Businesses want to find new ways to increase sales, reach new customers and develop new markets; online offers that opportunity. But while some surveys show that online businesses are experiencing double-digit growth, others point to a worrying bigger picture that UK SMEs risk being left behind by not engaging customers via the web.
There is an obvious gap as to how effectively businesses are exploiting the web. Why is that?
For many companies, digital is the preserve of marketing but, as we witness the growth in eCommerce, the lines of who owns digital are blurring. This is driving many savvy organisations to rethink the structure of their organisations and where they invest. John Lewis did this some time ago - earlier this year it announced that it had reached a £1bn web sales milestone a year ahead of schedule. Small businesses can also flourish online. An example in the retail industry is Harvey Maria, a Croydon-based flooring company, founded in 1994. A Google search for ‘Cath Kidston Vinyl Flooring’ brings up links to Harvey Maria’s website, in the top three with Cath Kidston’s website and higher than John Lewis. As a reseller of Cath Kidston products, Harvey Maria has been able to use advanced SEO techniques to reach and retain some of the top listings on Google for this product, which has driven up inbound leads and customer conversions for this savvy firm.
For those businesses still sitting on the fence, often the problem they face is where to start. The digital world appears a manic one to the uninitiated. Continuous changes being driven by the likes of Google reset the rules of engagement when it comes to search, and a dramatic shift in consumer buying habits are creating new rule-books for reaching markets, attracting customers and maintaining loyalty. The important thing for any company looking at their digital strategy is not to rush.
Digital also has to be embraced by the board and not be the preserve of the marketing team, only then can investment be made where it should. Marketing teams and the specialists that support them will need to make this process easier. We need to communicate the technicalities and science of what we do in business terms.What does traffic, links and social media mean to the bottom-line, sales strategy and customer conversions. Keep it simple and show the value.
I’d urge CEOs and their marketing teams to consider whether their SEO and digital strategy is currently supporting business growth, and, if not, where the competition is overtaking you online. The visibility of your company online should not be a minor task left for the marketing team to work out. Companies that are thriving online have already bought into SEO and that includes their leadership, including by the leaders of those businesses. But the ship hasn’t sailed; for companies that are sitting on the fence, there’s never been more opportunity available to you to grow, so now is the time to act.
By David Soskin, Chairman of Smart Traffic.
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