Starting up a new business in any context can be one of the most incredibly challenging things you will ever do. It requires immense amounts of dedication, organisational skills and resources to get a business off the ground, no matter how good your idea is. If you’re running a business entirely online, as most new businesses are these days, you are confronted with an entirely different set of challenges to simply setting up a store somewhere. In the vast ocean of the internet, getting your brand out there and reeling in those crucial early customers can seem like an impossible task. Here are some quick tips on how you can attract customers to your online business, and fast.
Learn the Rules of SEO
This is one of the most important rules there is. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is, in a nutshell, the tactics you can use to ensure the website for your business appears high up enough in Google search engines for people to actually come across it. This means you’ll need to learn how to ensure you have a “high ranking” in order to get to the top and attract the most traffic. A few simple things like plenty of keywords relevant to your business, plenty of links to your site from authoritative sources, and lots of lengthy blog posts can make the world of difference.
Offer Plenty of Incentives for First-Timers
This is pretty much true to any business, online or physical. You need to be able to attract as much attention as possible, and convince people to use your service to see how great it is. In the cut-throat world of e-commerce, this means offering up some deals that are too good to pass up. Set aside some stock or resources as freebies for first-time users. Lots of online platforms do this regularly, a good example being how the online casino review and comparison site Oddschecker offers free spins and welcome packages to first-timers on the various operators it covers. Setting aside some freebies is a small investment which can have a massive impact, and set you up with a loyal customer base.
Stay True to Your Vision
When you’re keeping a close eye on the competition, it can be tempting to start copying them, especially if they seem to be doing more successfully than you. Copy their marketing tactics sure, but never compromise the ethos of your business. The reason customers should want to use your website is that you’re different and unique to anything else on offer, and copying the competition won’t persuade anyone to choose you.
