You may be surprised to note that, according to statistics, an estimated 96% of SMEs fail within their first 10 years of operation. Rather than serving as a source of angst or dread for aspiring entrepreneurs, this should instead highlight the challenges facing small businesses and offer an insight into how they can be overcome.
In most case, it is the technical aspects of launching a small business that is overlooked. These are often the most important considerations, however, as it is the accessibility of a website and its ability to convert traffic into converted sales that ultimately distinguished between successful and failed ventures.
How to Optimise the Online Performance of your SME
With this in mind, it is crucial that all SMEs strive to optimise the performance and visibility of their website and online brand. Here are three steps that can be taken to help accomplish this: –
Underpin Online Growth with the Right Server
Ultimately, any business that aspires to capture targeted traffic and convert this into sales must have the capacity to cope with such demand. More specifically, it must have a server build that can process huge swathes of data in real-time, while this must also be adaptable to cope with future growth.
This is where service providers such as Pinnacle Data can be worth their weight in gold, as they have the capacity to configure server builds to build your precise (and future) needs. A unique server can then be built and tested, ensuring that your start-up venture can hit the floor running.
Focus on the Customer Journey
For any product-orientated, e-commerce business, the customer journey must be a key point of focus. This relates to the experience that customer enjoy when they visit your website, starting from the time that they first enter the website, continuing through the point of sales and hopefully extending as they drive repeat business.
The key is to streamline the customer journey through the accumulation of data, as you look to identify slow-loading landing pages or those with, particularly high bounce rates. By also reducing the number of steps that are involved between browsing products and completing a purchase, you can create an enjoyable consumer experience that translates into higher revenues.
Prioritise Free but Measurable Marketing Techniques
While servers and a streamlined customer journey can optimise online performance and sales conversions, much depends on the quality of your digital marketing and your ability to effectively understand and target consumers. This will also impact on your bottom line, as traditional marketing methods are relatively expensive and can significantly eat into your turnover.
This is why you should prioritise free-to-access but measurable marketing platform such as social media, which can connect you with a global audience while also driving emotive and real-time conversations. The key is to create an integrated platform that suits your brand and targeted consumer segments, before leveraging this high-quality content that drives considerable level of engagement.
Hopefully, understanding these technical elements will help your start-up to beat the odds and establish itself as a profitable SME. Along with strategic thinking and considerable vision, your new-found technical proficiency can also drive long-term growth regardless of the external, economic challenges.
Lewis is a blogger and researcher from the UK. He continues to work with a number of brands and websites, including Life Hack, Career Addict and Investopedia.