Finally, we made it to the end of 2020! We know it was a tough year, especially for small businesses. But the New Year has started and now it’s the perfect time to start fresh and look forward to new opportunities.

It’s important to assess what went right during the last 12 months and what can be improved. Take time to analyse your market, customer behaviour and your competitors to uncover new opportunities.

Keep in mind, a New Year resolution should be a year-long commitment and it means committing to the changes for the coming year and beyond.

Here are some tips on how to improve your online presence throughout the new year.

 

1. Improve Your Website

COVID 19 has shifted B2B and B2C online, making it crucial for businesses to invest in digital solutions. Customers are looking for self-serve remote interactions to get information, place orders, arrange service and most importantly: speed and convenience.

The best way to showcase your business is to have a well-designed and up-to-date website. Customer experience is essential. Find out more on how website design affects website traffic.

When was the last time you updated the information on your website?

When was the last time your website was redesigned?

Is your website generating enough leads?

Consider solutions that make it easy for customers to connect, for example live chat, chatbots, online appointment bookings, recommended products, and abandoned cart offers.

AU Digital can help you with the above as well as revamp your website to get it up to speed to compete in the online market. Ask us about our website assessments or website security audits.

 

2. Go Social

18 million Australians were active social media users in 2020. Social media is a huge part of our routine. At least once a day, we check our Facebook, Instagram or send a message.

Being on social platforms gives you a new way to connect and promote your business. Engaging with audiences on social media builds customer relationship and trust, promote your services and get your business seen.

If you aren’t on social media yet, take time to research your competitors and industry to choose the best platform that suits your business.

 

3. Blog

Blogging has many benefits for your business. It’s a powerful tool to engage with audience and share company’s values, services, build your brand and drive traffic to the website by using relative keywords and also boost your SEO.

We know that creating a good blog post can be a challenge, this is when you can outsource the content to external writers.

 

4. Rank Through SEO

SEO ( Search Engine Optimisation) is one of the most effective ways to rank higher in search engines such as Google and get found.

SEO is a long term process and shouldn’t be used to see quick results, but with an experienced team to help, you will get the results in a long run.

Creating great content and promoting your business on social media aren’t the only strategies you need to get found online. SEO starts with a good hosting provider and involves everything from domain to website structure.

75% of users never scroll past the first page of search results. SEO strategies will help your business to be found more easily online.

Ask us about our SEO assessments to find out how your website is currently ranking.

 

5. Get Mobile Friendly

91% of Australian internet users use mobile phones as their top device to browse the internet. If your website is not optimised for mobile, you are losing potential business.

 Google search shows 50% of people said that even if they like the business, they’ll use them less often if the website isn’t mobile-friendly. And more, Google rewards mobile friendly websites with a better ranking.

Having a website optimised for different devices helps your business to increase traffic, customer service and SEO. Not sure if your website is mobile friendly? You can use Google’s responsiveness test or ask us to check.

 

6. Email Marketing

Take advantage of email marketing! This has been a strong advertising tool for business and it is a great way to connect with customers.

61% say they like to receive promotional emails at least once a week from business.

Email marketing automation tools make it easy to personalise your communications with customers. With the right strategy, a series of email streams, written well, will encourage engagement and ultimately lead to conversions.

 

7. Improve Customer Service

We are in an online age and customer interactions can’t just take place behind the counter anymore.

Nowadays there are so many simple ways to deliver business information to the user, such as chatbot for 24/7 customer service, Google My Business and email marketing to keep users on the loop of business.

8 in 10 consumers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience.

Excel on building a strong customer service with professionalism and as active listener, it will help your business to be more profitable.

 

8. Stay Up-To-Date

Marketing tactics has been changing over the years. Small business owners need to be aware of current marketing trends and incorporate them effectively into a well-planned business strategy to stand out.

Promoting your business and building traffic to your website are likely to change as the digital landscape changes regularly.

Do research. Sometimes it is just a matter of adding a niche-related strategy to your current promotional calendar or developing your social media presence with a different tone, growing or maintaining an email list, or improving customer service through an automatic answering service like a chatbot.

Keeping up-to-date with the latest innovations will help your business compete online.

 

Conclusion

Running a business is not easy, especially with the 2020 challenges where you had to rethink how your business operates. But moving forward, take time to research your market, customer behaviour, competitors and location to find new opportunities.

And it’s also important to assess what went right during the last 12 months and what can be improved to set realistic goals for 2021.

AU Digital is a full-service website agency with expertise and experience to help you with your New Year goals whether they are attracting new customers or building customer trust through a well-designed website.

Contact us today and speak with one of our team on any of the above to find the best online solution for your business. Don’t put this off again, for another month, another year! Think of investing in your business and make 2021 a year to thrive by simply taking action now.