With about half of the world’s population now on lockdown and communicating online, it is a difficult time for all businesses. Whilst most of the large companies should be able to ride the wave, it will be a particularly hard time for small businesses that usually generate most of their revenue from physical sales.

Embracing digital and taking your business online, if you haven’t done so already, is an absolute necessity.

Here are some tips from the start-up team at VISU.AL.

1. Register your domain name: It should mirror your trading name so your clients can find you easily. Be sure to have the correct extension, from .com to .eu or .gi depending on your affiliation.
2. Create a virtual shop: we recommend using websites such as Shopify, they have a lot of different templates and are very to use. Make sure to have proper GDPR compliant terms and conditions – get inspired by some of your online competitors.
3. Get high quality images from your suppliers or take some: as your customers will not be able to “see and feel” your products, high quality appealing images can make a big difference. Avoid stock photos at all cost and keep it authentic. Sites like Unsplash are free and have some amazing photos.
4. Get familiar with SEO: Search engine optimisation, it can be a bit scary, but with the right approach you can make sure to rank highly. Remember, you are now competing with a lot of other businesses, so post high value content regularly. Don’t expect immediate results- this take time and patience and lots of testing and optimising .
5. Google My Business is essential for Local SEO as it enables your online business listing to appear in local search results for queries specific to your products or services. Even broad queries with large search volumes display local results in the three-pack, and this is something small business owners can capitalise on.
6. Be social: People have more time to look at their social networks – make the most of it and communicate clearly to them. Think beyond Facebook. Find out if your customers use Pinterest? Instagram? Twitter? TikTok?
7. Be patient: It will take some time, right now your customers are as anxious as you are. But we will all get though this period together.

Most importantly, keep the faith and believe in yourself. 

If you need further information, the team at VISU.AL Gibraltar is here to help. Reach out to us for a free consultation.