Tag Archives: Web

Build an Internet Store

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In 2019, online shopping represented around 10% of total sales, and this figure is continuing to explode. Watch your local suburban street and see the stream of delivery vans parading past. In this guide, we will look at your various options and what you should consider when building an internet store.

Selling and buying online is known as e-commerce, online trading or online shopping. As a small business, you could offer e-commerce on your own website, someone else’s website, or social media. The good news is that building an internet store has never been easier, with various internet providers providing templates and tools for novices to be up and running quickly.

WHY should I build an internet store?

Setting up a brick-and-mortar store in a good location to attract customers is expensive and has a lot of risks; however, selling online is the opposite.  Alternatively, expanding the sales of your existing business online can bring many advantages.  These include:

  • Allows you to sell to a much wider audience than those who could visit your place of business
  • Your business is always open, and information is available to hopefully help customers make a buying decision
  • Fewer sales staff will be needed
  • Helps promote your brand, your products and services
  • Increases customer engagement

WHAT are the online store options?

Most of us have bought or sold something personally on eBay, and that is e-commerce.  As a business,s you have three potential e-commerce channels which could be used individually or together:

  1. Online marketplace (eBay, Amazon, Gumtree)
    • Easy to set up and process payments, but at the cost of paying commissions
  2. Website (e-commerce on your website)
    • Can use a template/store builder or build from scratch
    • More flexibility and no commissions to 3rd party
  3. Social media (Facebook marketplace)
    • Similar to the online marketplace, but not as advanced

Before you select an e-commerce optio,n be sure you can answer the following questions:

  • What products and services do you want to sell online, and is there a market?
  • What is your competitive advantage?
  • By what methods will you accept payment? (credit card, PayPal, etc)
  • Do you need to collect personal data? What steps will you take to protect consumers’ privacy? (see our guide on Privacy and Protecting Personal Data)
  • What level of customer service will you offer, and how can you be contacted?

HOW to choose the right e-commerce platform?

Your choice can make or break your business. So take the time to compare your options.

From our three e-commerce options, you need to decide if you will sell simultaneously on a website and marketplaces.  If you decide to have your own website, it is far easier, faster, and cheaper to use a template/website builder than to custom-design/build.  For a small business starting of,f we recommend the website builder option available from various hosting and specialist companies (Google search – online store).  When comparing, consider these factors against your needs:

  • Cost- How much per month compared to the features you get? (Bundled with hosting, it can be less than $20 a month)
  • Templates/store builder options?  Do the available themes and structures suit?  Consider how you will integrate graphics, colour schemes, and content (words).
  • If a template is not suitable, can you afford a custom build? (A custom build can easily exceed $10,000)
  • Shipping—How does the shipping/delivery process make your life and the customers’ lives as easy as possible? Also, see our essential guide on freight solutions.
  • Security? It is unlikely that a hosted e-commerce store will not be properly secured by a vendor, but always keep this in mind.
  • Uptime and service guarantees—This refers to the provider’s unexpected downtime. Do they provide any guarantees, and what compensation, if any, will they provide if you lose a day of trading?
  • Marketing your store – Does your hosting vendor offer marketing tools and services to assist you?
  • Discounts and promotions – If you plan to offer these, how does the solution align with your plans?
  • Smartphone management of site – Can you administer the site if required from the football game on a Saturday?
  • Marketplace integration – Is there an automated selling option across online marketplaces, like eBay?
  • Do they offer a payment gateway? How much do they charge as a percentage to accept credit card payments?
  • Seamless integration – Can other software applications like CRM or your Accounting Package seamlessly connect to your e-commerce store?
Be sure to take the solution for a test drive by:
  • Trialing the platform—Most offer free trials and demos, which will enable you to understand what you need to do to make it happen, but, more importantly, see the experience from a customer perspective. You should upload a few products, see what themes are available, and then buy something as if you were a customer.
  • Consider calling the company’s sales and support desks and asking them a few questions. This will give you a good indication of the experience you will have if you proceed.
  • Check out any online reviews, and if possible, talk to someone already using the solution.

HINTS on running your e-commerce store

  • If you sell to other stores or end customers today, will the way you sell in this new e-commerce store upset your existing customers?
  • Ensure you manage your inventory well.  You cannot sell something that is out of stock.
  • Offer specials on the slow-moving stock to reduce or clear inventory.
  • Some products may not make sense to sell online, such as heavy or very large items, as the shipping cost may be too high.
  • Make sure your freight partner is reliable, otherwise you wear the blame.
  • Existing customers are your most valuable. New customers are the hardest to get.
  • Carefully consider how your website looks.  Is it professional? Is it easy for customers to find what they want?
  • Ensure your site doesn’t feature anything controversial, such as a seductive man or lady (unless you are in that business).
  • Set up your products or services in categories and have descriptions that are easy to read and appealing.
  • Ensure pages are not too cluttered and distracting.
  • Consider including customer reviews.
  • Technical
    • Fast page load speed keeps customers on your site.
    • Comparisons of products are useful to customers.
    • The enlarged view option lets a customer see your product better.
    • Responsive design enables the site to present well on a smartphone.

Your internet store is now built and published on the internet, but do not expect people to swamp it on its first day.  It will take some time before search engines like Google find it, and as nobody knows your new domain name, they will not yet find it organically.  In a separate guide, we will cover SEO, Search Engine Optimisation and SEM, Search Engine Marketing. Put simply these are ways to make your business found more easily on the web and tactics you can use to promote your business online.

SUMMARY – Build an internet store to grow sales

Building an internet store can put you in business faster and cheaper than a traditional brick-and-mortar store. If you are already in business, it can grow your sales, making your offering available to a much larger audience.

In conclusion, keep the customer experience at the top of mind—from the ease of use to how it looks—and set yourself up to succeed from the start.

SEO and SEM – Promoting your website

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Establishing a website or e-commerce store is just like establishing a physical business; no one knows you exist, to begin with. Just as you would want to drive people to visit a brick-and-mortar store, you need to drive people to visit your virtual store. Similarly, if you’re going to find a website, you use a search engine. But how do you compete with everyone else to get your site near the top of the list? In this guide, we will discuss what SEO and SEM are and how they can help your website become popular.

A search engine is a program that uses a keyword to identify websites on the internet, and Google is a search engine.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is internet marketing that increases a site’s visibility through organic (unpaid search) search engine results and advertising. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is increasing the number of website visitors by making the site appear high on results returned by a search engine. SEM includes SEO as well as other search marketing tactics.

WHY use SEO and SEM?

Imagine we have moved into a retail store on a busy street. We make everything amazing inside the store but leave the outside with blacked-out windows and no signage. Will customers walk by coming in? No!

So you have a new or existing website, now is the time to get more visitors and ensure that it is optimised to give you an advantage over your competition. Put more, and help your small business drive more sales.

The best way to do this is to ensure you appear on a search engine when people are looking for your goods or services. Have you ever noticed how many results come up when you search, thousands if not millions? Your goal is to be on the first page as high up as possible.

WHAT do you need to understand about an internet search?

Search engines like Google make their money from advertising. You will find that the top searches are advertisements a business has paid for. The good news is that search engines also want to be helpful, so they understand that if all they published were advertising, people would not use them. Thus, you will find an organic or unpaid search on this page to ensure they provide the searcher with the best results. Getting your business in this organic search is key, but how the magic formula works at Google is a secret. It is a secret to stop people from manipulating the system and always being on the top of the list.

Google’s formula is considered to consider over 200 ranking criteria that are believed to be segmented into three categories: Technology, Copywriting, and Backlinks.

Technology – refers to how well a website works and includes things like the ability to represent itself just as well on a smartphone as a desktop PC, the speed a page loads, if all the links work, etc.

Copywriting – refers to the words used on the website to describe your business and offerings. Those keywords relating to a topic, the length of information, the context of your content, and even page titles and pictures will make a difference.

Backlinks – this is an incoming link from another site. If you are receiving links from other websites, then others consider your website important; thus, Google makes the same assumption.

HOW do I do SEO and SEM?

You have to decide how much money, if any, you will invest in SEM and how SEM will be integrated into other activities. For example, if you run a newspaper advertisement and the call to action is to visit your website, this is an example of SEM. Investing money can be in advertising or using the expertise of others to improve your website.

The most common form of SEM is to pay to have your site appear higher in a Google search result. The process is as follows:

  1. You select a keyword/s to associate with your business. Think about what someone would type to search for your business. 
  2. Decide where you want your ads to appear. Just your town or the whole state or country.
  3. Create a message around your benefit to the customer
  4. Decide a budget
  5. Decide when and what times of the day you want to be live

 The cost of doing this depends on how many other people want to do it simultaneously and how much they are prepared to pay for that keyword. Thus a bidding process determines the cost. You can also pay based on reaching many people or for results. When someone clicks on your site, the latter is more expensive. Google has many tools to help you spend your money and help drive the best results. The key for you is to review what you paid and measure if you saw a corresponding increase in sales (Return on Investment – ROI). If you did, it worked. If you did not, try something else.

For both SEM and SEO, there are three ways to get it done:
  1. Do it yourself – further research and tools provided by Google and others
  2. Domain Hoster – the firm you have used to host your site that potentially helped you build it via a template or website builder will have additional packages around advertising to help you
  3. Hire an expert – This specialist will know all the tricks and, for a fee, will advise you on your best options.
If we now look at how to get the best out of your website by using SEO, there are several steps you should follow:

Begin with research – Ensure you are optimising for the search terms to attract the best traffic to your website. It would be best if you researched keywords and competitors. A handy tool to use is Google’s Keyword Planner https://ads.google.com/intl/en_au/getstarted/. A free tool that gives you keyword ideas along with information on search volume. Just type in keywords that are relevant to your small business. Keyword Planner will generate a list of keyword ideas, along with information on search volume and competition for each keyword. You want keywords with a high search volume but low competition. The other part of SEO research is looking up your competitor’s SEO activity. You will want to understand the keywords that they are using as well as the websites that are linking to their site. This competitive information will allow you to refine your approach to SEO. Use a tool such as MOZ or SEMRush to find your competitors’ keywords.

Optimise your website– Take your list of keywords and include them in your page titles and descriptions, headers, web copy, and URLs.

Optimising your site for search is not just about keywords. Characteristics like site speed, usability, and mobile friendliness will affect your ranking. Test your site on your mobile. Get your friends to visit your site and see how fast it loads and give comments on its appeal and usability.

Content marketing – Creating relevant and educational content allows you to engage your customers and also positions you as a trustworthy expert in your space. This content relating to your keywords will boost SEO rankings and encourage others to link to your site. Consider what people want to know, including their questions and concerns. Ask yourself, is this engaging to the customer? (remember you will be biased)

HINTS

If a competitor’s website is appearing higher in the search results than yours, you might find it difficult to rank with the same keywords. In this case, look for other keywords.

When creating content for your site, avoid just using what your supplier/manufacturer has sent you. Instead, come up with engaging copy that will resonate with your audience.

SUMMARY – SEO and SEM to drive sales

For your website to be found, you will need to promote it. This can be done at a cost or organically.

You can start simply and then build on your SEM and SEO activities but ensure you plan from the beginning and use the information contained in this guide to maximise the effectiveness of the design of your new or improved website. Which in turn will help promote your small business and drive sales!

Build a website to boost your brand

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There are certainly some impressive websites out there, and they look like they have been made by a multinational corporation, though chances are a small business is running them just like you. This guide will look at what is required to build your website.

A website is a collection of publicly accessible, interlinked Web pages that share a single domain name. Websites can be created and maintained by an individual, group, business or organisation to serve various purposes. Together, all publicly accessible websites constitute the World Wide Web.

WHY should I have a website?

Do I need a Website?

A website will give you a place to explain your brand and offer your products and services to customers. It may be just an information site or may provide a digital storefront for goods 24 hours a day to a global audience.

This is a place you can promote your business and engage with customers more efficiently.

WHAT do you need to do before you build a website?

Read our essential guide on web domain and email. This will show you how to register a domain name which is your website name. for example, SBanswers.com is this site’s domain name. Once you have secured a name, you can decide what to do with it.

Your next step is to come up with a digital strategy. This strategy will include what technologies you want to use, like a website, social media, e-commerce, video, or email, and what outcome you hope to get. A good idea is to have some sort of roadmap (plan) and who is responsible for the outcomes.

Website type is your next decision:
  • Corporate – Don’t be confused by the name. This site for your small business provides information about your business and lets potential clients or customers know how they can get in touch with you.
  • Blog – This is an online journal or informational pages that is regularly updated. Gadgetguy.com.au, our sister site, is an example of this, with technology news and reviews updated most days.
  • E-commerce – An online store to transact a sale, including accepting money and shipping goods. Our essential guide on e-commerce covers this in detail.

HOW do I build a website?

You can build one from the ground up, which is expensive or as a small business. We expect you will use a readymade template. The site will need to be hosted, and although you could do it yourself, we do not recommend it. Instead, it would help if you looked to the domain/hosting companies that not only host your site but also will provide you templates and web builders that do not require any special expertise to pull together a professional-looking site. E.g. Crazy domains or Go Daddy.

Site content

The next step is creating the site’s content and look and feel. Remember, the site will be available 24 hours a day to anyone worldwide and, for many, will be the first impression a customer will have of your business. So choose designs and fonts that represent you, maybe you are creative, or perhaps you are very serious. They say pictures tell a thousand words, and again this is critical. Pick images that relate to what you do and the messages you want to get across. The most important part of your site is ultimately the words and how you describe your business, products, and services. Including keywords related to your offer will increase your chances of being found on the internet (SEO).

Your website is now built and published on the internet but do not expect people will swamp it on its first day. It will take some time before search engines like Google find it, and it won’t be found organically (without help) as nobody knows your new domain name yet. We cover SEO Search Engine Optimisation and SEM Search Engine Marketing in a separate guide. Put simply. These are ways to make your business found more easily on the web and tactics you can use to promote your business online.

In evaluating the different hosting providers look for the following things:
  • Cost – How much per month
  • Webspace or storage – The size of the website they will host for that plan.
  • Bandwidth – If there is any limit on the amount of traffic the site hosts.
  • Websites – Some plans allow you to have several sites in the same plan.
  • Email – The number of included mailboxes.
  • Templates & Tools – to help you build and maintain your website.
  • Stock images – x number of stock images will be included in your subscription.
  • Speed – some plans offer faster loading speeds. Customers are more likely to stay on your site if pages load fast.
  • Backup – whether a backup is kept of your site in case of failure.
  • DDoS protection – protects against Distributed Denial of Service attacks which can cause outages.
  • SSL certificate – This encryption is needed to keep online sales secure.
  • Uptime Guarantees – represented as a percentage of time they guarantee your website will be available to be viewed.
  • Monitoring – allows you to see statistics on your site and view any issues that arise.
  • Tech support – Hours of service they are there to help resolve issues.
  • UI – the simplicity of the interface to administer your website.

HINTS

When sourcing photos for your site, use your own or those of others but ensure you have permission if you use someone else’s. You may be provided with some “stock” photos free to use, but other photos can be utilised for a small license fee. If you use someone’s photo without permission, they may come looking for payment in the form of a letter from a lawyer.

Remember, when writing content (text), be aware of how you see your business and how a customer may see it differently. For example, your widget with doubled mirrored redundancy might mean something to you, but to the customer, they may not know what you are talking about. Always think about what the benefit to the customer is and explain it to them in their language.

It’s important to test your website before you go live, and this ensures your customers can easily navigate around it and, if you have an e-commerce store, successfully buy your products or services.

A website is not something that should be built and then forgotten. Always look to update and improve it to remain relevant and attract customers.

SUMMARY– Quality website experience

A website will boost your brand and help you sell. Setting up a site with a template is relatively simple and inexpensive. If you are not confident in building your website, many companies can assist you in producing one. Always test your website and always keep it up to date to ensure the best customer experience.

Social Media to engage customers

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Most people are on social media. Indeed for many Australians, it has become an obsession to the point that downtime should almost be renamed social media time. For this reason, social is a big opportunity for small businesses, and this guide will look at it objectively and advise you on how to make the most of it.

Social media refers to websites and applications that allow people to share content quickly, efficiently, and in real-time. Many people define social media as apps on their smartphones. The most common sites today in Australia include Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn and Snapchat.

When the likes of Facebook started their business, they allowed posting with few restrictions and allowed all followers to see those posts. Social sites need to generate income themselves, so if you are a commercial operation, they want you to spend money to talk to your audience. For example, If 100 people follow your business and you write a post saying you have a big sale this weekend, probably only three people will see that message in their social feed. If you pay $100 to boost your post, 3,000 people would have the post in their feed. So, unfortunately, social media is not a free form of advertising.

An organic post is a post that gets its distribution simply by being on the social platform.
Boosted post refers to when money is paid to reach a larger audience for your post.

WHY should I use Social Media?

The key advantage of social media advertising is targeting a customer. If you use traditional advertising like an advertisement in a local newspaper, you are advertising to everyone who reads that newspaper. With social, you can specifically target an audience. For example, you could target females, 18-30, who drive a car and live in your town.

Social media will help build your brand and provide a link to your website, driving additional traffic.

Social media is more cost-effective in reaching a customer than traditional advertising, but it has a very short attention span. If not engaging, your posts can easily be missed.

WHAT you should know about Social media

When businesses first used social media to reach their customers, there was not much competition. This is very different now, and as it is a bidding-based system, if you have multiple parties bidding for the same audience at the same time, this drives prices up.

Social media is not just about advertising. You can use it to find candidates for your business through sites like LinkedIn and provide video tutorials on using your products like Youtube.

The ideal situation you find yourself in is that after you post some content, your audience is so engaged they repost to their connected audience. If this process goes exceptionally well, it is referred to as a viral post.

Social media is a 2-way platform. Just as you can talk to customers, they can easily talk back. As this is a public medium, everyone will see the comments. Unless the comments are deemed by general society as inappropriate, you cannot delete them. The positive here for your business is you get instant feedback and suggestions. The counter to this is people will speak their mind, especially if they are unhappy with you. You do have the opportunity of turning this around by engaging the customer publically or privately to resolve their issues. The net effect here is if you use social media, you must also monitor it and realise it is not a set and forget medium.

HOW can I promote my business using social media?

Before you start, you need a plan or a social media strategy. This plan will outline how you will use social media, your ideal outcome, and what types of content you will produce. Also very important is to have a schedule of how often and who will do the posting. Remember, it is not the most posts that win. Rather, the posts that are most interesting to the customer and shared by the customer. Other considerations for your strategy should include considering seasonal events like Christmas and whether your efforts will generate sales.

To post on social media, we suggest the following steps.
  1. Decide on which platform you will use
    • Facebook – social sharing
    • YouTube – videos
    • Instagram – pictures
    • LinkedIn – business and recruitment
    • Snapchat – users send and receive self-destructing photos and videos
  2. Visit the platform site and learn about their offering and the free tools they provide to assist you.
  3. Establish a business profile on the platform
  4. Write your first post
  5. Decide if you will amplify the distribution by paying money to boost the post to more people. If you do, you will have the option to target by factors like demographics, location, and interests.
  6. Be ready to respond to comments from your post (if you do not, customers quickly form the opinion you do not care)
  7. Post more content and repeat.

HINT

Always include an image.

You must be active every day with interesting content if you want to keep customers engaged. Interesting content is content the customer would find interesting, not what you might find interesting, and it should also be relevant—no point in posting about International Happy Day if it has no relevance to your product.

Social media is bound by advertising rules, and any false or misleading advertising will be subject to consumer law. See our essential guide on consumer law.

SUMMARY – engaging social content

Social media is great for economically building a brand and promoting your business to a targeted audience. You must commit to the media ongoing and create content that engages the end-user. Boosting content will help you reach a greater audience. You should be aware and available to reply to comments.

Digital marketing – online targeting

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As a small business, if you want to attract customers you have the option to run advertising.  If you sell cosmetics and you advertise in a local paper you advertise to 50% of the population who has no interest in your cosmetics.  Namely men.  In this guide, we will look at how we can use digital marketing to target only those customers who are potential buyers of your product or service.

Digital marketing, Online advertising, internet advertising is the use of the internet, mobile devices, social media, search engines, and other channels to reach consumers.
Digital advertising is a targeted, data-driven advertising strategy for reaching consumers in every stage of the buying journey from early consideration through to comparison and purchase.

WHY should I use digital advertising?

Australian’s use of the internet grows every year. Every night most Australians have a smartphone in their hand as they watch TV.

We advertise to let people know you exist, to show a benefit or to promote a compelling offer. Digital advertising has specific advantages:

  • Customers can be targeted based on location, age, sex, income, interests and past search behaviors
    • Targeting can be done to only the audience you are interested in and not the ones you are not.
  • Instant real-time result allows you to measure success
  • Messages can be targeted rather than one message suits all
  • Start or stop advertising instantly

Using our cosmetics example we can decide to advertise today to women aged 19 to 35 who have an interest in fashion.  We can immediately see how many in our target audience have been reached and how many clicked through to your website.  It is also possible to track how many of those people ended up buying a product on your e-commerce store.

WHAT are the different types of digital marketing?

Before you endeavor on a Digital media purchase we strongly suggest you build a marketing plan as discussed in our Marketing Guide. The types of digital marketing options include:

  • online advertising  
    • banner ads – an advertisement that appears on a web page
    • keywords – spending money so your business will appear on the first page of a browser (Google) search
    • retargeting – serving a digital advertisement to someone who has already searched for your product or similar. For example, you search Toyota and keep getting ads for Toyota
    • native – an ad that is a sponsored post rather than a hard sell ad
    • video – use of a video advertisement in a digital arena like YouTube
  • online streaming
    • Podcasts – placing advertising in a pre-recorded radio type program
    • Video on Demand – this could be catch-up TV or Foxtel where video advertising is allowed.
  • social media advertising – use social media as the platform to advertise
  • mobile app advertising – free apps survive by including advertising
  • email marketing – a direct mail piece like you would have traditionally received in your letterbox but via email

HOW do I go about doing digital marketing?

Unlike traditional forms of advertising like TV, radio, and newspapers, digital advertising is much easier for the everyday person to do versus having to use a specialised media buying business.

It can be as simple as entering your credit card details.

Assuming you have a plan including having marketing objectives, a definable target market, and a decision on marketing levers (see our Marketing Guide) you are almost ready to advertise.

It is important to have some creative content that will actually convey your message and resonate with a customer. You need to ensure there are a customer benefit and call to action.  That is, why should the customer be interested and how can they get in contact with you.  The final part is to make it visually appealing.  See our guide on Graphical design to see how to do this simply.

Not that these are the right solution for your circumstances, but the most popular means to deliver a digital advertisement is through Google or Facebook.  Both these organisations have tutorials, guides, tools, etc. to lead you through the process and pay with a credit card to start the advertising.

Google https://ads.google.com/intl/en_au/getstarted

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/business/ads

HINTS

Whilst using digital marketing makes bold claims around specific targeting and measurement the reality is not always quite as accurate.  Errors do occur and you should always use actual sales improvement as a true measure of success.

While the internet is a powerful medium, you can benefit from using a mix of traditional advertising like direct mail, radio or outdoor and digital marketing to reach your target audience.

Digital advertising is bought in an auction environment.  The more buyers for the same digital assets drives prices up.

SUMMARY – better targeting of customers

Digital marketing or advertising uses the internet to target only those customers you specify.  It is possible to track those customers through to a sale which helps you determine if you should invest any further money in the same approach.  Digital advertising can be specific to your local area or enable you to reach a global audience. It is very data-driven and if used correctly is a very powerful marketing tool.

Website design for subscribers, leads, and sales

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Website design is critical for your business success. When you open a web page, do you read it or do you scan it? We all want instant gratification to quickly find what we want. A well-designed website will engage readers and help you achieve your goals.  This guide will look at why web design is essential and look at what you should consider to get the best result.

Web design can be defined two ways.
1. Referring to the design of the website displayed on the internet and the consumer experience. The experience of viewing the page includes its layout, the content contained and the graphic design.
2. To create and maintain a website using a process of planning, conceptualising and arranging content. Website design uses specialised software and templates combined with human creativity.

WHY should I care about good website design?

The best layouts for sales are deeply influenced by conversion science (study of converting a user’s interest into a sale). This means layouts are critical for marketers who want more subscribers, leads, and sales.

A visitor’s first impression of your website is critical! Layout and design are what influences that first impression.

More than 90% of first-impressions are design-driven. A visitor will form an opinion of your site in less than a second.

A recent study indicates that nearly 50% of all web visitors will decide if your site is worth their time based on design alone.

Colours and graphics contribute to a website’s design. Still, it is the layout that is most important when it comes to user experience and digital conversions.

WHAT makes a good website?

Simple to use – users should not have to work out how to use it
Intuitive – makes information easy to find
Streamline – marketing fluff or clutter is removed
Engagement – convince readers you are worthy of their time
Easy to read – simple text and layout means lazy readers will absorb
Consistency – colours, fonts, and imagery are consistent and on-brand helping visitors connect with you
Responsive – ensures superior experience no matter if consumed on a desktop, tablet or a mobile
Fast – our patience is stretched if a web page takes too long to load

For information on steps to create a website refer to our guide to building a website to boost your brand

HOW do I ensure my website design is effective?

Let’s face it, not all of us are creative, and if we are, we may not then have the skill set to briefly explain a product or service.  The net result is web design takes a specific set of skills that may collaborate with several individuals with different abilities.

Web design has become much simpler with the availability of user-friendly software tools and the availability of template-based building tools.  You have many options to do it yourself or completely outsource the project to something in the middle, like getting some help with some graphics. See our guide on graphic design.

Some key practical attributes of a good website:
  • Use lots of white space to highlight the headline and call-to-action
  • If the visitor wants to learn more, they can scroll down
  • Simple (cut-down) menu that makes finding what you need simple and intuitive
  • Show an example of the solution at work
  • Visitors can understand why they would need the solution, which helps to push the conversion
  • Have a call to action that is static – it’s always prominent, even as visitors scroll down and continue to read
  • Keep the menu static, so readers always have access to other content
  • Ensure the layout is pleasing and easy to read so visitors will be engaged
  • Use clearly marked headings with simple explanations and links for more info
  • Have information to learn enough to drive a conversion based on someone skimming
  • Use words and images that will draw attention
  • At the bottom of a page list out links that make it easy to navigate the site with minimum clicks and scrolling
  • Put essential information above the fold requiring little visitor input (landing page info on screen)
  • Ensure your menu items are simple to understand, and you should have a practical website layout to drive more sales
  • Video can be an effective way to tell a story quickly.  Ensure the video is short and clearly explains a customer benefit
  • Use pop-ups to collect customer data and consider an exit pop-up to reignite interest in your site

HINTS

Good web design is only part of the equation of having a successful business.  If you have a product that no one wants or your pricing is not right, the best website is unlikely to solve this.  For more helpful info see our guide on marketing to grow your business.

You need to be credible.  The design will get you eyeballs, but you will never see them again unless your content is of high quality and relevant to the reader.

Don’t be afraid to use offers. This offer could relate to price, availability, bonuses etc.  There is a reason year after year, retailers use sales to boost sales.

Test your new site.  Ask family friends, business associates etc. to look at your new site and give their frank feedback.  Don’t accept the answer “Good” ask them specific questions.

SUMMARY – Website to drive sales

Having a website and something to sell is a start, but that website must be engaging to attract a buyer to look further and persuasive to help you close a sale.  You can do some simple things with the website layout, content, and graphic design to give your site an unfair advantage over your competitors.

Expense management

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If you have employees, chances are they will spend money that they will claim back from the business.  Is the $200 bottle of wine an acceptable expense?  Is there an easy and quick way to process those expenses? This guide will look at how you can use expense management software to improve employee productivity and ensure your records are more accurate.

Expense management refers to the systems deployed by a business to process, pay, and audit employee-initiated expenses. This most likely will include policies and procedures that govern such spending, as well as the technologies and services utilised to process and analyse the data associated with it. Expense management software helps simplify this.

WHY consider Expense Management Software (EMS)?

Imagine you leave a restaurant, open an app on your smartphone, take a photo of the receipt, select the applicable expense item, and submit for approval and payment. You are done in less than a minute.  Why? – Because EMS cuts down manual processes, it is easy and fast for both the employee and employer.
Predominately being cloud-based solutions make the software affordable.

What is the difference between manual vs automated expense control?

Advantages of automated expense control:
  1. Productivity. Time and money lost due to misplaced receipts, forgotten expense approvals, and error-prone manual data entry, can put a significant drain on employee productivity and morale. Expense management software can curb these issues and increase efficiency.
  2. Captures GST.  The GST on each receipt can be accurately captured for allowable credits (talk to your accountant to understand what is allowable, for example, entertainment is not)
  3. Automatic integration.  Allows expense data to be loaded straight into your accounting package without any manual processing.
  4. Analyse spending. The ability to track spending by expense category, unit or vendor provides insight into spending trends and identifies areas for cost savings. Organisations can improve their cash flow cycle and forecast for future expenditures.
  5. Compliance. Internal policies, as well as external government and tax regulations, can cause non-compliance risks for a business. Expense management systems help reduce risks by evaluating expense reports against internal and external regulations.

How do I select an expense management system that is right for me?

Features you should evaluate include:
  • Accounting integration – Many systems integrate with popular accounting packages such as Xero and MYOB allowing for easy export of reports and eliminating the need for manual data entry. Be sure to read our essential guide on Accounting Software.
  • Expense compliance – Having some spending policies is a good idea, like a meal allowance whilst traveling. Will the software enforce spending policies and assist with fraud detection flagging expense overruns, duplicate expenses, missing documentation, and so forth?
  • Car mileage – Ability for an employee to track kilometres traveled for a work trip using their car.
  • Approval – Does it streamline the review and approval process by enabling you to approve based on expense type and other variables?
  • Analytics reporting – Will reports help forecast and budget for future expenses, identify spending trends, and highlight cost savings opportunities?
  • Automatic expense import – Do you want it to connect to email accounts and credit cards, allowing users to pick and choose charges to add to expense reports?
  • Smartphone receipt capture – Enables users to scan, email, or take a picture of receipts for easy submission.
  • Direct deposit – Do you want it to link directly to employee bank accounts for quick and easy expense payments.

Summary – photo receipts and accounting software integration

There can be some very fancy features offered from the expense software vendors but in the case of the small business, we recommend you go with the software that offers the basic features like uploading photos of receipts and accounting package integration to minimise costs.  You may also find your accounting package either has this feature built-in or an add on module can be purchased.

Cloud based solutions

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It is in the cloud, but what is the cloud and why is it useful to me?  There is so much confusion around exactly what cloud-based solutions is so in this guide we will break it down into simple terms and help you understand what it can do for your small business.

Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage and computing power, without direct active management by the user. The term is generally used to describe data centres available to many users over the Internet.
A cloud application, or cloud app, is a software program where cloud-based and local components work together. This model relies on remote servers for processing logic that is accessed through a web browser with a continual internet connection.
Wikipedia

WHY should I care there is a cloud?

The cloud has enabled computing power and applications to be accessible to small businesses that previously only large enterprises could afford to own. So what might have cost you upfront tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars before is now available for a low monthly subscription.

Not only can you get access to computing ability cheaply the other big development that has made this all so accessible is not cloud-specific, it is the improvements in the user interface.  Users no longer have to be super technical instead we have user-intuitive ways to take advantage of solutions that help us in our businesses and lives.  The best example here is thinking of using a smartphone now versus using a dumb phone more than 10 years ago.

WHAT is the cloud and a cloud application?

The cloud is a real thing and literally is a whole bunch of computers sitting in large purpose-built buildings that you can essentially hire usage.  For any computing solution to work, you need a computer that runs an operating system and then application software to run a solution.  A solution might be to share/store files, to act as a post office for email, to keep track of how much money customers have in their bank accounts, to bill customers for electricity, to manage inventory, or keep track of the finances.

Traditionally a business would own this computer know as a server and manage it in house – many still do. The cost of buying this, keeping it running, and securing it is expensive. These servers might be busy for certain times of the day and do almost doing nothing other times of the day.

What cloud computing does is enable servers to be shared amongst many users meaning that each server is better utilised thus reducing costs.  It also allows businesses to only pay for the time they use.  The internet provides a means to use this computer power sitting anywhere in the world.

A Cloud Application is the same concept but rather than just buying computer power and storage, you are renting the use of an application to do a job.  Similar to the computers, to create an application is expensive but if you can share that cost with many more users it will dramatically reduce the cost.  Thus business applications that traditionally could only be afforded by the biggest businesses are now via the internet made accessible to small businesses for low monthly fees.

HOW do I take advantage of Cloud-based solutions?

The following essential guides are available on this site for common business solutions including:

Depending on your industry there are many more cloud solutions which if used correctly could save you time and money allowing you to do more to improve your business.  An internet search will help you find them.

Other advantages that cloud computing provides other than the specific solution and cost savings include:
  • Fast integration of the solution.  No hardware setup or software loading required.
  • Access from anywhere you have internet.
  • Application software is always the latest version.
  • Backup solution normally provided.
  • Better reliability of the hardware. Cloud vendors will guarantee less downtime of solution.
  • Expandability of computing or storage as you need it
  • Enables easy collaboration with others, for example, accountant
Disadvantages can include:
  • Performance can vary by vendor
  • You have no control of technical issues (also an advantage)
  • Security of your data not being in-house (also an advantage)
  • No control of downtime
  • Relies on good internet connectivity
  • Increases your internet allowance usage
  • Support may not be to the level you need

HINTS

A consideration you should have is where is your data being stored.  Is it in Australia in the USA or maybe China?  If this is important to you, possibly from a security perspective, you should ask this question before committing.

Most cloud solutions offer a free trial period so you can test drive the solution.

Always make an extra backup copy of your cloud data in your home or office.

SUMMARY – affordable solutions to drive your business

Cloud-based solutions have allowed enterprise technology to be available to small businesses affordably.  By sharing resources to many customers, prices have fallen.  Competition has ensured vendors provide easy-to-use solutions that will benefit your business.

Payroll Software – simplify paying people

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our guide on payroll we discussed the process of paying an employee. Part of that discussion was the actual calculation and processing, we discussed options like using a third party or using software to do it yourself. In this guide we will review what you need to consider in selecting a Payroll software solution.  

Chances are if you are considering payroll software you already have or are also considering an accounting package solution.  Either way you are best to ensure the solution is either built into the accounting package or can be integrated.  This will save you lots of time. See our essential guide on accounting software solutions.

Small business payroll software is a solution used in-house that helps you streamline and automate payroll processing tasks. The software saves time and effort through automation as well as reduces errors vs doing manually. It often includes modules for time tracking, tax filing, and benefits administration.

WHY do I need software to do my payroll?

Benefits of Small-Business Payroll Software

  1. Automation of processes
  2. Reduced labour costs associated with payroll processing
  3. Greater accuracy and lower risks eliminate the possibility of human error. The software can also remind you of deadlines, so reduce your risk of fines.
  4. Integration with existing software, for example, accounting packages or POS systems
  5. Some packages will provides updated tax tables when the legislation changes so that the right PAYG Withholding is used.

WHAT you need to know about the ATO and Single Touch Payroll

As a small business in Australia you need a package that will comply with the Australian Tax Office Single Touch Payroll (STP) https://www.ato.gov.au/business/single-touch-payroll/in-detail/single-touch-payroll-employer-reporting-guidelines/. Larger business may consider a package that includes other HR functions but it is unlikely a small business you would consider this. Like the accounting, POS, and eCommerce software solutions the Payroll solution is most likely to be cloud-based bringing functionality at a reasonable price.

HOW do I make a decision on which Payroll Software

Features you should consider:

  • Designed for the Australian Tax System and reporting requirements
  • Performs Single Touch Payroll reporting
  • Direct deposit functionality into employees’ bank accounts
  • SuperStream standard compatibility for Superannuation compliance
  • Ability to integrate with other cloud-based software solutions you are using. This will reduce the workload
  • Additional information can be printed on the employee payslip such as annual leave owing
  • The ability to support employee deductions or allowances for example, car leasing or uniform allowance
  • Leave management including annual, sick, and long service
  • Employee portal to update banking details or enter leave
  • Mobile access from your smartphones, both for administration and employee
  • If employees clock on and off, the ability to integrate this process
  • Flexibility to handle employment options including variable hours, bonus payments, contractors, etc
  • New hire integration without external assistance
  • Reporting functionality including leave reporting
  • Alerts or reminders, for example, payment was not successful or Super payment is due
  • Security. Remember all your wage information is on the cloud.  Consider in which country the information is hosted
  • Legislation updates.  How quickly will the software be updated to abide by any new Government legislation?
  • Support.  Various support or training might be available either included or at a cost.
  • Cost and cost of extra features

HINT

Make sure your software choice will does not have any compatibility issues with your and your employee’s bank account intergration. Also ensure the bank will process payments overnight so employees can draw cash the next day.

SUMMARY – Easy Payroll

This software can be accessed inexpensively and will make your life easier. More info on vendors can be found by searching for small business payroll software Australia.

Roster Management for scheduling staff

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John wants Friday off to go to the dentist, Beth cannot work Fridays and Liam is on holiday.  So, who can work on Friday?  For many small businesses rostering staff is a constant challenge. This guide will help you select a roster management software solution by helping you understand what you should take into account.

Rostering software provides a small business with a simple and intuitive method to manage staff rosters and shift structures. Most modern scheduling software also integrates with a host of other services like POS, accounting, payroll, data storage, HR systems, and more.

WHY do I need Roster Management Software?

WHY do I need Roster Management Software?

When done successfully, productivity is maximised and sales are not overrun by labour costs. Week after week, month after month, this task needs to be repeated again and again. This can become a tedious and error-prone process if done manually or on a spreadsheet.

WHAT are the benefits of scheduling software?

  1. Improving communication. Developing and maintaining a strong line of communication with your staff is one of the most important aspects of running a successful business. Many common staff scheduling miscommunications can be prevented.
  2. Increasing accuracy and efficiency. Quickly create, view, and modify schedules, handle leave requests, and keep in contact with employees about scheduling needs. Some programs include automatically populating fields, which help you spend less time manually entering names and numbers.
  3. Maintaining compliance with government regulation. Scheduling applications can be used to automatically track employee hours to prevent law violations. This feature is especially useful for companies that have employees who can legally only work a certain number of hours, such as minors or people receiving disability pensions.
  4. Monitoring labour costs. Scheduling software makes it easy to record hours and payroll data, providing valuable insight into current and future expenses. This allows you better control over budgeting and overtime costs.

HOW do I select the right Roster management solution?

Cloud-based solutions have made this software accessible and affordable to small business and you should consider the following when selecting a vendor:

  • Support – Services to help get you set up and provide the ongoing support you no matter what time of day.
  • UI – User Interface is how the information is presented. Understand how easy it is to use and its ability to be customised.
  • Job library – Ability to have different job roles and to flag which employees can perform which roles. For example, differentiating between a cook and a server.
  • Locations – If you have multiple locations the ability for an employee to be set to only work at one location or both.
  • Employee onboarding – allows paperless capture of essential contact details, tax file number, and superannuation details for new employees.
  • Shift swapping – Allows employees to swap shifts amongst themselves with or without the manager’s approval.
  • Employee availability – Both the ability to drop a shift an employee cannot make or set rules like I am not available every Friday.
  • Employee rules – Ability to set a rule such as Jane is not to be rostered on with Rudy.
  • Forecasting – The ability to have the right number of staff scheduled for a busy Saturday versus a quiet Monday.
  • Employee portal – The ability of the employee to log on via a PC or smartphone to view or administer their schedule.
  • Access – Ability for manger and workers to adapt to last-minute changes like replacing
  • Smartphone access – Ability for manger and workers to adapt to last-minute changes like replacing a sick employee remotely.
  • Auto schedule – Allows artificial intelligence to recommend the best roster with a single click.
  • Schedule alerts – employees decide how they want to get alerts of schedule updates—either via email, SMS, or simply through in-app messages.
  • Group announcements – share company-wide posts including files.
  • Leave management– keep track of employee leave entitlements.
  • Payroll & accounting integration– Integration with your other software solutions to provide integrated information for simplicity and planning. (See our essential guides on Accounting, Payroll, and POS software)
  • Time Clock – Real-time capture of working hours electronically.
  • Reporting – One area that separates good shift planning platforms from average ones is reporting. When they are forecasting shifts, businesses such as restaurants and retail stores need to know what their labour costs will be and how that relates to sales. When integrated with an accounting or POS solution, rich data can help you better plan for events like Christmas sales.
  • Security – Ensure employees can only log in as themselves and that it is simple and secure.
  • eLearning – Ability to have an online training library to ensure staff have the right skills.

This software solution is usually priced per employee per month.

HINT

Roster management software only makes sense when your staff do not work standard working hours like 9 to 5.  We also see the benefit really kicking in when you are trying to manage a larger workforce.

Various vendors can be found by googling small business roster management Australia.

SUMMARY – Save time and frustration

This software solution will reap more benefits the more complicated your staff rosters are and the higher the number of people.  This is one of those tools that, once you implement, you will not survive without.