Important Tips to Getting Your Business Online, From the Experts

For any business that’s intending to grow, it’s not only recommended, but necessary that you’ll need some kind of digital presence. The internet offers business owners a lot of options to increase the amount of customers they have access to, among other benefits, that can really accelerate a company’s growth.

MyOnlinePresence specialises in helping with the simple as well as the complex tasks involved in a business getting a greater digital footprint. The founders Andrei and Daleen Dimitriu gave an insightful interview with HOT 91.9 FM (it’s seriously worth a listen), covering some of the best tips to get your business online – and we’re going to condense where they suggest you start!

Register your domain name

This might seem obvious, but people need a digital version of a storefront to visit so they can learn more about your business. Getting a .co.za (local) or .com (international) domain name linked to your business is the first critical step – and most crucially look for something that isn’t taken and also relevant to your company. You may even want to look for an untaken domain name before registering your business so you know your company name can be your domain name, too.

Set up email accounts linked to your domain name

Email is still one of the most popular (and cost-effective) ways to communicate with your customer base. Between individuals, email has lost its popularity, but commercially it’s still a staple marketing channel. Having email accounts attached to your domain name keeps your communication with customers consistent and your brand name in their minds.

My Online Presence was selected as the 2017 National Small Business Champion at the South African Small Business Awards.

Know the costs involved before getting started

Before starting with a website or any other digital services for your company, it’s important to know how much you need to allocate in your budget to use those services. Daleen mentions that a good place to start is a free platform like Wix – where fees will range from roughly $15-$30 per month, and there’s a step-by-step process that helps even those that are unfamiliar with web design to get something off the ground.

Try to stand out

Clear communication is key when it comes to making sure customers are likely to use your product or service. Company location, contact details, the nature of your business (pricing, other relevant details related to the product or service, etc) all have to be as easy to find as possible. These sound simple but if they’re not done correctly, people will likely be confused and move onto a another site where the information is more clearly laid out.

Pay attention to Cyber Security

This is an important one to pay attention to. Andrei points out in the interview that large companies often have the resources to deal with cyber security lapses and they don’t affect them too much, but smaller company’s can often suffer as a result of them. Most security issues come via email, so installing firewalls and essential antivirus software is the first step toward keeping your company secure.

The entire process can be a little daunting for some, but the benefits of getting your company some additional online presence are numerous. If you need a team to help you along the way with basic or complex requests – everything from hosting to custom software solutions – get in touch with My Online Presence and their team to get started!