How does your digital shop front look?
Today’s world is moving more and more digital every day whether it’s the luxury of a 50inch Smart LED TV in your living room or a means to buy your groceries. The market place is growing and the competition is growing with it which is why it is so important to make sure that your business is perceived how you want it to.
When walking down the high street 10 years ago what was it that made you walk into a shop? Was it the size of the sign above the door, the offers promoted in the window or the colours and design of the brand?
All of the above are applicable, once in the shop what happened then? Could you see the products you wanted to buy clearly? Did the products clearly have the prices displayed? Were the key points you needed to know about the product available? If one of the answers to the above was no then more than likely you left the shop.
To operate a successful business in the digital world today many of the same rules apply, below you will see the high street version and the digital version.
1/ Advertise your business to the high street – Bus stop advertising, flyers, printed media, regionally or nationally
Digital version – SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) PPC (Pay Per Click) regionally or nationally.
2/ Promotions and Offers – Advertising in the windows and throughout the shop
Digital Version – Sliding promotional advert on your website, calls to action that STAND OUT throughout you site and engaging the visitor.
3/ Shop Signage – A well designed shop sign that is clean and tells people what you do.
Digital Version – A well designed website that is easy to navigate, and tells people your key products or message on the first page.
4/ Polite staff or sales people – Staff and sales people that know the service or product and can help the customer make the right choice of product.
Digital Version – You need to display as much product information as possible on the website with clean, good quality images and the functionally to be able to offer similar or related products.
5/ Purchasing the product – A sales assistant at a till who is capable of accepting all forms of payment with a receipt and a quality guarantee.
Digital Version – Payment gateways for as many suppliers as possible through an easy to use checkout. All of the returns and delivery terms easily accessible for the buyer to see before making a purchase.
These are just some of the points to follow and if you apply how you used to shop to a digital version as a buyer or a seller you will reap the benefits, it’s simple really.
September 4th, 2012
Great points brought up here. I used to do freelance SEO (which is too time consuming and daunting for me now) and I know that these are the best things to look for when hiring. Good luck to everyone and their future success!