When you start your own business, your task list can be endless. We understand the challenges you face, after all we’ve done it!
With the continued growth of the internet, and increasing number of consumers using online services, your online presence should be near the top of your to-do list. Skills on Toast strive to make your business’s transition to the online world as simple as possible … freeing up your time so you can concentrate on building your business, not learning about the internet.
We give you the lowdown on what you need to get your business online and why you should open your virtual doors to online consumers…
Getting Your Business Online – What You Need
When it comes to getting your business online, there are fundamental elements that you need to consider such as:
- Logo & Branding
- Company Website
- Business domain name & hosting
- Business email addresses
- Branded email signatures
- Branded HTML email templates
Logo & Branding
When thinking about logo ideas, try to choose something that represents the name of your business and what you do. You can then use this as a basis to build a whole identity for your brand including fonts, colours and imagery.
For example, the Skills on Toast logo uses blue and orange, and these colours are used throughout the website and all our marketing materials, such as business cards and brochures.
It’s also worth doing some research to check out the competition. Do some searching on business directory sites, Companies House and Google to see whether any companies exist with similar names, particularly within your own field. This will help you to make decisions about your brand because if you do find something, you can differentiate yourself through your logo and colour choices. This research is also important so that you can ensure you don’t infringe on another company’s brand. More than anything, try to stand out from the crowd and be the company that people remember!
Company Website
Having an online presence is all about giving a great first impression. For some customers your website is the first point of contact so ensure that your site is on brand, consistent and highlights you as a professional with expertise in your industry.
Business domain name & hosting
Choosing and purchasing a domain name can be a difficult process. Should you buy a .com? Or perhaps a co.uk? Should you choose a domain with your business name in it, or one that describes what you do? Skills on Toast can help you understand the options and avoid some of the common pitfalls businesses run into.
When it comes to hosting, you want to ensure that you get as much ‘up-time’ (the amount of time the hosting company guarantees your site will be live) as possible and if things do go wrong, you want fast, friendly, jargon-free support.
If your site is maintained by Skills on Toast we will have backups of your site and can get things back up and running for you in minutes. Our job is to understand the internet so you can focus on running your business.
Business email addresses
Business email addresses are an important part of the online experience. Customers like to
know that they are dealing with a professional company and place value on receiving
email from a business email address, as opposed to a free webmail address such as Hotmail or Gmail.
A professional email address gives your business credibility and makes your emails much less likely to be mistaken for spam. It will also let people know where they can find your website if they want more information.
When taking your business online, make sure you set up email addresses for each
member of staff so your customers know they are getting through to the right person when they contact you.
Branded email signatures
Having branded email signatures reinforces your brand and presents you as the professional organisation that you are. It also allows you to include all your contact details, social media accounts, logo and any additional information you would like the customer to know.
Branded HTML email templates
Email marketing is a great way to reach out to existing (and potential!) clients but they should always be “on brand” to reinforce your company identity.
Placing text in an email and sending is a great first step, but what are your competitors doing?
Think about emails that you receive from companies and how they present information. Moonpig and Groupon are great examples of branded email templates, using images and interesting content to grab the attention of the reader…
Take your existing brand, add some style and flair and watch click-throughs soar!
At Skills on Toast, we know and understand how to get you online and how to get you noticed for all the right things. Combine our knowledge with a number of packages designed to support this process and you have a recipe for success.
If you have any questions about our online packages, or just want to say hello, please give us a call on 0117 230 3322 … we’d love to hear from you!
