How to fund the startup is one of the leading questions when looking to start a new business.

The financial aspect can pose a huge challenge, and even deter some people from realising their dream. Luckily, there is a range of different funding options that can help businesses start and thrive. Read on to find out what the most convenient funding options are, and how you can use them to start and run your small business.

1. Crowdfunding 

Crowdfunding can be the perfect option to fund your startup business, as you don’t need to be eligible for any kind of loan. It’s easy to set up and you can ask for any amount that you require for your startup. Some of the most popular websites for crowdfunding include:

The only downside to crowdfunding is that there isn’t a guarantee that you’ll get the exact amount you need. You depend on the good will of people to donate the money to you. Also, in the case of some of these sites, such as Kickstarter, if you don’t collect the amount you asked for, you don’t get any funds, and everyone who donated gets a refund. Therefore, in order to up your chances of raising the money you need, your best bet is to promote your personal fundraising campaign on social media. 

2. Angel financing

Angel financing is a financing option similar to crowdfunding, as it includes individuals raising funds for small businesses. It differs from crowdfunding in that in the case of angel financing the party offering funds usually gets ownership equity in exchange for their contribution, whereas that isn’t the case in crowdfunding. Also, the individuals who offer funds are usually other business owners with large capitals, which means that you’re likely to only need one “angel” to reach your target. However, unlike crowdfunding donators, since these investors give out huge amounts of money, they are likely to need more convincing before they decide whether to invest. That’s why you should be prepared to present your small business in the best light, so that the investor is clear about how investing in your company would benefit them. 

3. Personal loans

Acquiring a personal loan can also be a great way to obtain the necessary funds to start a business. A major perk of this financing option is that these loans are easier to acquire than regular loans, there is no collateral, and you get the money extremely quickly. All you need to do is find a prime personal loans company that suits your needs and apply. Some personal loan companies offer to help you with finding the best rate possible, and take only one hour to come to a decision whether you’re eligible for the loan. In some cases, you even get the funds within a minute.

4. Venture capital

Venture capital (VC) is another viable option for acquiring funds to start a small business. Apart from providing financial assistance to startups and small businesses, VC firms link small businesses to potential clients, partners, and workers. Albeit very convenient, keep in mind that this form of funding isn’t easy to get. There are a series of factors VC companies take into account when deciding whether to fund a small business. Some of these factors include the following:

Since the requirements differ from firm to firm, it’s advisable to take your time and do some research before you take your pick. Once you’ve made sure that you fulfill all the prerequisites of the chosen company, you will need to thoroughly prepare for the meeting. These companies look for businesses that have a high chance of succeeding, so it’s of paramount importance that you present your business idea in the best way possible. 

5. Small businesses loans

Lastly, you have the small business loan option offered by banks. There is a wide variety of small business loans, some of which are:

The small business line of credit is convenient for businesses that aren’t sure about the amount they would need for their startup. This type of loan enables you to access funds on an as-needed basis. You may withdraw as much cash as you need at any time, up to a certain limit. Working capital loans are useful for funding the everyday operations of a small company. They aren’t suitable for large investments, but are rather used as a short-term solution to facilitate the growth of a small company. This kind of loan usually requires collateral. In case you need funds to buy equipment, equipment financing can be a viable solution, regardless of whether you need machinery or office equipment. 

On a final note

As you can tell, there is an abundance of options for small startup businesses to raise funds. Each option has its pros and cons, which is why you ought to do some research and take your time prior to making a final decision. 

First and foremost, in order to grasp how to improve our website, we must first get a fundamental knowledge of the lead-generating process.

What factors are at play when a website visitor converts into a lead is not immediately apparent.

This often occurs when a website visitor clicks on a call-to-action (CTA) button that is displayed on one of your website pages or blog posts to initiate the lead-generating process. After clicking on the CTA, they will be sent to a landing page, which will feature a form for collecting the visitor's contact information. After the visitor has completed and submitted the form, they will be sent to a thank-you page on the website. 

With the foundation of lead generation established, we can move on to the intricacies of lead generation.

10 Ways to Optimise Your Website for Lead Generation

1. Include contact forms on the sites that get the greatest traffic

In order to evaluate your progress and identify the areas that need the greatest development, it is critical to benchmark your existing level of lead generation before you begin. Some of your pages may have the potential to be fantastic lead producers, and you are completely unaware of it.

The usage of email marketing may result in traffic being generated by visitors who click over to your website from one of your emails.

Use of social media: Users that participate in a campaign via one of your social media accounts may generate traffic for you.

Users that contact your customer care team via a live chat window on your website may be a source of traffic for your company.

Blog Entries: Your most popular blog posts may bring in the most visitors.

2. Evaluate the overall performance of each lead generator

Using a tool like Website Grader, you can analyse the contribution of each of your current lead generators to your company. Website Grader examines your lead generation sources (including landing pages and CTAs) and gives suggestions on how to enhance your existing content.

Similarly, landing pages that perform well may be contrasted with landing pages that perform less well. Consider the following scenario: you get 1,000 visits to Landing Page A, and 10 of those visitors complete the form and become leads. Landing Page A would have a conversion rate of one percent, which would be ideal. Consider the following scenario: you have another landing page, Landing Page B, that receives 50 visitors who convert into leads for every 1,000 visitors.

3. Make every phase of the lead creation process as efficient as possible

If a visitor to your website searches for "lawn care ideas" and ends up on a blog post you wrote titled "10 Ways To Improve Your Lawn Care Regimen," you should avoid linking that blog post to an offer for a snow-clearing consultation. Make certain that your offers are relevant to the page on which they are appearing so that you may leverage on visitors' interest in a certain topic.

Almost immediately after a visitor comes on your website, you may begin gathering information about their conversion route. This route begins when a visitor comes to your website and ends (ideally) with them filling out a form and becoming a lead for your company.

4. Begin with a straightforward call-to-action on your homepage

If the appearance of your site is what first draws a visitor's attention, the call to action (CTA) is what maintains it. However, you should avoid bombarding your visitors with an offer to see the longest or most difficult information you have on your website.

You should provide a free trial or a subscription to a recurring campaign on your homepage, since it is the first page of the marketing funnel and should be the first page of the marketing funnel.

5. Make e-books available for download in conjunction with certain blog postings

Creating blog material that promotes an ebook or white paper, whereby your website visitors may learn more about the same subject they just read about on your blog, is another non-intrusive strategy to develop interest in your company.

This is the point at which lead generation and search engine optimisation come together (SEO).

Blog material is one of the most effective methods of gaining the page authority necessary to rank your website on Google. Visitor traffic originating from search engines, such as Google, is frequently more concentrated on seeking answers to problems that you can address, making this sort of lead creation very useful.

In order to get started, do keyword research on a subject that is important to your business and write a series of blog entries centred on that topic. After that, write a paper that digs considerably further into the subject matter. Create a PDF version of this report that your blog readers may access by entering their name, business, and email address in the appropriate fields.

6. Set up a live chat facility on your website to assist visitors

Not only are live chat services becoming more sophisticated, but more and more customers are expecting them while learning about potential vendors from whom they may wish to make a purchase. If this is the case, you might be losing out on a significant lead generator.

In order to create leads using live chat, you need conduct an audit of your website to determine which pages your visitors spend the majority of their time on. Installing a live chat feature on the sites where clients want the most support or information is possible if you have the appropriate development resources. While addressing their inquiries, you may gather and document information about their product requirements in a more informal manner.

7. Make your call-to-actions more personal

Dynamic content allows you to personalise the experience of viewing your website for each and every web visitor that comes to your site. The graphics, buttons, and product selections that people see when they arrive on your site will be personalised to their interests, the sites they've browsed, or the things they've already bought.

Even better, customised calls-to-action convert 42% more visitors than standard calls-to-action do, according to research. Instead, dynamic content and on-page personalisation assist you in increasing the number of leads you produce.

8. Test, test, and more testing

This is a really important step in the process, and we cannot emphasise it enough. A/B testing may make a significant difference in your click-through rates.

For example, when Friendbuy conducted a basic A/B test on their calls-to-action, they discovered a 211 percent increase in the number of people who clicked on those CTAs. Something as easy as experimenting with the phrasing of your call-to-action, the structure of your landing page, or the photos you're using may have a significant influence, as shown by the results obtained by Friendbuy.

9. Follow up with your leads

It's important to remember that no lead will miraculously transform into a client. Leads are just as excellent as the efforts you put into developing them.

Set up a pipeline for leads who have completed a form on your landing page so that they don't forget about you and then send them relevant content that fits their interests to keep them engaged. Lead nurturing should begin with appropriate follow-up emails that are filled with valuable information.

10. Nurture your leads

The email provides the receiver with valuable material, directs them down the funnel, and gets right to the point of the conversation. According to Forrester Research, firms that nurture their leads see 50 percent more sales-ready prospects than their non-nurturing counterparts at a 33 percent cheaper cost than those that do not nurture their leads. So go to work sending emails.

You rely on leads to complete sales and expand your company's operations. Using the suggestions provided above, you may make the most of every chance without allowing dissatisfied website users to leave your site.

Setting out on a new business endeavour is both exhilarating and worrisome.

On the one hand, you'll finally be in charge; the master of your own destiny chasing achievement in an area of true interest. On the other side, you now have a laundry list of items to check off before you start a business to ensure that everything goes well.

While working for someone else relieves you of these duties, the startup owner bears all of these burdens alone. Not only that, each nation has its own set of rules, regulations, and requirements for starting and operating a business. Thus, even if you've established a business in one nation, you'll need to do extensive study to ensure that it operates correctly in another.

How to Start a Business in Australia

1. Determine the structure of your business

The company structure you pick when you start a business is critical, since it has a direct impact on factors such as:

In Australia, you may create your business on one of four structures:

Sole trader

This refers to the process of registering someone (often oneself) as the sole proprietor of a business. That means you are legally accountable for all parts of operating the firm, but you also have the right to hire employees.

Company

A company is a commercial enterprise or legal organisation that exists independently of its stockholders.

Partnership

A partnership is formed when more than one person and/or entity start a business jointly, but not as a corporation.

Trust

A trust is a legal body that holds property, money, or other assets for the benefit of another person.

2. Determine the nature of your company

By establishing a framework, you may have a better understanding of the sort of company you're going to need. There are several company kinds to pick from, but some of the more common include the following:

Each sector has its own set of legal duties and regulatory regulations, which is why it is critical that you choose the company structure that is most appropriate for your industry.

3. Register your company name and get an Australian Business Number (ABN)

Without an ABN, it is illegal to start a business in Australia. This is an 11-digit number that is unique to your firm and serves as the business's government identity.

After obtaining an ABN, you will be able to:

It's advisable to settle on a company name before embarking on the process of producing assets such as your website URL, logo, or other graphics. Otherwise, you'll have to redo everything if your business's name changes. If you do establish a company logo, it's worth thinking if you should patent it to guard against copyright infringement.

4. Purchase a domain name

This stage can only be completed after you've registered your company name and ABN, since a.com.au address is only available to registered Australian businesses. Your domain name should be relevant to your company in some manner and make it simple for potential clients to identify and recognise it.

While you may have the ideal domain to match your great company name, you'll still need to verify that it hasn't been claimed by someone else. Fortunately, there are several websites that can assist you in this endeavour; here is one of them to get you started.

5. Determine the source of money

If you're like the majority of new businesses, your first issue will be cash flow. You may have the finest company strategy in the world, but it will be useless if you lack the funds necessary to keep the lights on while you get your feet wet. This is why it's critical to understand what resources are accessible to make the early development phase much simpler.

While there are few federal grants available to assist you in starting your company, there are several state-specific choices. For instance, if you're looking to start a business in Adelaide, you may apply for a cool $20,000 Small Business Development Fund.

6. Select a software stack

As you begin to start a business, you will face several significant choices. One of the most critical decisions is deliberately selecting software that will simplify your life as you expand.

While your specific software options may vary depending on the sort of business you're starting (a SaaS firm will need tools that are significantly different than a coffee shop), there are many products that are worth considering for every organisation.

7. Ensure that you are registered for the relevant taxes

"The only certainties in life are death and taxes," as the proverb says. Regrettably, this is also true if you establish a company in Australia - you must register for the necessary taxes in order to prevent any legal consequences. The taxes you must register for vary according to the sort of company you intend to create, with some being universally applicable and others being restricted to particular categories.

Several instances include the following:

Advantages of a having a business website

Having a company website helps you to present information about your goods or services as well as promote your brand to your target audience. It may serve as your storefront, accessible to clients all over the globe.

A website may be significant to the success and development of your company. Some of the advantages of having a website for your company may include:

Before creating a company website, it is critical to do research. Select an option that is beneficial and focuses on your goods and/or services. To set one out from the competitors, you'll need to discover a strategy to make your online presence stand out.

Follow these instructions to learn the fundamentals of creating a company website

Make a plan for your online business

This may help you establish a strong online presence independently of the web alternatives you use. 

Determine the kind of website to develop

When you want to sell your goods or services online, you'll need to invest in a website that includes an e-commerce platform. If all you need is website that informs your consumers where you are and what goods or services you provide, a simple website or a blog may be sufficient.

E-commerce

You may take payment for your goods or services online using e-commerce. If you decide to use e-commerce base website, read our instructions on how to purchase and sell online. This sort of website may be used to support your physical store.

Blogs

An excellent blog should have the following features:

Determine whether you want a template or a customised website design

A free package that includes a template design and a web content management system is a reasonably simple approach to establish a basic website (CMS). If you want to create a more complicated website, you will need to engage a web designer.

Choose and register a domain name

You'll need to choose a web address, also known as a domain name, as part of the process of coming online. It's recommended devoting some thought to this selection since your name of the domain is a significant advertising tool.

Create your website

There are many factors to consider while developing your website. These include the following:

gaining a knowledge of your clients and how they will interact with your website

Optimise for search engines (SEO)

SEO is a collection of tactics used to assist search engines in locating, comprehending, and ranking your website in relation to related websites. Numerous things contribute to your website's ranking. Discover how keywords and meta description tags may help you increase your search engine rating.

Go live with your website

It is critical to test your website before to launching. This enables clients to quickly explore the site and purchase your items or services.

When you are ready to launch your new website, notify your consumers. Encourage user input so that you can continue to enhance your site once it is live.

Additional online channels

If you're not ready to commit to a website or lack the funds to employ an expert, the following tools may help your company interact with clients online:

Running a successful online business is much more than having brilliant ideas and a decent infrastructure.

Numerous financial, administrative, and legal considerations become apparent only once your organisation is operational. Oftentimes, a pre-defined structure may assist you in preparing for these types of difficulties.

We will give a simple guideline detailing recommended practices for Australian e-commerce enterprises in this post. We will concentrate on the factors that are critical to ensuring that your e-commerce firm earns the confidence of your customers.

Fundamental business procedures

Fair dealing regulation establishes the fundamental best practices for Australian business owners. Though you are most likely already aware with them, we will review the major aspects here:

Requirement for accessibility

If your business sells a product that requires specialized software or hardware to operate properly, you should inform your customers in advance.

Advertising standards

There are a few considerations to make to ensure that your advertisements are consumer-friendly and comply with all applicable requirements.

The first thing to remember is that your adverts must be easily identifiable from the rest of your site's content. For instance, your consumer review area should be self-contained and unaffected by self-promotion.

Make no deceptive promises about your merchandise. Ascertain that you can back up any claim or facts included in your advertisements. By using false information in your advertisements, you may harm your brand's reputation and may possibly face legal consequences.

Email marketing best practices

As an e-commerce firm, you will regularly communicate with your customers and subscribers through email and newsletters. The Spam Act 2003 specifies precisely which emails will be considered spam and which will be considered genuine business communications.

The Spam Act establishes the following fundamental requirements:

Sending unsolicited emails is prohibited

You are not permitted to send any commercial email to a recipient without first obtaining their approval. However, you may infer permission in certain circumstances based on how a prospective consumer interacts with your site.

For instance, if a consumer has not registered to your newsletter but often purchases things from your site, you may presume they would not object to getting special offer emails from you.

Nonetheless, the recommended approach is to request that buyers subscribe into your newsletter during the checkout process. A straightforward checkbox next to the checkout confirmation button is optimal.

Include the name and identify of your business

If a receiver opens your email, he or she should be able to immediately identify the sender. You must prominently display your business's name, internet URL, and physical location.

Make unsubscribing simple

Each email must have a "Unsubscribe" link, ideally at the bottom. Your receivers should be able to opt out of future emails if they so want.

Interactions with children and adolescents

Anyone under the age of sixteen is classified as a minor. This age group may visit your e-commerce site. If your site is specifically targeted towards this demographic, you must exercise caution.

Generally, children lack the legal competence to engage into contracts. Prior to initiating any commercial transaction or contract, your site must check the age of your clients.

Take reasonable precautions to guarantee that your paying customer is at least sixteen years old. If they are not, you should take extra efforts to get the approval of a guardian or parent who is authorised to conduct the transaction.

Provision of necessary information

For every e-commerce firm, it is necessary for customers to have easy access to the following information:

Name, location, and contact details for your business, including registration information (like ABN or ACN). This identifies who owns the website and company, as well as who is participating in any transactions conducted on the site

Ascertain that all contract provisions pertaining to the acquisition are transparent and readily accessible. Your website must contain comprehensive information about the pricing of your items and associated charges to assist customers in making educated purchasing choices.

A consumer should be able to check the specifics of the entire cost prior to engaging into a transaction. They should get a copy of this information upon payment.

Prior to the transaction taking place, the terms and conditions of the transaction must be given individually.

At the checkout step, the total price should be presented in its entirety. This implies that the final amount must include shipping and service charges.

It may not be possible to anticipate the whole cost in advance for subscriber services. Provide complete information on how the recurring expenses will be computed in this scenario.

Additional information that your consumers should be aware of (if applicable) includes the following: available payment methods (mentioned prior to the consumer reaching the checkout page), delivery terms, warranty information, subscription renewal information, after-sales service details, usage restrictions (such as geographical or age restrictions), refund or cancellation terms, and time period for special offers.

Allow consumers to examine and change their purchase before they get into a contract with your online company (such as purchasing a product or subscription). In other words, an extra step must occur prior to the ultimate transaction. For an e-commerce site, this involves allowing users to change their carts and requesting confirmation prior to completing the sale.

Consumer privacy protection

Consumer privacy is critical for every e-commerce firm, since consumers have a right to know how their personal information is utilised. You should use extreme caution while handling personal information.

The best course of action is to ensure that your firm complies with the APPs established by the 1988 Privacy Act. Adopting the APPs entails the following:

If your site gathers any personal information about your visitors, you must alert them.

Following to govt privacy legislation simplifies the management of personal data obtained on your e-commerce site. Additionally, it will increase the trustworthiness of your website among prospective clients.

Requirements for fundamental security and authentication

One of the most critical components of your e-commerce security is the payment mechanism. It is your responsibility to establish a dependable and secure payment system for your online business.

Educate your consumers, if required, by offering information about authentication and security. For instance, you may dissuade them from emailing important information. Your consumers should have access to all pertinent information in order to analyse any risks connected with utilising your site to a fair degree.

Maintain the security of your site by performing frequent upgrades and ensuring that your crew has an acceptable degree of technical skill.

Face in mind that you must bear a portion of the responsibility if any of your clients suffers a loss as a result of your site's authentication or security failures.

Best practices for complaint resolution

Provide explicit instructions to your consumers about your e-commerce business's dispute resolution system. This will instill more confidence and trust in those seeking to do financial transactions with you.

Several factors must be adhered to by your complaint resolution procedure:

Establishing the appropriate legislation

If any transaction involving your online company is subject to any special laws or jurisdictions, it is your responsibility to disclose this information as soon as feasible. In general, firms headquartered in Australia will seek resolution of consumer issues via Australian courts, if required.

Conclusion 

The recommended practices outlined above will ensure that your e-commerce firm is built on solid ground. However, the success of an online shop is also contingent upon the product's quality, your business's marketing plan, and the characteristics of the e-commerce site that serves as your virtual storefront.

Nonetheless, keeping these ten points in mind will assist you in earning the confidence of your prospective clients and provide a solid foundation for developing a respected online brand.

It may not be as tough as you think to move your bricks-and-mortar company online.

Now more than ever, relying only on a bricks-and-mortar company strategy is a certain way to lose customers. Now, it's not a matter of if or whether you should open an internet business, but rather when.

Keep up with your rivals as more and more brick-and-mortar shops go online. As a result, your consumers will be expecting to see their favourite brands involved in online shop promotion. If you're still simply running a bricks-and-mortar business, those consumers won't be able to discover you online. They will, nevertheless, come across your rivals.

A quick tutorial on Setting up your brick-and-mortar company online: 

Now, building a company website is easier and less costly than it used to be. Maintaining a physical business and reaping the rewards of online store promotion are now both achievable. We've compiled a list of the things you'll need to get your company up and running on the internet.

1. Obtain a domain name first

A domain name registration is simple and inexpensive. In addition to your website, you'll also need one for your email address. Forget about using your company's Hotmail or Gmail accounts anymore.

2. Create a web page

It doesn't take a lot of money to build a well-functioning website. You should create a concise description of what you want your site to accomplish. Obtaining estimates is easy if you have a clear idea of what you want. It is becoming more common for firms to have their own websites. We offer affordable website design for your business. A ecommerce system can included on your website to allow customers to purchase your items and services.

3. Determine what you'll be selling online before you begin

This might be simple or complex, depending on the sort of store. Start with a few choice lines and expand as you go if you have a wide variety of items. It's important to consider how easy it will be to package, ship, and distribute these things. E-books, downloads, and audio recordings are all examples of goods that may be created for service-based businesses. You should think about what sells successfully in your brick-and-mortar store while setting up your internet business.

4. The importance of presentation cannot be overstated

Just think about how much effort you put into your physical storefront. Put your best foot forward while presenting it. Employ the services of a photographer or a graphic designer to capture stunning photos and build eye-catching packaging and other marketing materials. Any material you supply should be grammatically correct and present an engaging tale. Only the information they find on your website will influence your clients' purchasing decisions.

5. A marketing plan should be developed

Is there a strategy for attracting visitors to your website? To increase the size of your mailing list, including an opt-in form on your main page. Keep in contact with consumers by sending out frequent newsletters or emails that highlight new goods or promotions. Using digital marketing, you can do a lot more than you think to help your company. Whenever you're looking for a powerful digital marketing plan to help you build your company on the internet, we're here for you!

6. Set up accounts on several social networking websites

Using social media as part of your marketing strategy may assist build your consumer base and get them enthused about what you have to offer. You may use social media to promote your business and present new products at a low cost. Hire a social media expert if you're unsure how to integrate your bricks-and-mortar company with the realm of social media.

7. Prepare for development in the future

Start planning for the future today – think about 10,000 orders, not just 10. You don't want your living room or workplace to seem like a warehouse, so choose a fulfilling solution. In order to free up your time so that you may focus on your company and generate more cash online, outsourcing this might be a great alternative!

Are you looking for ways to promote your small business? If yes, then you should consider having a website.

In today’s competitive environment, having a website is essential for businesses of all sizes.

A website is a great way to showcase your company’s brand identity, share information about your services, and connect with potential customers.

Having a website is a good idea for any type of business. Whether you sell products or provide services, having a website can help increase sales, improve customer service, and build trust.

Websites are important to businesses because they're the first place customers interact with them. A company's website should be designed to help customers learn more about the products and services offered by the company.

Websites are an essential tool for any small business owner. They help spread information about your company, allow customers to contact you, and provide useful tools for marketing.

Why every business needs a website.

The main reason why every business needs a website is that it helps companies reach out to their target audience. Websites make it easy for people to find your business online and get in touch with you.

If someone wants to buy something from your company, they will go to your website to see what you offer. This means that if a person goes to your site, chances are that they will become a customer.

There are over 21 million internet-users in Australia and 93% use the internet every day. Crazy right? Australian's are using the internet more often than ever before, making an online presence one of your small business' most important assets.

Most people use the internet when they want to learn new information about products or services.

According to a study conducted by the Yellow Pages, 89& of people use the internet to find products or services. Other top internet uses include maps or directions (86%), banking (86%) and ordering goods or services (83%). The fact that this study was made by the Yellow Page Directory, which was once a print only directory of business advertisements, shows just how ubiquitous online advertising has become. In fact, the print Yellow Pages is now most used by people over 50, making its unique demographic reach quite limited, while the online Yellow Pages gets 5.2 million searches each month.

If you want to reach a broad, engaging audience of Australians, you need an online profile for your business. If your business doesn't have a website, you may be missing out on reaching this large segment of the Australian population.

Benefits of having a website for your small business.

The same Yellow Pages studied how many Australian SMBs already had a website. They found that 72 percent of small businesses already had websites and that most of them felt they were effective at helping them grow. According to 39% of the business owners surveyed, their website had increased their exposure and awareness for their brands. So, what are other benefits to a website besides increasing traffic?

Improve the credibility of your business.

If someone hears about your business and decides to learn more about it, they’re probably going to look for you online. If they can‘t find anything when they look for your product or service online, they might wonder if you’re really a legit business. Your website can increase your credibility because it proves you're an active Australian business with up-to-date contact details. A professional, modern-looking website is just as important as having a great product or service. We offer custom web design services so you can easily set yourself apart from the competition.

Keep your business open 24/7.

If a user is looking for your business outside of normal working hours, when they‘re most likely to be available, they may be put off if they can‘t get hold of you. Online availability means you can generate interest in whatever you’re offering even when your business is closed. A contact form lets people reach out to you at any time and you can respond when you feel like it.

Get more high quality leads and make more sales.

How many times has someone reached out to you only to find out they’re not the type of person who needs your product or service? By spending time getting familiar with your business products and services before you start marketing them, the people who do contact you will already be familiar with what you offer. It saves you time speaking to people who have accidentally come across your business.

Expand the reach of your business past the local area.

With a brick and mortar store or word of mouth promotions, you’re usually limited to the immediate area where your business practices in. An online presence allows you to expand your reach into surrounding suburbs, nationally, or even internationally if you desire. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the best way to ensure your website gets noticed by potential clients. It can be tailored to your location.

Essential features every small business website needs.

If one of the main reasons you haven’t joined any other small businesses with an online presence is that it all seems too complicated, don’t worry – it’s easier than ever. If you’re looking for a way to create a new website or improve an existing one, here’s everything you need to know.

Professional domain name.

Your domain name should ideally be easy to remember, but not necessarily short. It’s also nice if you can include your primary area of service. For example, sydneyplumbing.com.au is straightforward but informative. It tells you most of what there is to know about the page you're about to visit. Of course, many websites are already taken, so companies are looking for new ways to stand out from their competitors. If you want to check whether your preferred domain name is still available, use a domain registry tool to find out.

Mobile responsive website design

More than half of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your website isn't mobile friendly, you'll be missing out on half of your audience from the start! Responsive design ensures that your site looks good no matter how visitors access it. This means your site loads quickly and displays correctly on smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops. You can easily test this yourself: go to Google's Mobile-Friendly Test and see how your site fares against other sites.

Excellent user experience

Websites that help people find exactly what they're looking for in an engaging manner are the best ones. They have clear navigation bar to different pages of the website, plenty of images to make it interesting and easy to read fonts. A well designed website makes it easy for customers to navigate around your site.

Interesting and engaging content

The more information you provide on your website, the better able your visitors will be to learn about your business. Every website should have four basic pages: a home page, an about us page, a services/products page, and a contact page. All of these things should include engaging, helpful, content to tell the user about your business, what it does, and why it does it.

A clear all to action on every page

One of the best ways to get people interacting with a website is to ask them to do so. Short, sharp calls to action on every page will remind visitors that the help they need can be found by clicking on them. It could be as easy as “Call us now” or “learn more” but it should be referenced frequently enough that users feel incentivised to take the next step.

Getting your business online is easy with KC Web Design

If you think about why you got into entrepreneurship, getting a website probably isn’t one of them. It’s just a necessary step on your path to business success. If the world of online marketing feels overwhelming, why not seek out some guidance? Get started today or call us on 0421 393 047 to learn more about our website packages.

A logo is what represents your business to your customers.

It is essential that you work with great logo designers for your business branding. By learning these 4 requirements for great logo design you will be able to work with your logo designer to create an amazing logo for your business.

1. Simple

Less is more when it comes to logo design. You want a clearly show what your business is about with the simplest design possible. The more complex you make your logo the harder it will be to understand what it is you do. Logos work best when they are easy to understand and spark an emotive response with the viewer. Take a look at some of the most famous logos of all time and you will notice they all have simple, clear and easy to understand messages behind them.

Often a business owner has a big idea for their logo design which ends up being messy, and hard to understand. Work closely with your logo designer and trust their expertise when it comes to designing your business logo.

2. Scaleable

Always keep in your mind that your logo will potentially be placed on things that are very large and very small. When working with your logo designer talk about how the logo would look on the side of truck as well as on something small like a pen. Your logo design needs to look great on everything from uniforms, boxes, letter heads, envelopes and hundreds of other things. It will be placed against multiple colours as well. Take the time to see how it will look against different backgrounds, and if its clear and easy to read when very small. By thinking about these things and talking with your logo designer you will ensure you end up with a logo design that looks great at every size.

3. Relatable

Your logo design needs to be relatable to the business industry you operate in. Things like colour choice and font reflect different emotions. A construction company needs to have a clean clear cut design with a bold font and powerful colours, compared to a wedding planner who would have a more elegant design with a light font and muted colours. These choices will have a huge impact on how your business branding is seen by your customers.

A great way to check if your logo is relatable is to ask friends, family and work colleagues what they think the logo is for. If they say it looks like a logo for a dentist and you are a florist the logo is probably not relatable. Always talk to your logo designer about how relatable your logo design is durning the design phase.

4. Loveable

The end goal of your logo design is to show off your business. It needs to prove to your customer that you are professional, reliable, trustworthy and the right business for the job. This is not an easy task to achieve and without a great logo designer you won’t be able to pull it off. Knowing how to take all the parts and put them together takes years of training. You should take a look at some of your designers past work to get a better idea of if they are the right person for the job.

The logo design itself can be separated into four parts. If you look at each of these sections individually it will be easy to take your logo design from an idea to real life.

Font Choice

There are millions of font choices to choose from and each one will give a different vibe to your logo design. Sometimes a great font choice is all that is needed to represent a business. You can tell a lot by the type of font a business uses for their logo design.

Colour Choice

Every colour sends out a different message about your business. For example red is associated with excitement, power and confidence where as blue is considered trustworthy and dependable. No matter what colour choice you decide to go with for your logo design it has to look great with neutral colours like black, grey and white.

Layout Choice

The layout of your logo design matters. Will you place the icon above or beside the font? Is the text centred or aligned to the right? All of these things need to be considered and discussed with your logo designer to ensure you get the best logo design possible.

Icon Design

Your logo icon should be able to stand on its own, in many ways it is the most important part of the logo design. You will be using your logo icon for things like business profile pictures and marks on stationary. The best logo icons are always simple and easy to understand. Avoid making a complex logo icon that can confuse the viewer.

If you take all of these things into consideration when working with your logo designer you are sure to have a great logo that properly represents your business.

Email Newsletter Management

Email newsletters are among the most effective marketing techniques available to businesses and can be instrumental in converting people to paying customers. Here are some indispensable tools if you're looking to put together a newsletter to help promote your brand.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is one of the top email management tools; it has a free version that can manage a contact list, schedule emails, and provide a template for your email that looks clean and professional. The free version does have limits on the number of contacts you have and the number of emails you can send out monthly, but you still get a ton of great features, and you can use it until your business grows to need a higher-priced plan.

Benchmark

Benchmark is another good tool that uses a simple drag-and-drop interface to create great-looking. It has plenty of templates available, so you don't have to spend too much time designing your email, either. However, arguably its best feature is its advanced analytics that can tell you how effective your emails are and how you can improve them for maximum ROI.

Branding Tools for Content Creation

Building a good brand these days requires social media engagement, and you can't have an excellent social media marketing program without at least some content creation. Here are a couple of tools to help you brand through content.

Wistia Video Marketing Software

Video content should be a critical part of your branding strategy, so check out Wistia to help you incorporate your brand into your videos. It also enables you to integrate SEO to get your videos in front of a larger audience and grow your company. It helps you engage viewers, convert customers, and gain insights to get a better ROI on your marketing.

Frontify

Don't let your marketing materials be a hodge-podge of different styles and themes; manage them all with Frontify. As your new business grows, you might have multiple team members handling marketing, and there will be inconsistencies in fonts, designs, or graphics. Frontify lets you create a digital template for all your communications that just requires some edits, and you're off to the races. Inconsistently designed content makes your brand look unprofessional, but you can avoid that with a centralized content-management service.

Paper Marketing Tools

Digital marketing and branding tools are critical, but you can brand your company with good old paper marketing as well. Here are a couple of good tools to help you develop great-looking paper marketing products.

Businesscards.co

Believe it or not, business cards are still an important thing for entrepreneurs to have. There's just something professional about being able to pull out a business card to hand to someone or giving them a couple to hand out to friends. Word of mouth is effective, after all. 

Businesscards.co can help you design professional-looking business cards using dozens of pre-designed templates that you can manipulate to get the look you're after. Building an image as a professional brand can be invaluable for your company, and having great-looking business cards can help you do that.

Vistaprint

Once you've designed your business cards and the other marketing materials you need, head over to Vistaprint to get them printed out. Vistaprint doesn't stop at business cards, though. It's consistently rated one of the top online printing services because of the quality of its product, its prices, and its turnaround time.

Why is Researching Competition Important?

Researching your competition helps you establish certain aspects to improve in your own small business. Some of the benefits associated with researching local competition are as follows:

How to Research Competition in Your Local Market

1. Be a Detective

As corny as it may sound, becoming a detective is a perfect strategy to learn about your local competitors. Dedicate a few hours a week to check out your competitors business, see the number of customers who visit and when they are busy. In a couple of weeks, you will have a bunch of information on when they are busy and how many people show up. You can then use this information to your to decide on the best times to be open.

2. Become a Customer

Another great way to research your competition is through buying tests. Visit your competitors store as a customer. You can find out how their staff interact with customers, what they do well and how they fall short.

3. Look at your Local Competitions Social Networks

Nowadays, most businesses open websites and other social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote their products and services. Researching your competitor using these platforms will give you interesting information to help you compete and offer excellent services. An effective way to get relevant details is by reading customer reviews to learn how they feel about the business.

4. Attend Local Small Business Conferences

Business conferences and trade shows are an incredible way to help you identify the level of competition you face. As Amy Lewandowski, Head Marketing Online Retailer advises, when you attend a conference, your main focus should be learning what your competitors offer, knowing who their clients are, and seeing the quality of the products they offer. Afterward, implement the information you gathered to improve your services that will drive customers to your business.

5. Ask Your Competitors Ex-Employees

If you want to beat your competitor at their own game, speak with their previous employees. Ex-employees know every bit of their last workplace, such as their future plans, the goals of the business, markets they intend to move into, and strategies they use to cut costs and improve productivity.

6. Ask Your Customers

According to Weiss, talking to your own customers about your competitor is the easiest and cheapest method to gather information. Your existing customers may not have much knowledge; instead, focus on the new customers who have moved from another competitor. With all this information, you will see which areas you need to improve and what to focus on next.

7. Talk to Your Suppliers

There are high chances that your suppliers are also your competitors’ suppliers. Ask your suppliers the sizes of the orders they have and what products have the largest orders to determine what your competitors are buying. In return, you will get to know what your customers want.

8. Be Aware About Who Your Local Competitors Hire

Stay alert on who your local competitors hire and the positions they are hiring for. This will give you a lot of insight on your competitors future plans.

9. Conduct a Survey

Conducting a survey will give you a comprehensive report about your competitors. You can achieve this by sending your competitor business an email with questionnaires about their operations and services. With their response, you will plan how to price your products, which areas to prioritise on, and how to run your sales services to impress your clients.

10. Socialise With Your Competitors Customers

If you want to identify your competitors strengths and weaknesses, you will utilise this socialising trait with competitors customers. Once you identify their intentions, you will know which areas you need to improve to beat your competitor.

Final Verdict

Using these strategies to research your competition will let you keep track of how your competitors are planning and managing. This will let you will strategies on how to beat them at their own game and work on your business expansion.