Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Advertising feature: Steps for setting up an online business

Advertising feature: Steps for setting up an online business

Setting up your business online can be a daunting prospect. There are a number of things to organise and a few important decisions to make.

Getting your business set up properly online is crucial to its success. You need to make sure your website is visible and find ways of getting your message heard.

Here are some of the steps you will need to take if you are setting up an online business. From getting all the online elements of your business sorted, to arranging an efficient parcel delivery service and promoting; you have to start somewhere.

Choose Your Domain Name

If you are thinking of setting up an internet business then you will probably already have a brand name in mind. It’s perfectly fine to use this as your domain name. However, if you want people to immediately know what your business is about you might want to consider having a name that is very relevant to what you are selling. The easiest way to do this is by going to a domain name register website and purchasing a name online.

Get Web Hosting

You will also need to choose a web hosting service. Shop around online to see what companies are offering the best deals and most reliable service. Save all your details somewhere so that you can access them easily.

Set Up Your Website

You can either do this yourself if you feel confident enough, or get a web design company to set up and design your website for you. At this stage, it’s important to evaluate your costs. Whilst some companies may seem extremely extortionate, it can often be worthwhile spending fairly big; as if you’re not happy with the finished product, it can be expensive to change in the future.

Make Sure Your Website Is Optimised

You need to make sure that your website is well optimised so that it comes up in the search engines. The higher your site is in the search engines the more traffic it will get. If the search engines cannot determine what your site is about you will not rank for relevant keywords. There are a variety of sources, including industry relevant blogs online which can provide tips and tricks to improve your search rankings, without the need to hire a specialist SEO company.

How Will You Deliver Your Goods?

If your online business relies on goods being delivered on time then you need to find an efficient parcel delivery service. One of the most important aspects of business is customer service and delivery. If your goods are not delivered on time you will have some very unhappy customers. Make sure you have a reliable delivery service from the start.

Promote Your Business Online

There are so many different ways to promote your business online. You will need to start thinking about a digital marketing strategy and deciding on the best channels for your business. Register your business on the main social media sites and start building a following. Other things you will need to think about include email marketing, pay per click advertising, display advertising and affiliate advertising. Decide on a budget and start promoting your business.