18 steps to getting your business online Any business will benefit from having a strong presence online.

You may think you don’t need to bother or that your business can thrive off word-of-mouth alone. The reality is that you are quite limited in terms of growth if you don’t get on the web.

Even local-oriented businesses will have a lot more success with an online presence as consumers are increasingly searching for businesses near them:

“82 percent of smartphone A style guide for your shoppers conduct ‘near me’ business online searches” Instead of starting from scratch for every webpage — Search Engine Land, 2018 (from Hubspot) or pamphlet, you can build a style guide to inform most of the design decisions you have to make. Not only will Getting started online can seem daunting, so that’s why this make all your content uniform in style, but it will also we put together this eBook and companion video for help you when you are working with outside agencies getting your business online. It may seem like a lot of who are trying to figure out what you want. work but it will save you a lot of time later, and get you better results from your online presence. Ideally, you hire an agency or graphic designer to create this for you. If you don’t yet have the budget however, Now, before you build your website and marketing you can follow these guiding principles to get something materials... decent. 1. Pick one to two fonts and stick with them

These fonts should represent your brand and what you should consider a slab serif like Rockwell and Venus want to say. If you are a tech company then you want a Egyptienne—a font category designed alongside the clean sans serif like Roboto and Open Sans. Sans serif is invention of typewriters. the newest grouping of fonts and it suits newer types of businesses. To add a strong flourish of high society, use a modern font like Abril Fatface and Bodoni. It will make your audience If your business is very traditional, like a hand-made think of tuxedos and fur coats (great for your tuxedo and leather company for example, you might want to try an fur coat business). old-style font, such as Garamond and Lora. If you are unsure of what to use, you can play it safe with For something literary or journalistic in nature, you a sans serif—the first example.

2. Choose a small colour pallet and stick with it!

Use one set of 2-3 colours for a cohesive look that makes Psychology of colours : the basics your business instantly recognizable. To choose the palette on your own, you should aim to find colours that RED Exciting represent the mood you want your business to evoke. → BLUE Dependable Make the colour that best represents your business → the primary one you use but put together a full-colour PURPLE Creative palette using a tool like https://coolors.co/. → ORANGE Friendly Don’t forget to make sure your colours are printer- → friendly! Test them by printing them out and taking a YELLOW → Optimistic good look to see resemble what you see on screen. You GREEN Peaceful can use Pantone and Trumatch colour-swatch books → at the printer to match up the on-screen and printing GREY Calm colours without wasting ink. → 3. Consistency with your titles and headers

To maintain a consistent look and feel to your website Keep the font size and boldness consistent for each level and marketing materials, make sure your headers are of header—main title, subheadings, sub-sub headings consistent. Use the same font—which can differ from etc. Make the difference in size noticeable or else it will your body text font—and decide on what to use capitals look more like a mistake than an intentional choice. for. To give off a more casual vibe, you can just have the Do not use ALL CAPS for your body text under any first letter of your header capitalized—or no letters if you circumstance. It is harder to read and no one likes being want to be a bit extreme. You can also capitalize each shouted at while they’re trying to learn more about your word longer than three letters (with exceptions) or take offerings—unless your business involves drill sargent the thinking out of the equation and capitalize the start training. of every word like some more youthful publications have taken to.

4. Encasings

Sometimes headers, text, and You can use some shapes yourself but try to stick to the images are encased in shapes same shape—this isn’t a geometry class—unless it is and like boxes or circles. in that case—go nuts!

5. Logo

Don’t make a logo by yourself unless you have been different colour or font for the second word and remove trained in the dark arts of logo design. However, if you the space between them. ] really don’t want to spend money, use a basic text logo. Plenty of businesses choose a font, a colour, maybe a Format line or two, and call it a logo. You can use your insights from the previous section on fonts to choose the right Your logo needs to be a vector file with a transparent font here. This is a solid approach but again, the text logo background or else it is vulnerable to looking like crap. is still typically done by a designer or agency. At the very Programs like Illustrator and Affinity Designer are great least, just don’t use clip art or a cropped picture from for making vector logos but do require a bevy of tutorials google. to get started. Once the logo is finished, export it in the following formats: .eps, .png (transparent background), [ A quick tip : If you have a two-word name, try using a and .svg (for web). 6. Building your website

You can either hire a web designer/web design service buy a domain through them. You can also buy a domain or build a website yourself. If you don’t have HTML and through a service like GoDaddy and use Wordpress to CSS skills, try a website building platform like WIX or create your site. Wordpress is more customizable but is Squarespace. They are easy to use and you can even less user-friendly than Wix or Squarespace.

7. Tone

You need to match the tone of your website to your If you already have existing clients and customers, make audience. Are you speaking to tech-savvy individuals who notes of the phrasing they use to describe the challenges know their tech acronyms? Or are you trying to cater to they have and how your business resolves them. Use the someone with a limited understanding of your industry? same terms you hear throughout your website. Ultimately, the knowledge level of your potential clients and customers should dictate the language you use.

8. Keyword Planning

Decide on keywords you want to use that are appropriate for your business. Pick one that reflects your business the most and then use the Google Keyword Planner to come up with a few more. Try to use these keywords throughout your pages and images in a very natural way. Keyword stuffing is considered a sin in some regions.

With all your planning finished, it is time to get your hands dirty with the most important page on your site: the homepage. 9. Writing your homepage

You need to treat your homepage with the same care Don’t get too overwhelmed by the stakes because a and attention you would your storefront. It’s often a good homepage is easier than it seems. You just need a visitor’s first introduction to your business. It needs keyboard and a large handful of juicy tips to guide you to to be inviting, informative, and also Google friendly. SERP (Search Engine Results Page) heaven.

I. Simplicity III. Headline

Less is more when you are trying to commincate to The headline and accompanying paragraph are the first people with short attention spans on phones while words your site visitors are going to see on your website. riding an overcrowded bus Make your page as simple as It can make the difference between someone staying possible while getting across the necessary information. and exploring your site or moving on to something else.

You have to make sure this text explains what you are, II. Navigation and the value you offer the visitor—all in a concise and clear way. Use the tone and common wording your Your navigation bar should have no more than the seven customers use to build the headline and paragraph out. most important pages on your website. To see what Decide on keywords you want to use that best suit your those pages should be, go to a competitor of yours or a business. Start by coming up with one that reflects your company further along and see what they have in their business and then use the Google Keyword Planner to navbar. come up with a few more. Try to use one or two of them Here’s a typical navbar : in your opening headline and paragraph, and sprinkle them naturally throughout your page. About | Services | Pricing | Blog | Contact Now, when writing your headline and paragraph, write While you’re in the area, add your phone number to at least a dozen versions and pick your favourite three the top right of the page. No one wants to waste time from that list. Run those three by your co-workers and searching for a number in 2020. people who don’t know your business. If they understand what you do from your headline and paragraph, then 44% of internet users will leave you know you got yourself a good one. If you have the websites that don’t offer contact capabilities, A/B test a few different headlines and paragraphs to choose the most effective ones. information or a phone number.

KoMarketing (from HubSpot)

You’ve been warned. IV. Images

“Hear a piece of information, and three days later you’ll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65%” John Madina - brain rules

Consumers are far less likely to read a website without V. Keywords in your images—a wall of text has a tendency to scare people image files away. Images can also communicate a lot to visitors in a short period of time, making them a very efficient Name your files using keywords that reflect the image. vehicle for your website. Here’s a sample file name for an image featuring people using an advertising platform: easy-advertising- The quality of your images is very important too. A platform.png. Place a dash between words when pixelated, generic stock photo from a Google search will creating the image. For the image ALT Text, just write out not only make your business look bad but it is technically the file name without the dashes and file type. illegal. Either pick some images from a paid or free stock image website or hire a professional photographer to take photos of your business offerings and employees. If VI. Call to Action you have a unique product, this is highly recommended. You can also contract an illustrator to come up with Don’t save your CTA for the end of the page—although images that abide by your style guide. Illustrations are you should have it there too—plant one right below your great for complicated services because they can fit in headline and paragraph. more visual information than a picture. They will also give your homepage a sense of unity. CTA Tips

Try to have three different CTAs on your homepage.

AWARENESS - ex. Subscribe to a newsletter

CONSIDERATION - ex. Learn more

DECISION - ex. Buy now

Make sure your CTA under the headline is a decision- based CTA. Some visitors coming to your website may be ready to make a purchase immediately and you do not want to slow them down or deter them in any way. VII. Video IX. Social Proof

If you have the time to put together a video, it can be a Now it is time to brag a little bit about the impressive clients great benefit to your webpage in numerous ways. A video you have worked with and any awards or certifications can explain your business efficiently and will appeal to you care to share. Or, consider showing a video case visitors who don’t feel like doing a lot of reading (most of study that speaks very highly of your business. If you them). Videos on your homepage also improve your SERP don’t have any of these, try asking a client or customer by offering more information to Google and keeping for a flattering quote for your website visitors on your page for longer—also liked by Google. X. Dump the rest at the footer

Add the remaining important links in the footer to cover all your bases. For example :

Copyright | Terms of use | Contact | Postal address Phone number | Social icons (your social media pages Email sign-up or subscription | Search box

VIII. Elaborate a bit

Below the fold, feel free to explain your business offering a bit more but keep it short. Aim for roughly 300 words overall for Google’s sake but don’t fret if you end up with less.

Remember to pepper in your keywords in the most natural way possible. Forced keywords will make your homepage sound suspicious, like a parent describing broccoli as “fun”. Other important pages you will need : 11. Testimonials / Case About | Products and/or Services | Testimonials / Case Studies | Contact Us | Resources (eventually). Studies

A case study demonstrates that your product or service really works and customers will vouch for you. With this content, your audience can also get a stronger sense of how your business actually operates, especially if you 10. About or About us include some b roll of your product.

Case studies can be written but the content makes for ‘About’ is likely to be your most popular page aside from great videos that are easy to digest. If you have the the homepage. It needs to accomplish a few things to be means, try putting a video together. worthy of all the attention it will get.

You need your page to tell the story of your business along with a description of your business and the problem(s) it solves. Ideally, your story includes the product and solution.

Don’t be shy about including personal details, especially ones you think your audience would relate to. A good story will get the reader invested in you and more interested in your offering.

Take some time when you’re writing the meta description 12. Resources page for for this page. In Google search results, this description will be front and center. It could easily make or break a future content click-through.

If you are planning to create content for your website, you will need a Resources or Blog page. This is a good way to draw in more visitors and improve the SEO (Search ÉLIE Clinique x go Engine Optimization) of your site. More on this later in the SEO section.

About

A few years ago, Dr. Valérie J. Dr. Valérie J. Brousseau didn’t stop Brousseau opened up a private at offering unique surgeries. She surgery clinic in Montreal, brought the same approach to Quebec. Her goal was to offer her waiting rooms; if you can still specific surgeries that were either call them that. Each room at Élie not available in the Quebec Clinique Privée has a distinct theme healthcare system, or access was and is designed to entertain a limited. large range of guests. There’s a playroom for kids, a games room Valérie is an ears, nose and throat for adolescents, a cigar room for specialist. She specializes in adults (minus the cigars of course) performing surgical endoscopies– and a few more accommodating –a type of surgery that minimizes spaces. Valérie doesn’t want her invasiveness leading to shorter patients to have to experience the recovery times for patients. same old sterile and uncomfortable Valérie is also one of the only waiting rooms you see in typical surgeons in Canada that offers healthcare environments. It’s her challenge a specific throat endoscopy clinic, and she has designed it with that is designed to benefit the her unique vision. Performing lesser-know surgeries and transgender community. These opening up a new clinic posed an obvious are surgeries that aren’t well challenge: how do you make potential known among patients and other clients and physicians aware of your doctors but are highly valuable. services? The simple answer is that you have to be easy to find. Valérie knew this and started engaging in online marketing on her own. She did some research on best practices and ran some Google ads.

Her marketing efforts brought in clients and were successful at first but eventually became limited in their ability to grow the clientele of Élie Clinique Privée. Running the clinic’s marketing was also draining for Valérie, “I was doing a lot of Google Ads myself that I put together with my website. After about, let’s say, 10 months or so, I was getting pretty exhausted doing this on my own”.

go.districtm.net | [email protected] 1/2 13. Mobile optimization for smartphone shoppers

Smartphone users frequently research products on their Over 51% of smartphone users have mobile before making a purchase. If your site isn’t mobile- friendly, you’re potentially losing a lot of customers. discovered a new company or

You will need to address the load speed of the site, the product while conducting a search page design, images, user-friendliness and how your on their smartphone. site approaches the conversion of pages from desktop to mobile. (Google, 2018 stat from Hubspot)

14. E-commerce

Planning on selling to consumers directly online? If you haven’t already, check out Shopify or Magento. They make this whole process fairly simple.

15. Social media pages

When you do create your pages, make sure your branding is consistent across each network so your customers recognize you across channels.

You also have to determine what Social Networks are best for your brand and focus on them. For example, fashion is better suited for Instagram and Pinterest over Twitter. 16. Email Marketing

It is time to start collecting emails. Why? To establish a email for the sake of sending you more helpful content. closer relationship with customers and generate new And hey, if you are in need of a great online-advertising leads. You can ask your customers for their email in a platform and service, Go has everything you need :). variety of ways: “Would you like to hear about upcoming When you have a whole pile of emails, start building deals?”, “Would you like us to email your receipt to you?” newsletters to send out to your email list. Fill them with (this one is sneaky). Or you can use your website to collect discounts, special offers, helpful content and anything them. You can place a “subscribe to our newsletter” form your customers would be inclined to open. To streamline at the bottom of your pages or require an email when this process as well as generate good data and analytics, someone wants to download one of your hot new PDFs. use a service like Mail Chimp, Email Octopus or Online I’m actually considering turning this into a PDF for this Mail Raven (I made this last one up). exact reason. If you are reading this in PDF form then I’m sorry but part of the intent of this content was to get your

17. Content and SEO

Did you know you can generate leads, interest and That’s right, your content needs to be Google and Bing conversions without spending money? No, it’s not sorcery friendly. Bing too? Yeah, sorry. To become friendlier, you or black magic. However, like anything that doesn’t need to generate keywords for the topic you’re creating require money, it requires a substantial commitment of content on and check how competitive those keywords time—or money to pay someone for their time. Here it is : are using a tool like Neil Patel’s Ubersuggest. Try to find by creating helpful content in the form of blogs, eBooks, a keyword that isn’t too competitive but still gets a lot of whitepapers and more, you can bring in leads. searches—if you can.

The people, they come to your website for the good Sprinkle your keywords throughout your content in a content, they recognize your brand, they give you their very natural way as previously mentioned. Make your email, you follow up with more helpful content and headings H2 and H3 tagged and be sure to include eventually some more sales-forward emails. If you keywords in them. generate a lot of traffic with your good content, then If you have video to support your content, that can that’s a lot of free leads and ultimately, conversions. help your SEO by keeping people on your page longer. But how do you get people to look at all those great words Captioning the video will also help search engines get and visuals you put together? You can promote your a better sense of how relevant your content is to a user’s content on social media, send it out via those emails you search. collected and most importantly, engage in SEO. 18. Online advertising

SEO can take quite a while and you probably need to can also buy Facebooks Ads, which we again, have a reach your potential customers right away. You have guide for. To take advantage of display and retargeting numerous options to make this happen. You can pay to ads—those ads you see on websites—you need a get your website to the top of search results with SEM— platform or service. read our handy SEM guide if you need some insight. You

Go is an online advertising platform and service that makes SEM, Facebook Ads, and display, simple.

If you could benefit from such a service, reach out to us at (514) 673-2410.