When a new business opens up, it always has to start small. And usually,
there's not much margin for error, because being the rookie or the
under-dog means handling challenges better than what's expected. For any
business, start-up or otherwise, the online presence part is very important, and usually involves a lot of work, from setting up social profiles to producing great content and then promotions, aka Internet Marketing.
Such start-ups usually don't know much about the process, and hence end
up making mistakes that should not be made. Some of these mistakes
could hurt the initial phases of the business. Here are the 5 most
inconvenient mistakes that should be avoided.
Domain and website set-up
Obviously, the most important first-step that needs to be taken. Small
businesses often start up no sub-domain blogs. Not only is it
unprofessional and not-recommended, it also could cause much serious
problems. The internet is ravaged by people who'd do anything to earn
some money. And usually, what they do is, when they spot a start-up that
doesn't have its own domain, they buy that particular domain for
themselves and the business then has to buy it from them at a much
steeper rate. Imagine (just for argument's sake) www.microsoft.com being
owned by someone other than Microsoft itself. In such a case, Microsoft
will have to buy off that domain at a price dictated by the seller.
The same goes for social media profiles (vanity URLs). For start-ups, it
might also pay off to buy a professional theme or template (if using
WordPress or Blogger etc) rather than using a free template. Free
templates are un-professional, and run the risk of being hacked. It
might pay off here to hire a web-developer to do the development.
Saving money
Most businesses usually don't have much money at start-up, or perhaps
are unwilling to spend it. But there's one thing to always remember.
Investment is the most important thing in a business, and can be the
best thing that ever happened to it. For example, website owners should
try to invest in things like premium plugins, premium mailsoftware,
hiring contributors, editors, etc. It might look like too much too fast,
but it'll all make sense once your audience or customers go up.
Not making it simple
Another very important step is making the website simple and effective.
There should be an obvious call to action in the visible area, and
visitors should easily be able to find their way around.
User-friendliness is the one thing most people online are looking for.
And this is what many businesses overlook.
Ignoring analytics data
Analytics data gives you insights into how well a business is
performing. But many business don't go beyond the casual number of
page-views check daily. And most won't set up Google Analytics from day
one. Well, monitoring user data is one of the most important step in
marketing, without which no business can succeed.
Seeking help?
Business owners usually think they have it all figured out, and can do
fine on their own. Well, getting professional help could never hurt. And
in all likelihood, they are not experts in every field, and there are
many aspects on Internet Marketing. So just to make sure you're on the
safe side, you should get professional help (albeit paid) if you're
running your own business.
Avoiding these mistakes could help put your start-up business at the
right track. If you have further questions, do let us know about them!
All the best :)
Source :: http://www.mybloggertricks.com/2012/10/10-internet-marketing-mistakes.html
