media
There are around 4 billion social media users worldwide. You need to be utilising social media marketing to grow your online business as there is so much potential. Decide which platform is beneficial to you. Twitter is more for bloggers and businesses, whereas Instagram appeals to younger generations, but has a lower click-through rate. You may want to consider a combination of social media sites for your business. That way, you can reach a larger audience.
The top social media sites for online businesses are Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. If you're looking to grow your online business, you can promote your products, run giveaways and engage with your audience on social media. It's free advertising for your brand and is one of the biggest ways to help your business grow. If you're struggling to keep up with your social media platforms, you could invest in a social media manager or course to help.
Collaborate With Bloggers
If you're looking to grow your online business, you could advertise with bloggers. There are lots of bloggers and social media influencers who will accept gifted items which they will review and promote on their blog and social media. Some may want to work with you on a sponsored post instead. This is where you offer payment in exchange for a post. Depending on your budget will depend on the type of post you work with them on.
Some bloggers will offer free promotion. Some bloggers will send you interview questions while others may include you in their gift guides. You can find these collaborations on Twitter, or by asking around. Bloggers have their own readers and promotional techniques so by working with them, you increase your range. They're a great way to get your online business off the ground.
Offer Loyalty Schemes
Repeat business is important to growing your online shop. Having a surge in sales after a promotion or blogger collaboration is great, but that may be short term. Working on customer retention is key to growth, so offering a loyalty scheme or discounts will encourage customers to come back. With a loyalty scheme, you can either:
- Offer a discount in your newsletter
- Give a freebie or major discount after x amount of purchases
- Give a bonus when they spend so much
You can also offer a refer a friend scheme, which means customers can refer people they know to your website. You can reward them with discounts or freebies. Not only does it keep them buying your products, but it introduces more customers to your website.
Work On Your SEO
Doing these things is helpful, but it requires a form of promotion. If you work on your Search Engine Optimisation, you'll be able to gain organic traffic through search engines. The better your SEO, the higher you'll rank on Google, meaning the more likely someone will click on your website!
There are a few things you can do to improve your SEO. If you're on WordPress, you can install the Yoast SEO plugin, which will guide you through most of the basics. If you don't have WordPress, you can:
- Add meta descriptions to all of your pages
- Use keywords in your product descriptions
- Work on your DA score
- Add alt text to images
These are minor things that are easy to implement. If you're looking to gain even more organic traffic, keywords will be beneficial to you. One tip I learned was to search for a similar product to yours on Amazon or a similar website. Look at what questions people are asking, and answer them on your own website under the product description. If people are frequently asking for dimensions, make sure you include dimensions. If they want to know how you can use the product, give some suggestions. Answering questions gives customers transparency, and they're more likely to buy from you. You can also have a website blog which will further increase your traffic as you'll be gaining interested readers.
These are just a few simple ways that you can grow your online business. A lot of growth comes through time and dedication, so don't be put off if you aren't a millionaire overnight. Some methods won't work for you and your business. Use trial and error to determine what the best methods of growth are for you, and work with the resources you have. Are you trying to grow your business? What methods are you using? Let me know a bit about your business in the comments, and I will check out your brand!
29 comments
I think these are all great for building up a business! I definitely think using social media really helps and providing regular sales because this gets people interested too! 😊
ReplyDeleteSocial media is wonderful for businesses! Thank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
I don’t have my own business but these are such useful tips for anyone who wants to grow their business! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
Thanks for sharing this! Business owners really have to take advantage of social media because customers are basically there, waiting for the right item to buy. Would be better if they highlight their unique selling proposition that helps them stand out among the competitors. x
ReplyDeletethequeensights.com
Exactly - If you don't have a social media account, how are you going to gain your initial customers? Thank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
All amazing tips. Working with bloggers is a great way for people to grow their business because if we love something, we will SHOUT about it haha!
ReplyDeleteExactly! Working with the right blogger can get your sales from 5 a week to 50 if you pick the right one! Thank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
Great post! Thank you for sharing! This is very useful!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
These are all great ideas. I am glad you said that building up your business takes time and won't happen overnight. I see so many people online who think they are going to make a ton of money in a few shorts weeks and then they want to give up when it doesn't happen.
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips! SEO seems to be behind success in everything that's done online and I'm always trying to learn more and do better! Thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
Thanks for sharing, these are really good tips esp. the social media ones :)
ReplyDeleteNic | Nic's Adventures & Bakes
Thank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
These are such great ideas, thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
I loved this post! I run a small business so these tips are really helpful xx
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dellalovesnutella.co.uk/?m=1
That's so cool! What's your business?
DeleteSome great tips in here. I've been working on my SEO this month and I think next step is to collaborate with other bloggers. Thanks for sharing x
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your business! Thank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
Such great tips for anyone trying to grow their online business! Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
Helpful read especially the part of loyalty scheme which I didn't think to implement in my online Etsy Shop, JadeBreyDesigns, but I will now :). Thanks for the read!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
I struggle with getting clients through social media (FB, Twitter, etc..) for my business so this was a great read for me - I learned a lot. Thank you
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking to time to read and comment!
DeleteEm x
Great Article it its really informative and innovative keep us posted with new updates. its was really valuable. thanks a lot. remote team todo list
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