Once your small business passes its first year since opening, it is time to look to the future. Instead of just trying to survive, your team can take steps to thrive. Growth is possible, but you need to have the right infrastructure in place so your employees can handle the increased sales and client demands. Here are five tips to help you grow in 2021.
1. Get noticed organically with good SEO.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the most important things to consider when developing a marketing plan. Visitors can find your site via Google and other search engines and you can grow your site traffic with less effort by your team. With good SEO, you should have new site visitors daily, even if you don’t put up social media posts or send out marketing emails during that time.
A good SEO team can set your business up with Google Analytics so you can track your organic traffic from user desktops and mobile devices. They can help you set goals to increase your visibility and brand awareness, bringing more customers to your site, and growing your overall business.
2. Convince customers to convert.
Once you build up your digital marketing efforts so you have a steady stream of organic traffic, turn to your website. All of the money you invest in your advertising could be for nothing if you have a poor conversion rate — meaning customers are leaving your website instead of buying.
You can improve your conversion rate with CRO (conversion rate optimization), the process of identifying customer challenges with your website, and implementing best practices to convince people to buy from you.
If you plan to invest in conversion rate optimisation in Brisbane, the agency you work with will likely take a closer look at your cart experience. They will use analytics to understand why customers add items but never check out. Optimizing the cart is a good first step to increasing conversions – and therefore increasing sales and your bottom line.
3. Update your cybersecurity.
The best practices for cybersecurity are constantly changing as hackers get better at accessing sensitive data through phishing and malware. As your company grows, consider investing in corporate security services to protect your data — including your employee and customer personal information. A cyber attack can increase your business vulnerability, while viruses can and information security breaches can put your employees at risk of identity theft. Cybersecurity simply isn’t something you should take lightly.
Get to know some of the best practices for managing corporate security online to identify any weaknesses in your organization that need to be patched up.
4. Continue training your team.
Investing in your employees can boost their productivity and reduce your turnover, making team training a win-win for both parties. LinkedIn research has found 93 percent of employees would stay at a company longer if the organization invested in their careers. This year, make employee training a core value for your company and a best practice for your managers. Help your workers grow so they can reinvest in your brand’s success.
5. Work with other small businesses.
Your network and connections helped you launch your business and these partnerships will propel you forward into growth. Consider working with a few brands that are adjacent to your business and setting up a process for recommendations. For example, a web design company can work with a social media marketing team to recommend clients to each other. Helping others is the best way to help yourself and propel other businesses around you to success.
You don’t need to have a large budget or grand idea to grow your business this year. Just make sure you follow these best practices for marketing, management, and cybersecurity to keep your company on the right track.
