The online world has certainly made it easier to grow a business than ever before. However, just because it’s easier to set one up, there are still many challenges you’ll face along the way.

With 90% of e-commerce start-ups failing within the first 120 days, it’s important to be on the ball as soon as you open up your business online for customers. So, here are some important and useful tips for growing your business online.

Affiliate marketing

Affiliate marketing is said to be one of the most lucrative ways to boost traffic to your site but to also convert many of them into sales. A lot of influencers and those with big audiences choose to use affiliate marketing because it can create a passive income for them.

This type of marketing works as an ambassador type program. Those who want to promote certain services or products will sign up to an affiliate marketing platform and then request partnerships with sites such as yours.  These sites can be great for any online sites that want to profit from their audience’s commitment to buying what they suggest.

They will then receive a small commission for any customers that come in via their custom links that they promote either on their own site or through social media.

Mailing lists

A mailing list is a great way of building up a dedicated following. With that in mind, it’s worth setting up a mailing list if you haven’t already. Mailchimp is a useful tool to use for collecting emails from your site and other platforms. It can help you segment those that have signed up to your emails, from those who have just signed up to those that have already purchased.

Targeting your email marketing is important so a mailing list can correctly deliver the right type of email for the customer depending on where they are in the sales funnel itself.

Paid advertising

Paid advertising is part and parcel of running a business online and therefore it’s important to implement a budget that can focus on ads for Facebook, Google and other platforms that can push more traffic to your site in general.

When it comes to paid advertising for your online business, make sure that you have a clear idea of who your audience are before you start drafting up a paid advertisement campaign. Without this knowledge, paid ads can easily fall apart or fail at reaching the audience you need.

Every business will be different in terms of the budget they have for paid advertising but you don’t need a lot to start off with. Try to inject more money into your budget as the business grows. Never stop advertising because it’s always required in order to stay relevant and in the spotlight.

YouTube

YouTube is a growing platform that has created a lot of success for many businesses and individuals online. As humans, we’re visual creatures and so it’s why content on YouTube and videos on platforms like Tiktok and Instagram do so well.

With that in mind, create valuable content on this platform where possible. How-to videos and content that describes your product or services will be more engaging and informative to your audience. The same goes for other social media platforms too.

SEO

Search engine optimization is something that any business online should be well versed in. Where that isn’t the case, it’s worth outsourcing your SEO needs to agencies or SEO companies that are highly skilled in this area.

There are a few ways to improve your search engine optimization in order to rank higher on the search engine results pages. Here are a few suggestions:

• Create content that’s high-quality.
• Content that’s over 2,000 words performs better.
• Compress images to speed up your website.
• Backlink and internally link within the content.
• Research keywords and eye-catching titles.

It’s critical to invest your resources and time into all of the above in order to give your online business the best chance at success. Know your audience so that you can create the relevant content and advertising needed to hit the right people online.

Grow your following and find new ways to reach your audience through different mediums, whether it’s affiliate marketing or video content on YouTube. The opportunities online are endless, so take advantage of this for your business this year.