Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Sillicon Valley to meet digital giants, Google, Facebook & Apple has stirred individuals & companies alike to sit up and take notice of all that is to come our way as India gears up to become a digitally empowered nation. With focus on Internet penetration to remote & rural parts of India, the pockets that have never before had access to a computer (let alone internet), will now see an inpouring of data through the digital network.
How do small and medium businesses in India keep abreast of the changing digital landscape? More than just being an advantage, it is imperative that companies take conscious steps to get their businesses online to be on par with competition. In this article, we tell you how you can get agile & experimental in the digital space.
Get A Website: Start by purchasing a domain with your business name and while you may not always get a .COM, the new gTLDs have freed-up existing domain names. Choose an extension to define your brand. Pick a .PHOTOGRAPHY, a .APP or a .COOKING or an extension from the 700+ available TLDs. Established brands like Google & JP Morgan have invested in new gTLDs. Indian e-commerce company, Infibeam launched on a new gTLD, .OOO late last year. See how they’re making use of the new gTLDs.
Pick a Web Designer & Web Developer: To stand out among the crowd, it’s essential to have a website that’s attractive, smooth, user-friendly & well developed. Take a look at the work of some web developers & designers & make your choice. Pick designs that speak your brand.
Pick the Right Hosting: Your website load speed, bandwidth, uptime, space all depend on the hosting package you choose. Start by assessing your hosting needs:
- What kind of a website do you want to build?
- What volume of traffic are you expecting?
- What applications do you need? Windows or Linux
- Do you require special softwares?
If you’re a business that’s just starting out and have limited content & multimedia, it’s wise to opt for a Shared Web Hosting package. This type of hosting is pretty powerful & can sufficiently support a WordPress blog with 30,000-40,000 monthly unique visitors. Take a look at our infographic on the types on web hosting available so you can make an informed choice.
ResellerClub offers you unlimited bandwidth and disk space at fantastic prices. Check out our Shared Hosting packages here.
Focus on SEO: Once you’ve got your website designed, hosted & live, it’s time to focus on getting traffic to it. Put up quality content relevant to your business, use metadata & alt tags. Have website updated at all times. All of this will ensure your page rankings rise.
Market your website online: Use paid ads to get your website name & link visibility online. Add your website URL in your e-mail signature, on forums, blogs & any other relevant places.
Use Offline marketing methods: Have your website link wherever possible – on hoardings, billboards, newspapers, fliers, banners, visiting cards & anywhere else you seem fit.
Don’t Neglect Social Media: Social Media is a great marketing medium that fetches you a wide reach & costs almost nothing. An important part of going digital for any brand is to have a strong social media presence. Believe it or not, people will look for you on Facebook & Twitter.
Build your fan base on Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn so you can:
- Establish relationships with your audience
- Build trust & confidence
- Create awareness for your brand
- Market your products & offers
Social Media is a fantastic platform if it’s used well. Here are some best practices to follow:
ALWAYS respond: Be it comments, inbox messages or wall posts with your brand tagged, make sure you always respond to your buyers or potential leads within a short time frame. It’s a great way to get some feedback on your products/services, build relationships & show that you’re a brand with a human side. Plus, customers are always thrilled when a brand responds to them.
Include Multimedia: Images & videos keep your content interesting, gets you more eyeballs and correspondingly increases your traction.
Have a personality: Hold contests & quizzes. Be witty & add a bit of humour. Show your customers that you’re a brand with a personality.
Focus less on selling & more on informing: Although social media is great platform to get your product out, this should not be your primary reason for being online. Your customers might ‘Unfollow’ or ‘Unlike’ you if you spam them with too many updates about your product on your wall. Instead, opt for paid ads on these channels to market yourself. Be tactful in the way you sell yourself on Social Media.
ResellerClub supports a number of small and large designers, developers and web service providers & helps get businesses online. Find one that fits your needs, jump on the Digital India bandwagon & brace yourself for this new & exciting Gen Digital.
If you want more tips or have queries, please leave us a comment & we’ll get back to you!
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