11 Ways To Improving Your Online Business

11 Ways To Improving Your Online Business

Online business owners are faced with challenging factors, such as, high competition in the online market and the difficulty in figuring customer requirements. Dealing with competition, there are many ways to take this on, and still satisfy existing customers while bringing in new leads.

If you are an online business owner, there are 11 ways to helping you improve and expand your online business.

1. Set up a business website that is scalable

An important feature of a business website is it's ability to be scalable. Product websites only draw in a limited amount of traffic. It's only reasonable to think that, over time, traffic will increase.

You must anticipate the needs of your customers so that you offer a website with such capabilities. Ease of navigation between pages should remain constent with respect to incoming traffic.

2. Email Marketing

Building a list of prospective leads is a must. An opt-in form close to the top of the page, will make it easier for interested prospects to subscribe to your services. Not only services, but also just a simple Newsletter. Your newsletter can be either weekly or monthly.

3. Create a presence on Facebook

Along with your main business site, you should create a Facebook Fanpage. A fanpage can be used to continuously keep it touch with you prospects and existing customers.

Information related to troubleshooting can be posted on a Facebook fanpage. You can start online contest and surveys through your fanpage.

4. Have a Twitter Handle

Twitter has become a must for online business owners. Quick and short updates to your followers. Twitter is also good for getting feedback on the quality of your services.

Tools for automating tweets are HootSuite and TweetLater. With these tools you can schedule messages to Twitter relating to your business.

5. YouTube Marketing (Video Marketing)

Creating and uploading videos to such platforms like YouTube, Dailymotion and Vimeo. The videos can promote your online business, products or even your main website. Depending on the video, you can get viral buzz going about your business and products.

6. Participation in Forums and Blogs

Most certainly, you can find a Forum and/or Blog, that is specific about you products and business. Joining a forum and posting interesting information about your product and new products can bring in added business.

7. Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)

Before Social Media, pay per click advertising was the way to marketing online. And, today, it is still an effective way to advertise online.

The most popular pay per click network is still Google AdWords. Also, this is the most expensive network. The advantage is that you will have a greater reach to potential customers. Also, you only need to pay for the ads that have been clicked by a customer.

8. Create a Google+ Business Page

However, not as popular as Facebook and Twitter, Google+ is slowly catching up. Adding a Google+ Business profile will add to your social presence.

9. SEO Friendly Content

Content posted on your business website, Facebook, Twitter and Google+ should contain SEO (search engine optimized) keywords. This will make your business easier to find in the search engines, and will provide more visitors to your site.

10. Keep your interactions on social media meaningful

Care should be taken to prevent followers and friends from unliking or unfollowing your social business pages.

11. Use Surveys to get Customer feedback

Survey providers make it easy to intergrate your social media accounts.

There are a few more social media networks that can help you business. Pinterest and Instagram. Both of these networks focus on images to attract followers. Pinterest will allow you to save an image, that when clicked on, will take a visitor straight to your business site or any other site.

Instagram, is a mobile platform that can only be used from a Smartphone. The images don't allow a redirect once clicked on. However, Instagram has over 400 Million users. The potential for massive free traffic to your website or any other offer is huge.

Instagram Marketing has only just begun to surface as a viable source for leads and sales. The trick is to present an image that will go viral to bring in ambitious buyers.