Smaller businesses are often living from moment to moment. There can be a thrill to that chase, but most SME leaders, and their workers, would probably rather have security and a firm grasp on the future.
While there is some optimism in the SME space today, most of these firms are struggling to plan beyond 2023. Tech is often the answer to demystifying the future and predicting how firms must evolve, so putting more eggs in this basket makes sense. Company websites, specifically, have a huge part to play.
That said, SMEs aren’t always best positioned to innovate (though exceptions do occur). They can have limited funds, smaller staff numbers, and fewer resources. Internal state-of-the-art web design isn’t always easy; training and know-how are still required. On top of that, competition is high with other web users.
Keep reading if you’re running an SME and want to establish your company as a more future-driven firm through your website. Hopefully, you’ll find some useful guidance that might help you.
Work with Ecommerce Experts
You’ve likely heard plenty of advice instructing you to digitise your business and go online. It’s basic guidance but often doesn’t cover how to go the extra mile here.
Believe it or not, multiple avenues exist to put your business online. Creating a generic website with a free design tool likely won’t generate a significant impact. There are millions of company websites out there, and yours needs to stand out or risk being a seldom-visited, easily forgotten corner of the world wide web.
Alternatively, see Charle’s website for a better way to go about things. The domain is run by future-driven ecommerce experts who not only build great websites for your immediate needs but also forecast what the industry may look like tomorrow and develop the site accordingly. This accredited Shopify agency in London has worked with big-name clients and won numerous awards for their influential work, so collaborating with them closely is a no-brainer solution.
Delve Into Web Analytics
Your company website will likely churn out a lot of data. How you extrapolate and utilise it can determine how future-driven your SME can be.
Web analytics tools are what can grant you most of these insights. You can browse data around:
- Search terms.
- Returning and new visitor numbers.
- Click paths (what visitors clicked on and how long it took them to reach certain parts of the site).
- Where your web traffic comes from.
Sometimes you must analyse the past to pave the way for the future. Monitor your site’s use and make any appropriate changes you deem necessary. If people aren’t returning to the site or sticking around, you’ll know to evolve the domain.
Reply to Reviews
Most businesses publish their reviews or at least have publicly available feedback. Not all of the remarks receive a response, though.
Why not change that? Whether reviews are positive or negative, having customer service personnel respond to the occasional post can help establish closer relations with customers and clients and develop a dialogue around your business. You could also respond to any remarks personally if you think that’s appropriate.
Your site should be a hub for community and connection. You might be an SME, but debate and discussion can create more influence and interest. Of course, people like feeling they’ve been heard out as a general point anyway and are more likely to return to trade with a business receptive to their opinions and interests.
Future-driven businesses are customer-oriented, and your website is a great place to establish that understanding for your SME. If you interject some humour and levity into fitting responses, that could humanise your brand and make it appear more friendly.
Celebrate Your Purpose
Many businesses record their journey online. Not all of them do it well, though.
Still, it’s important to unquestionably define what your company does and where it’s making progress via your website. Aside from your core mission objectives, you can also share how your business is faring with things like sustainability, charity initiatives, and anything else with global appeal with the help of a video collage. It all builds character. It all builds character and creates a community around your SME through tech. Celebrate your journey, but simultaneously instil values and build your brand through tech.
Companies must fight harder to appear in more online searches and increase web traffic. Part of that comes through adopting Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) principles, such as by integrating keywords commonly searched for by search engine users. The density of those keywords matters too – if you use too many, it can have the reverse effect and send your content to the bottom of the rankings. They should appear in the body of the text and titles and subheaders where possible.
Then there are meta-descriptions, meta-tags and other metadata to consider as well. It all boosts the visibility of your web posts and ensures your company isn’t just screaming into an internal void. Finesse is always required when it comes to content creation.
