There's no better time to get your business noticed online Whether you're a start-up, business or entrepreneur looking to get online, register your .uk domain name today and start your journey. With a .uk domain, you too could signpost your website and email address as a safe, trusted space for customers to do business with. Knowing where to start can often be a daunting experience and we're here to offer you tips and advice on registering your domain name, building your website and email addresses and standing out from the crowd online.
The internet revolutionised how we shop, learn, communicate, do business live. Startups.co.uk was launched in 2000 when Google was still small fry, when there were 361 million internet users, compared with over three billion today In this time, a successful website has gone from a "nice- to-have" to an absolute necessity for almost all businesses.
A professional, functional website can help with everything from gaining funding to increasing sales. A slap-dash job won't cut it these days. Customers are more web-savvy, more impatient and more demanding than ever. We all do it: if a site is too difficult to find on Google, if a homepage takes too long to load,if navigation isn't immediately intuitive, if the if seems isn't copy design professional enough to instil trust, we're off This makes creating, designing or re-designing a website daunting prospect. And that's with Nominet, has put together this e-book.
We believe the best way of gaining a real advantage is to speak to people who are glorying in the success of their own high-quality sites. In fact, thought the most valuable publication would collect and distil the advice from some of the UK's brightest business owners with great websites top And that's exactly what we've done. Enjoy!
Start your online journey
Last year saw a staggering 580,000-plus new businesses popping up across the UK, helping grow and strengthen the UK economy. This year the numbers are set to soar again, and yet still a significant number of businesses do not have own website and email address.
Even fewer use or understand the power of social media to raise their profile and increase awareness (and ultimately drive sales)
With customers becoming more tech savvy and using websites and social channels to validate compare and share their shopping experiences, getting your online brand identity right and adopting new technologies is a must for gaining the competitive edge in and Knowing where to start can often be a daunting experience and we're here to offer you tips and advice on getting your domain name registered, building your website and email addresses and standing out from the crowd.
Well crafted websites are a good indicator of quality
1.Don't forget who your website is really for
Websites can achieve a lot of powerful things, but not all at once so it's really important you plan and prioritise. "Where are you now? Where do you want to be? How can a website get you there?' basic questions like these can really help hone your aims from the start. They'll reveal what you want from your website, what you don't want and, even more important, check that your expectations are realistic. As well as saving you time, money and your sanity, the end result will be a website that engages your audience faster. And that's the key audience, who is this website really for?
2.A great website could help you get funding
We work with thousands of small businesses and start-ups across the UK, and we find a well-crafted website is a good indicator of quality and professionalism. When our account managers are assessing a customer's application for finance, their website is one of the first things they check out so having a great website could even improve your chances of getting funding.
3.Secure the right domain name
Securing your business name as a domain gives your website and email address legitimacy, inspires trust for your customers and will help people find you online. A domain name with a maximum of two or three words makes it more likely that people will spell it correctly, remember it and most importantly pass it on.
Take look at our top 10 tips for choosing your domain name here.
Tech changes brands evolve, and so do people
4.Change "issues" to ideas "
In the early days we lost hours every day discussing the relative merits of ideas as they popped into our head. That's when we introduced pitch days. The way it works is any time a member of my amazing team comes up with an idea to improve the platform they pop a note of it in a folder. Then every quarter they review the folder, pick the top three ideas and do a fve minute pitch to the team. After each pitch we spend another five minutes discussing the relative merits of the idea. Some of the best ideas for the platform have come from these sessions.
5.Don't lose sight of your initial business idea
Our tip to anyone building a website would be don't forget your core idea and get swept away with creating a million additional features or you risk your website becoming as confused as your train of thought! We were also determined to keep an open mind long term about how the site would develop. Lots of people think you build a website and that's the end of it. But tech changes, your brand evolves and so do the people using it. You have to stay agile and have a team of brilliant people around you to enable you to stay up to date.
6.Identify your USP
There has to be a focus on standing out from the competition: what is your USP? With our website, quality products and great design were top of the list with customer service right up there. Always, always be the best you can with the resources you have. We can't always offer free delivery, for example like Amazon can, due to high volumes being despatched, but having a personal touch and fast responses to queries will make you stand out from the crowd and bring people back to you in the future.
7.Design your own structure
To save money, you can design a lot of the website yourself. Write down everything you like about some other websites the layout, structure, use of colours and imagery, ease of use etc. Then design each page onto a sheet of A4 and draw out a spider diagram to show how each page links to another. One of the most important things for e-commerce sites is to make sure people buy, so think about this when designing the structure look at other e-commerce sites, which will have had a lot of money spent on them, Look how that structure supports and encourages online sales.
Write down everything you like about some other sites the layout, ease of use, etc.
8.Start with a niche
It's easy to get carried away thinking big, but much better to focus on a niche, which you can grow over time. Designing for, writing for, and optimising for a highly targeted audience helps to focus every aspect of the business, and helps to cut through the noise to reach the exact people you're looking for.
9.Consider the structure of the URL
One aspect of SEO that very important, but often overlooked, the structure of URLs. The URL needs accurately represent what the page is, so it is relevant to visitors and search engines. But, it can also be optimised to improve the chances of ranking highly in the search results. One way to optimise the URL is to make sure you're not including any capital letters. final bit of advice regarding URLs is keep them below 115 characters. Overly long URLs won't display properly on many browsers and search engines. They also put off the visitor and can potentially reduce traffic.
10.Simple sites may not need developer
If money is an issue, you may not need to hire web developer at all. There are plenty of web builders and editing platforms there that enable business owners with absolutely no web design knowledge to create their online shop windows: GoDaddy or for example, offer extensive support services. But if your website is going be packed full of more advanced features and going to require hard coding or be backed up by a complicated database- driven retrieval system, you need to employ a professional web developer.
11.Shorter is sweeter
Since more fun and effciency in fashion is what FashionUnited is striving for, a short domain choice is crucial for us. When the .uk domain became available and a website redesign was within our grasp, we knew what to do: save time and space and skip the .co in the .co.uk. At the same time we dropped the "www." and changed to a safer https domain. The .uk domain is more contemporary and it's shorter!
12.Get inspired by global leaders
Don't try and be the smartest person the room. Believe it or not there are people a lot smarter at building websites than most of us. Find them, look at their sites and copy. For example, look to Amazon for the best payment gateway the world and the BBC for content management.
13.Build secure website
You wouldn't leave your shop or home unlocked, so make sure have up-to date security software installed on your website to keep any pesky viruses or hackers away.
14.Don't overwhelm visitors
Entrepreneurs and charity workers often have a deep attachment to their product cause and that can lead to inundating readers with too much information Websites are only the start of the relationship, so pare it back and think about what response you want from your audience right away. You may want to them to become very well informed on your issue, but the chances are you want them to sign up, buy now tell someone else straight away. Think about each of those actions and build your website around making it simple to get there.
15.Be clear on your vision
"Your website communicates the soul of your company: not just what you sell, but what you stand for so it's really important invest a lot of time thinking about how create your online experience. I would recommend getting really clear on what you need before finding a digital agency to work with. Try to find a company that understands what you are trying to achieve and can provide strong visual, technical and commercial direction. You want a website that looks good but more importantly, converts.
16.Keep it simple
Keeping it simple is key. We promote our online shop, farm shop and through the Roaming Roosters website and had a homepage which was quirky and great to look at, but difficult to navigate. Three very distinct areas of the business were merging into one and we needed to remedy this in order to drive traffic to the right area every time; and ultimately drive sales. We re-designed our homepage to clearly reflect the splits within the business and, as such, online sales have tripled within recent months.
17.A good project manager is vital
Approaching a website build without a project manager is like sending a ship out to sea without a captain. Eventually there will be mutiny and the ship may never come in to dock, or if it does it will be very, very late. A good PM will ensure your milestones are hit; they will minimize risk; they will be brutal with scope creep, and they will guard the budget like the crown jewels. But a great PM will also be highly skilled at managing the different personalities and egos you inevitably get when you throw designers, developers, editorial, and management together.
There's no better time to get your business noticed online.
Whether you're a start-up business or entrepreneur looking to get online, register your .uk domain name today and start your journey. Find out more at a great place to be .uk With a .uk domain, you too could signpost your website and email address as a safe, trusted space for customers to do business with Nominet, who brings you .uk domain names, is one of the world's largest internet registries, responsible for the smooth and secure running of over 10 million .uk domain names. So you're in safe hands.
1.Stripykat uk switched to a .uk domain name because they wanted to highlight the Britishness of their brand.
2.Fashionunited.uk switched to uk domain name as it gives a local, contemporary touch to an international business. Knowing where to start can often be a daunting experience and we're here to help you by offering tips and advice on registering your domain name, building your website and email addresses and standing out from the crowd online. Last year saw a staggering 580,000+ new businesses popping up across the UK, helping grow and strengthen the UK economy.
This year the numbers are set to soar again, and yet still a significant number of businesses do not have their own website and email address. Even fewer use or understand the power of social media to raise their profle and increase awareness (and ultimately drive sales) With customers becoming more tech savvy and using websites and social channels to validate, compare and share their shopping experiences, getting your business online with a strong brand identity and adopting new technologies is a must for gaining the competitive edge in 2015 and onwards. So it is an essential part of our domain business to lend our support and expertise to help business start-ups and entrepreneurs get their online digital presence right. Entrepreneurship and innovation are some of the things which make the UK such a great place to do business and we're excited to be working with Startups. co.uk to offer you an e-Book packed full of everything you need to get you started online.
Together we can offer you help in your journey to online success by providing advice and support and insight from those entrepreneurs and start-ups who have real life experiences to share with you.
3.Devonshiretea.uk were one of the first to buy a uk domain name. Their .uk domain showcases their British heritage. Watch our case study videos and hear what having a .uk domain name means to their businesses By Sally Ockwell, Nominet's Head of Marketing, the organisation who brings you .uk domains
18.Your site needs m be able to evolve
Make it futureproof: Your business might just be starting out, but it will inevitably change and hopefully grow. Make sure you have a site that can evolve with your company easily, ideally with a content management system. The last thing you want is to pay a company to build a site only for you to have to fork out again every time you want something changed.
Even the biggest companies are Constantly testing things
19.Analytics can inform changes
I would advise installing analytics software (such as Google Analytics) from the outset and making use of A/B testing tools like optimizely this will allow you to better understand how your site is being used by customers, and what changes need making Even the biggest, best companies are constantly testing new things and changing their websites to see what works best as a start-up, you need to work even harder, so be prepared to constantly re-evaluate everything about your website don't be too precious.
20.Learn the lingo
Building the site in such a way that you very rarely need anyone else to help you update or maintain it means investing some time in understanding the technology (you should be able to brief a developer and talk their language or you risk either becoming bamboozled or paying more than you need to). We used wordpress and a number of simple plugins that were easy for a non- coder such as myself to use thereby saving time and money as I updated elements of the site and didn't need our developer. If it's more important that your site clean, simple, up to date and bug- free than it is to be unique in every way, you may save money and time by using off-the-shelf package.
21.Keep mobile in mind
Most users browse on their phones and tablets these days, so designing websites desktop and trying to make them work mobile is a weak approach. Always check websites on your phone first hand before going live. Many businesses fail to think of a website as a marketing tool and more of an operational tool such as a till point, but websites need to call out to customers, engage with them and ultimately get them the shopping cart just like an in-store experience.
22.Design should reflect your ethos
At Drunken Dairy we're very serious about the quality and integrity of our products but the brand is about having fun, and the image of the tipsy cow is key. don't profess to be Walt Disney, but we do want people to smile at and feel little love (or empathy!) for her. Our products are simple and natural as we can make them, so clean lines, lots of white, simple fonts and styling all used to try reflect our ethos. We will also invest a professional food photographer to take some high quality images. Overall, the best advice would be spend time checking out successful brands online and not just those who make or do the same as you.
23.An app will provide greater reach
Visibility is vital for a business. As well being found through Google, another key way potential customers might find you is through searching the app store their smartphones. Therefore, an app w give you a wider reach. With three main phone types these days (iPhone, Android and Windows Phone) each with their own app store, it can be a worry how to build for each of these. Thankfully some cross platform tools such as PhoneGap allow you to build your app once, and then package up each the phone types. It's a great and simple way to build your app, so etting your brand on the app store isn't hard as you may think.
24.Focus on user experience
People expect to be able to interact with your site on mobile just as easily as they would on a desktop computer Small font sizes, misaligned templates and configuration errors all contribute to a poor user experience, which will not only lead higher bounce rates from mobile users, could now also affect your performance Google's search engine.
The perfect app doesn't exist...
25.Good apps take time
The most important thing [when building an app] is time allow perhaps twice as long as you think you will need! We designed and built from scratch, with our IT developers, the UK's first childcare booking app. A complicated job and certainly very technical and the most time-consuming part was the glitches and bugs which needed ironing out, pre-launch. Having said that, never wait for the perfect totally glitch-free app before launch. It doesn't exist as you will always find little things which need fixing.
26.Blogs are a powerful tool
We have three blogs; one to tell people about events we're attending, another that tells people about general LittlePod news, and a third blog that gives me an opportunity to talk about some of the things I'm passionate about such as supporting sustainable vanilla farming. They're the most frequently updated part of our content. provide a quick and simple method of ensuring that our site is continually being updated with good quality, keyword rich content, and are a vital component our search marketing activities.
27.Not all social media is the same
The important thing we quickly realised was that different social channels should be used to achieve different goals. For example, we found Twitter to be a great networking and traffic driving channel, where as Instagram is more of a brand building tool for us. Our other key learning was to embrace being a start-up and show our followers that there were "real people' behind the website.
28.Monitor analytics
Platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer powerful targeting tools which help your ads to reach a very specific target audience. Get to know the functionalities these platforms offer and monitor the analytics closely." Annabel Causer Honest Brew www.honestbrew.co.uk
29.Personalise offers and discounts
People don't always want to buy when you want them to buy so your second goal lead capture. In exchange for their email address (which can be used for marketing campaigns) will want something in they return, so offer your discounts and offers based on the product demographic they have shown interest in.
30.Link up your online marketing
We use blogs alongside social networks to bring new customers to our website and our online shop (lots of likes and followers are great, but they don't pay the bills unless we can convert them to customers!). We link Facebook posts and tweets back to our blogs, and use a Facebook plugin so our visitors can comment on posts while at the same time sharing their opinions with their Facebook friends.
31.Engage with your customers
"The two objectives of the website was to provide access to information (product company recruitment) and, equally importantly, to start building a richer experience of the brand beyond the product and packaging. This was done not only through the style and tone but also through the ability to connect with us through blogs and product ratings being able to dig into the history of the business.
32.Answer Questions for effective SEO
Since the launch of Hummingbird algorithm by Google, which is putting increasing weight on sites that answer questions e.g. "how do I find my dream creative job? instead of keywords, such as "creative jobs', our SEO is going through the roof The reason Google is starting to prioritize questions is that they're preparing for voice-activated search via (for example) Apple Watch. The way we capitalize on this is by writing relevant blog articles that answer specific questions regularly asked by our users, thus bumping The Dots to of the results instantly.
33.Stick to your values
When you are building a brand it is just as important to say no as yes. Stick to brand values, only partner or feature people and businesses that you are proud to be associated with. Play the long game rather than chase short term gratification. We have often said no running promotions, because we don't feel they reflect who we are. This can be hard when you're chasing revenue and things are tight! But worth it in the long run.
34.Plan before approaching PPC
Before going near pay-per-click (PPO) clear proposition and a great product your customers want and need. Have a clear website that demonstrates how your product fits with this want and need. Have a decent on-page SEO strategy with relevant keywords included in a natural way. Then you're ready to set up a test PPC campaign. When your potential customer searching for brown leather bags, make sure your advert headline echoes this, and this promise is fulfilled on your landing page. it's not, your potential customer will leave, never to return, and you will have wasted the money spent on the click. PPC brilliant if you're happy making sure your online advertising experience aligns to the customer's expectations.
35.Set up metrics
Understand your key performance indicators (KPIs) as quickly as possible Google Analytics is a powerful tool where you can set up to monitor your business KPIs. In terms of being able to measure what is or isn't working, it's key to get metrics set up so you have visibility.
36.Relevance is key for AdWords
AdWords is Google's own paid advertising platform. But unlike bidding systems like eBay, AdWords is based on a range of factors other than just budget. You'll be more successful and save money too if you also consider your ads' relevance and the quality of your keyword targeting in other words, your AdWords quality a Google Partner agency to manage your AdWords account if possible.
37.Invest in editorial content
The trick to content marketing is in seeing your blog not as a mouthpiece for your corporate side, as most company blogs have traditionally been used, but instead viewing it as a kind of magazine. Be interesting, be chatty, be helpful and be consistent. If you can afford to use experienced writers and editors, do! The difference in quality will really stand out, and you'll save yourself the considerable stress of having to keep up with an editorial schedule that hopefully will become increasingly demanding as the word spreads.
38. Focus on email lists
Prioritise building a high quality email list from day one. On social media, the platforms own the connection not you. They are constantly changing their terms and conditions and if they disappear so does your community. Email trumps social media every time.
39.Own your content
Social media may feel free, but content is an investment of time and attention Keeping ownership content will bring traffic for years to come, rather than being ost tomorrow to the social stream. So use social media to get people back, which is the part you can truly own and contro.
40.Give something back for data
Data is gold. But it puts people off to have to give their email addresses before they've even bought We try to give them something a PDF or an Ezine (on decorating a nursery in exchange for their email address. Then you need to keep them interested. Newsletters have to GIVE for example, in giving information about things that are happening. Selling itself becomes secondary.
41.The personal touch goes a long way
When launch we were promoting our site pre- to the target market of video producers, direct mail was really effective response rate of 15%. We followed this up post-launch with phone calls. Anybody can spam your inbox so direct ma when done we can spark people's interest more. We sent hand-written out mail in a service, envelopes. If you are offering market this could way to your website.
42. Videos can be crucial
"The use of video as a tool on our website and within our marketing is crucial and, after learning that by 2018 84% of internet traffic will be from video we've increased our emphasis on this We optimised our YouTube channel to highlight more specifically what we do by re-organising our landing page, writing more specific video descriptions linked to successful search factors, including transcripts (as this re-emphasises our keywords to Google), linking this up with our activity on other social channels and taking a fresh look at calls to action in a video context. From YouTube, the videos are easy to embed on our website and within social media posts.
43.Make it easy to Visualise products
When selling online, it's essential that the customer gets a true sense of the product. This is especially important for us as a home wares company, but strongly recommend a focus on product presentation for any business. We have a strong focus on copy imagery and we are not afraid of spending a large sum of our budget on presentation. Each product comes with a detailed description and five images, including a close-up. Sometimes, we even include a short video. this helps customers visualize the products in their own homes and drastically reduces rate returns, which clear indicator of our success.
44.Invest time product pages
"Visually, product pages need to be simple but informative. On Zurleys we try to have anywhere between one five pictures, more if we are promoting a range bedroom furniture, for example, where can have around 10-12 images other information such as price, delivery times, assembly, dimension, material, description and upsells are all essential to promoting always products. Customer reviews are up. We great but can take time to build on spend a large portion our time product pages. You need to separate yourselves from competition and content/ ayout and customer service all helps you do this.
45.Use The Golden Circle theory
We used The Golden Circle theory proposed by Simon Sinek. This means you focus on the Why, then How and then lastly the What, rather than the reverse which is how most other companies (including ourselves previously) present themselves. WHY are we in business? What our ultimate purpose for being and how we get customers with it? Then we share HOW we are different in what we do only telling them WHAT we do as the final element of the journey. Even when we are into the WHAT we do section, start light and invite them on a journey to find out more through additional click-through rather than tell them everything. If somebody buys into your brand and your business first, they are far more likely buy your products and service offerings in the long run.
46.Draw people in with human interest
It's important for sites to ensure they're not selling to people immediately. People adding the site want to be intrigued and entertained selling comes afterwards. One way of doing this is with videos that share happens behind the scenes, or that tell you more about the product and how it's made. People are often willing to pay more for products once they know more about them, and it gives you an edge setting you apart from the competition.
47.Research software thoroughly
Picking the most efficient software is highly important to succeeding online. Changing product URLs, adding content to pages, redirects, meta tags, canonical tags all to be conducted every day on an e-commerce site and picking the wrong software that restricts your functional can big headache, Luckily this can avoided by doing some research first. A of start-ups pick a software without researching it and realise weeks that an alternative would have allowed to more functional.
Keep it friendly and inviting
48.Make your call-to- action pop out
Your call-to-action button must remain the most compelling element on your landing page. When done right, it will have huge impact on conversion rates. Make pop out! Take advantage of the power contrast. You could have the catchiest phrase and it wouldn't matter when your call-to-action blends with the rest of the page. make it even more irresistible design your call-to-action to resemble an actual button. Add some drop shadows gradients to create dimension. A tempting call-to-action has to be action-oriented yet remain friendly and inviting. "Stay Connected" sounds way more appealing than a harsh Sign Up.
49.Photography can be a marketing tool
Product images must be of an extremely high standard, especially if you would like media attention and for others to share your content. You can achieve great lifestyle images yourself and software such as Photoshop can be used to make cut out images on a white background which are preferred by the press. Images need to be clear, sharp, and in focus. You can achieve this by using a small tripod or just resting the camera on a table. The best light to take photographs in is bright daylight, rather than indoors. You can also download background wallpaper for lifestyle shots. In summary, your photography not only represents you and your business, it an intricate and essential marketing tool, hugely effective in directing targeted traffic back to your website.
50.Give users control over subscriptions
When setting up a subscription model it important to consider why customers would benefit from receiving your product regularly and why they would not want to without the service. You also need to make sure that the quantity and frequency the subscription meets your customer's needs (and not just the business' needs). HonestBrew.co.uk (craft beer our customers have full control over their subscription with the ability to change their delivery frequency and preferences a delivery or cancel at any time. This helps us to build loyal customers.
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