.jpg)
Your website should be an extension of your business and as such should be working 24hrs a day to bring in more customers, increase bookings, or boost your sales. After all that's what it is therefore, but still too many people still believe a website is just an online business card, there to display your name and phone number to anyone who might be searching for a business like yours.
Today a successful business needs a successful website, so here's a few ideas to implement into your new site:
1. Online Bookings
Giving your potential new customer the ability to book your services online, at a time they can choose to suit themselves will not only make it easier and more attractive to them, it also reduces the amount of times you get called away from whatever you were doing, to answer the phone. Of course, you have complete control over when they can book and when you are unavailable. They also cannot double book your time with someone else, and you can choose to automatically give yourself a set time in-between customers to either prepare for or travel from one customer to the next. A bookings system is perfect for all kinds of businesses from hairdressers and yoga instructors where your clients come to you, or businesses such as driving instructors and window cleaners where you travel to your customers.
2. Events
If your business regularly hosts events and needs to invite or attract its customers, having an events app is the perfect solution. Taking a pub or bar for example that regularly hosts events such as a quiz or music night, the events app lets you quickly create an event, which can be emailed to your list of customers. Your customers can reply back and let you know if they can or cannot make it and even purchase tickets in advance if its a private event.
3. Online Store
An online store is simply a must have for any business these days that sells any type of products. Why? Because your competitors are probably already doing it too!
Your products however don’t have to stop at physical ones such as clothing, they can also be downloadable items such as music, ebooks, photos or training videos. Having that extra income stream from selling your products to potentially anyone, can increase your revenue dramatically as they are for sale 24hrs a day 7 days a week making you money even whilst you’re sleeping.
4. Automated Emails
Using automated emails is a great way to keep in touch with your customers new or old. Once they've been set up up, you can leave it to your website to send them out for you at the right time on your behalf. You will of course need to get your readers email address in the first place. A great way to do this, is to ask them to subscribe to your website so you can keep them up to date with new information, blog posts, special events or sales that are about to happen. You can also offer them a free download of something you have written or created which will be of interest or use to them as a thank you for signing up.
Once you have their email address you can use them in the following ways, but be careful not to over do it and send to many as this can annoy your reader.
Thank your customer for purchasing an item and ask them if they would like to subscribe to your site to receive more updates.
Once they have subscribed, Thank them and welcome them to your website.
Send your latest blog post.
Tell them about up coming events or online sales. (Including a coupon to use during the sale is a great way to attract them to buy.)
If they haven’t purchased anything recently, remind them about your website, whats new and add a link so they can revisit.
Mention your social media accounts and how they can find you to increase likes and followers.
5. Add A Form
Asking your visitors to give you more information by filling out an online form or questionnaire can help your business get some really helpful information. A customer questionnaire for example, can give you the opportunity to ask your visitors what they really think of your business or products or more importantly, whats missing from it. But customer forms don’t have to stop there. They can be used for all kinds of things your business might need such as sales leads, contact forms, job applications or just further information your business might need to provided your customer with what they need from you. Online forms can easily be created to extract the right information you need whilst making it as quick and easy as possible for your customer or reader to fill out.