How to Move your Business Online

2020 has seen a lot of businesses move or expand their business online. Others decided to wait it out, but experts are saying the world will take more than another year to start looking and feeling like it did before.

Companies that are keeping afloat in the current unprecedented situation did two things every business can and should do:

1.  Embrace change.
Change is the only constant in business, and sometimes the change needs to be radical in the face of a difficult situation. Those who resist change, often perish and disappear. Those who innovate and adapt, survive and thrive.

2.  Moved all or part of their operation online.
Moving online is a move all businesses needed to make anyway. The current situation has however put special urgency for this to happen. Many responded, others still hesitate. Those who moved online have seen little to no disturbance to those services or products being sold online as the world shifts in and out of lockdowns in waves.

If you own or run one of those businesses that have been left behind in this online migration, it’s not too late.

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Here are 7 simple steps to follow to get your business online in no time:

1. Look at businesses that moved online in your industry

Before you begin you need to research your industry and your market. Look at companies that have already made the move in your industry. Look at the way they adapted their services and products. Look at engagement and comments on their social media. Document everything you find and take note of those things that seem to be working for them and those things that their customers are complaining about. This will help you design an experience your customers love.

If you already have a customer base, send them a survey or call them. Understand how they are shopping during this time and what habits are likely to persist beyond. Shopping online has now become necessary, but once habits are established, it’s likely people will keep using convenient online services.

2. Keep your online business simple

When you sit down with your managers or stakeholders to design your online business, think simple. Not all people are technical. In order for your audience to navigate your eCommerce site easily, you need a simple concept or idea. Use the information discovered in step 1 to create packages and short cuts for your customers to find what they want from your website easily and simply.

Start simple. Add your most sought after packages or products first and your fast movers. Then add more later.

Whatever you decide to do make sure you treat your website like an online business. Work out the finances and a business plan for it. You want to make sure your website can operate like a standalone business in terms of the financials. Sure you’ll need to invest at first but work out a business plan that makes sure it becomes self-running and profitable in the short term.

3. Delivery and logistics

Before you begin to build your website, make sure you’ve also figured out your logistics. Your back-office processing and logistics will need to be integrated into your website. You therefore need to first think of the best case scenario for your customers, then adjust based on the resources you have at hand.

Your delivery and  logistics should include a plan for the 4 main areas:

• customer service (pre-sales, after sales, call centre, email support etc)
• packaging and preparation
• delivery (the actual physical delivery of the items)
• returns and refund logistics

If you really want to keep it simple, you can choose to outsource this service to a company like Miles Express. This is the one part of the operation you don’t want to skimp on. Late deliveries and inefficient service may nip your online venture in bud. So make sure you hire professionals that you can rely on.

Miles Express will deliver your packages on time, every time, so you can have peace of mind knowing your deliveries are being handled efficiently and professionally.

Our delivery options cater to a variety of businesses and you can book your deliveries online 24/7 through our easy-to-use booking system. You can book individual orders or upload a CSV file with multiple orders. Alternatively, we can set you up with an API integration system that will require very little involvement from your end. It’s easy to integrate with any online website technology you choose.

We value your customers. This is why our goal is to offer a consistently stellar service to delight your customers so they return to your website time and time again.

4. Set-up your online presence

Once you know exactly what you want to achieve and what products your website will hold and how the logistics will work you can start working on the website.

>> The first step is to decide on a domain name a.k.a website address.

Unlike what a lot of people will tell you, your domain name doesn’t matter for your website ranking. So pick one that reflects your target audience (.mt for local or .com for international audiences), make it relevant to your business and easy to remember. (Avoid hyphens and numbers as they can be hard to remember.)

>> Next, you’re going to need a hosting provider

The next thing you’ll need is a hosting provider. A hosting provider will sell you space on their server where you can store your website so it becomes available on the internet.

You should ideally buy your domain and hosting from the same company. So pick your hosting company before buying your domain. Most hosting companies will give you a special offer on your domain, booking your domain for free with their hosting.

Your web developer will guide you on this, however there are a few things to consider:
Make sure your hosting come with free SSL (this helps your site stay secure and is important for Search Engine Optimization SEO).

You also want to check back-up options (you’ll need daily back-ups, however ideally at minimum weekly). Downtime tends to be quite similar across hosting companies but check that they offer 99.9% uptime guarantee.

Speed is also a very important factor as this will influence the experience of your shopper and can easily mean that they leave the site if the website takes too long to load. It also affects your SEO which is something you also need to take into consideration throughout each stage of the website development.

Don’t add extra fancy features needlessly to the website, speed is more of a priority.

>> Build the website

Once you’ve registered your domain and hosting you can begin development.

Technology:

Build it in-house
When it comes to picking your technology there are many platforms to choose from. If you’re doing this in-house you’ll need to pick a simple platform such as Wix or Squarespace. It’s important to note that you will NOT need to buy your domain and hosting before if you’re using these platforms. They are part of the platform. You simply register and pay here for Wix or here for Squarespace. Shopify is also an option but it is not as simple to use as the above platforms and some may require a shopify specialist to help them set it up.

With Wix and Squarespace you just pick your template and start building. Your domain will be purchased through the platform and your hosting is included in the package.

If this is the set-up you choose you’re probably looking to receive payment through PayPal or Stripe. Make sure you set-up the service early and include all fees in your business plan.

Use a Web Developer and Payment Provider
Choose a reputable website developer and get a Payment Provider involved right from the start, applying for and setting up your payment processing can take weeks. Both your web developer and your payment service provider will be able to guide you and help you build a website that achieves your goals, from browsing experience to checkout.

The developer will discuss your requirements and prepare a website wireframe to show you how the website will be structured and how each page might look.

Following that they will design the home page and a few other pages so that you decide on the design. You would then need to prepare all the content – including images, product descriptions and any other copy required. Once this is complete, they will start the development of the website and upon approval move onto testing before going live.

Structure:
Structure your website in a way that is easy to navigate and organise your product categories logically. How well you do this will have a large impact on your sales. Organising your website for usability will help your clients find what they want and buy it easily. It will also help your website’s ranking in search engines.

5. Keep it legal and safe

Terms and Conditions
Spare a thought for the compulsory Terms and Conditions, Disclaimers, Cookie Pop-ups and GDPR compliance. Make sure you either draft them yourself and have them reviewed by a lawyer or ask an Internet lawyer to draft them right away.

Payment security
You also need to keep in mind your payment processing. Work with a professional Payment Gateway for this. Pick a company that is up to scratch with the latest developments in SCA and PSD2, so you’re in line with the directives. This will reduce the amount of failed transactions. Have this conversation early on and involve a processing specialist if need be. Failing to get your payment process in order could mean that you see your sales being reduced by failed authentication.

6. Invest in Marketing: SEO and Social Media

This is a no-brainer but many forget to allocate funds to this. On average you should allocate 60% of your budget to online marketing for your website. It is your only source of business too, you have to have a good budget to spread the word.

The first two things to invest in are Social Media and SEO. Social Media will help you garner a following and keep your clients informed as to what’s new on your website and SEO will help you consistently bring new purchase-ready clients to your website.

This needs to ideally be built into your website and your marketing as a whole so hire an SEO consultant in the early stages.

7. Make an impact with a big launch

This is often overlooked, and that’s a big mistake. When your website goes online it’s important to launch it. You need to make sure you book online advertising to let people know that you now have a website.

Your launch should take at least 10% of your overall investment in marketing for the first 12 months. Invest in pay-per-click ads on social media to grow your following and let everyone know about your new website.

Shifting your business online and creating an e-commerce business is not easy. It will put your operations under pressure.

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This is why we are here to help you through this process. If you would like to hear how we can help contact our team on (+356) 2124 0877 or click here to contact us.