Within the current climate the vast majority of businesses currently have web presence.
Many companies now have their own website and by making small changes to an existing website, you could increase your customer base and also improve business in the long run.
With the correct structure, a business website can become more effective without requiring much technical knowledge. An effective website can attract more visitors and will also allow regular contact to be made between customers. Via a website this can be done in such ways as e-shots and email. This will reduce the running costs of the business and will also minimise the amount spent on postage and telephone calls.
A further benefit of using the internet is to allow your business to appear on search engines which will bring up the company profile meaning that even the smaller companies can get high recognition.
Internet and e-commerce
E-commerce plays an increasingly important role in the way that a businesses products and services are purchased. E-commerce systems such as your website can be used to market and sell to customers, and to provide after sales support. E-commerce can also be an important part of strengthening relationships and improving the efficiency of your dealings with suppliers and other key trading partners.
There are several ways e-commerce may be used in business:
- Direct sales - many businesses use e-commerce for the direct selling of goods or services online. If this is an option you may need to rethink many of your business activities, as this will change the way in which you interact with customers.
- Pre-sales - you can use the website for pre-sales activities and take advantage of using the internet to generate sales leads.
- Post-sales support - the internet can also be used to automate aspects of your customer support to reduce the number of routine customer service calls you receive.
Website development
Many businesses benefit from reaching their customers via a website. The most important fact about doing business this way is ensuring that the website is enable to meet the needs of all customers using it. There are many questions to be asked when developing a website - whether it could work for you? What type of website would be best? How the website could help you get more customers?
IT security and risk management
The security of a business IT system is extremely important. Businesses now rely on IT for so many activities, which make them even more vulnerable to threats and viruses. Having effective security and an effective back up system can help you control and secure information from malicious changes and from unauthorised access.
The impact of a security breach can be far greater than expected. This can result in the loss of customer's personal details and critical information relating to business. The businesses cash flow and competitiveness can also be damaged and can result in a fall in reputation, which could have taken years to establish.
Risk management is a structured way of analysing and controlling the risks to your IT systems.
A risk analysis process typically involves:
- Understanding threats to the business
- Determining which parts of your business is vulnerable to threat
- Assessing the likelihood of threat actually affecting your business
- Understanding the potential cost to the business if a security breach does occur
- Identifying suitable and effective measures to minimise the likelihood of occurrence
- Identifying suitable and effective measures to prevent the threat and enable appropriate recovery action.
If the above points are taken into account then this should minimise the amount of unauthorised access and allow businesses to place customers details and orders onto their website feeling reassured that they are secure.
Training and support available
Business Link run frequent free courses on how to use a web presence effectively to improve your business. Please see our events page for further details.
If you need to learn how to use the internet and information technology, please see our pages on skills and support providers.