How to build and grow your business online

Just like any business your business should start with an idea. If you already have one, that’s great, this lesson may help you validate it! If you’re struggling coming up with something you’d like to turn into business, in this lesson you’ll find several options to choose from.

The first steps are always the most challenging ones. However, if you have a step-by-step plan, it gets easier.  That’s exactly what this lesson is offering: first, you’ll come up with a name for your business, then you’ll choose a legal form, create a business plan and finally come up with an elevator pitch. What a great start!

Online sales are on the rise and this trend is only evolving. So even if you don’t think of yourself as an “ecommerce” business, you can still use an online store to benefit your offline business. This lesson will walk you through the process of creating your website from choosing a domain name to optimizing it for search engines. And checklists in additional materials will simplify the task for you!

Business is not only products and services that you provide, customers need to feel connected to your brand. What can help with that? Developing your business identity: tone of voice, brand promise, mission statement and values and, of course, your story. As a bonus you’ll learn some tips on creating a slogan for your business!

When you hear Coca-Cola, you picture a red and white sign, when you hear Starbucks, a green mermaid comes to mind. This is the sort of connection that you’re looking for and the right logo will get you there. In this lesson you’ll find out what can be a logo, what makes a good and bad logo design, and how to make yours perfect.

Designing a website is a difficult task, many people hire designers for it. However, with Jimdo’s built-in services and Lectera’s advices you can easily manage this task one your own. In this lesson you’ll learn how to build a website plan, the basic principles of website design, customization ideas and mobile website tips. In additional materials you’ll find even more tips on website design!

Imagine a website that’s 100% words. No photos, videos, or other visual elements. It doesn’t sound too exciting. Even if your texts are brilliant and convey everything your visitors really need to know — pictures explain things in a way that words can’t keep up with. Photos, graphics, and videos catch the eye, create atmosphere, and fill your content with emotion. After this lesson you’ll be able to create visuals so good that your visitors won’t be able to take their eyes of your website!

Your website has the potential to be seen, not just by people in your area, but by millions of visitors from all over the world! Customers who already know your brand don’t need much introduction. New visitors do. To make a good impression you’ll have to write a compelling About page, make sure there’s a FAQ page and lots of Calls to action. You’ll learn how to create all of that after watching this lesson.

Let us walk you through the process of building your online store. You’ll start by choosing your products, then you’ll fill out the product page, make sure you name, describe and show off your products the right way, categorize them and set the suitable price. Additional materials will provide even more help with pricing and product description.

We all use search engines to find products and services online. Your customers included. Wouldn’t it be great if your website came up when people searched for a product or service like yours? That’s the basic goal of SEO: to make your website more visible in online search engines (like Google) so you get more visitors. And you’ll find out how to do that in this lesson.

There are many ways you can grow your online business, but e-mail marketing never goes out of style. Regular emails will keep you in your customers’ minds and remind them to revisit your website and shop. In this lesson you’ll learn to create newsletter campaigns, structure and write content for them. Moreover, you’ll find plenty of ideas for your newsletters, learn how to test them and choose an e-mail marketing tool that’s right for you.

Social media is the key to growing your business online. With the right tools and content plan in place, social media marketing can be a fun and rewarding part of running your business that doesn’t have to take up too much time. This lesson will walk you through choosing the right social media platform and creating content for it. Additional materials will help you set marketing goals and measure your SMM success.

You think analytics is hard? Well, Google Analytics makes it a lot easier, but you still need to know how to use it correctly. In this lesson you’ll find out about metrics you need to track and where to find them. Additional materials will help you drive more traffic to your website.

This final lesson is all about ways to make new visitors buy and existing customers order again. Discounts, promo campaigns, shipping rate and customer reviews and a nice bonus for you at the end of the lesson. Enjoy!