Things people often forget about when setting up an online presence

Setting up a business is a relatively easy process. There are steps you can take to ensure that you get a domain name, get a website, get social media accounts, deal with your branding and get your business cards. After you’ve done these things you are a business right? Well not necessarily!

There are lots of small aspects of a business, or details in the process, that can make or break you when you get started properly as a company. In this article we will not exhaust all of them, but will highlight some of the key things that you need to have in mind as you go through the process of setting up a business.

Think search engine optimisation

Search engine optimisation is about great written content, some mentions on the Internet, and structuring your website sensibly. If you think about your website as a group of topics, then you can’t go too far wrong. You want to make sure that the search engines can see the relevance of your content, your content is answering questions and is comprehensive where appropriate, and that the search engines are going to see sense in matching your website pages to search queries that people are making to look for solutions.

If you just pop up a basic website, without much content and without a solution focus, then you are unlikely to  earn website traffic. Yes, I said earn. Search engine rankings are earned through focusing on your target audience and waiting content, and producing videos that are going to appeal to them.

Website speed and hosting location

People are impatient on the Internet. There are loads of statistics about how if your website takes more than three seconds to load you will lose a certain percentage of your visitors. With every extra second of loading the number of people that actually reach your website falls away markedly. You need to build a website that is usable, yes. You need to add some interesting features, yes. But, all of that is irrelevant if people click the back button before they reach your website.

You can compress files using plug-ins on WordPress. You can reduce the size of images to speed their loading. You can have parallel processing the files as opposed to series. There are things that you can do to speed up your website. If in doubt then get a professional to help you.

When website files are called, a browser has to communicate with the server where they are hosted. If the host is on the other side of the world, the lag can take a lot longer and the process of transferring information can cause serious website delays. You need to think about it carefully if for instance, your web host company is located in New Zealand and your visitors are in the UK. You could also consider using a content delivery networks so that you can present content fast to people wherever they are in the world.

Have specific and measurable goals

In every area of your business you should have goals with deadlines. If you have goals and you have not got a timeframe then you just have a wish. It’s really important that you commit to paper, and you commit personally to the goals that you set. Something magical happens when you set a goal and put a deadline on it. Set goals for your search engine marketing, for your sales, for content development, for new prospect outreach and for any other key performance indicators in your business. Set your goals, plan your schedule and your time to do the activities that help you achieve those goals, and follow-through and be consistent.

Get your company structure sorted

If you want to take your business seriously then get the company structure sorted properly. Get your VAT organised. Get your company limited. Get an accountant. Set up a business bank account. Get all the pieces of the jigsaw in place that will enable you to grow so that you don’t have a ceiling on what you can achieve before you start organising your company. Plan for success and  structure your company as you will want it as you grow. Think scalability and think fast growth.

Set your standards and keep them

In life if you don’t set your standards, you don’t get your wants. If you absolutely have to service your customers to the highest possible standard then you will do so. If you want to do your best for your clients then you will fall short from time to time. Make it a point of duty to commit to certain levels of excellence in your business and people will notice. Excellence in business is rare. When you demonstrate the traits that convince people you will do everything in your power to help them, you will grow your business faster than you can imagine.

These are just some of the things that many people forget as they start to build their business. There are many other things that you need to do, but these are core, integral aspects of being successful in business. Make the decision to run your business as a professional and to think about the crucial aspects. However small they may seem, they can make a big difference in your business. It is the attitude you have that dictate the activities that you do, which lead to the results you get.