Top 8 Digital Marketing Tips for New Businesses

Aisling Brennan, 22-Jan-2016

Starting your own business is daunting. There's so many things to do: register your business name, register for tax, set up business bank account, devise a business plan, organise insurance, create a website, get trading, get customers, get customers to pay & then stay on top of the mountains of paperwork. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

Below are my top tips to ensure you start off on the right footing when it comes to your website.

1. Register a website domain at the same time as you register your business name.
2. Choose a local ccTLD (country code top level domain). So if you're doing business in Ireland, you should choose a .ie domain
3. Choose a local (Irish) website hosting provider. Although the services popular websites like Wix.com and 1and1.com offer are tempting, from an SEO perspective it's best practice to go with local domain and hosting service. I recommend Blacknight Solutions if you want an Irish option-it's more expensive than Wix/1and1 but it won't have the same SEO implications.
4. Start writing content for your website. You should include information on

   1. The products/services you offer (Services).

      Include a summary of the products/services offered, a list of products/services with brief descriptions, links to learn more about the specific services (optional), focus on the benefits your customer will get from your service, incorporate good quality images and video, and detail how your offering differs from competitors.

   2. You (About Us).

      Provide an overview of the history of the business. Educate how you differ from your competitors. Include any awards or special recognition you've received, if applicable.

   3. Contact information (Contact Us).

      Include all the different ways customers can get in touch with you: phone number, fax number, email address, social media profile URLs, office location, hours of operation.

   4. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).

      Questions you are asked repeatedly, questions that always come up when speaking with prospects, questions that address (and solve) possible objections your prospects have, questions that can help remove any barriers or perceptions prospects may have.
5. Choose an experienced website designer. Your website is your shop front and should accurately reflect the tone and look of your business. So choose your website designer carefully. Examine what they've done before. Request references. You want a user-friendly, responsive, secure and professional looking website. Some questions to ask prospective designers include:
   1. Is programming included? Or is it design only?
   2. What do they know about SEO? There's no point having a good-looking website if Google can't find it.
   3. Discuss website maintenance and how you're going to make changes later.
   4. Make sure each page has a specific call-to-action (Buy now, Sign up, Call us)
6. Set up Social Media Profile pages, start sharing content and networking. Identify thought leaders, follow and start engaging. Update your content regularly (images/video are fantastic), respond to customer queries promptly, and remember your manners - thank customers for feedback.
7. Once your website is live, start driving traffic to it. PPC advertising is cost effective, measurable and great for targeting low hanging fruit so set up a Google Adwords campaign.
8. Review your Website Analytics (Google Analytics) to measure your traffic volume, identify where your site visitors are coming from, how long they're staying and what pages they're most interested in. Utilise these learnings to create more bespoke, relevant content to add to your website.

Keep going. Remember Rome wasn't built in a day and neither will your business.

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