Getting Irish Business Online

GET YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE

LIAM, HEATING & AIR CONDITIONING SERVICES MANAGER, IS ONLINE www.aacservices.ie
“I see the GETTING IRISH BUSINESS ONLINE initiative as an opportunity for a business like
mine to have a constant presence in every home or office that contains a computer.”

HERE ARE THREE
GOOD REASONS TO
GET ONLINE NOW
1 BE WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE
The number of online users in Ireland grew from
66% in 2009 to 77% in 2010.

2 MAKE SURE YOUR BUSINESS CAN BE FOUND
Over 75% of Irish customers use the internet as
their primary tool for researching new companies
and products.

3 DO MORE BUSINESS
71% of Irish internet users have shopped online.

Sources:
ComReg Consumer ICT survey, 2010, www.comreg.ie
Consumer Barometer, TNS Infratest, 2010, www.consumerbarometer.eu

AND IT REALLY ISN’T HARD…
Honestly - getting your business online couldn’t be easier
thanks to the GETTING IRISH BUSINESS ONLINE initiative.

The steps we’re about to show you for getting your
business online don’t require any specialist technical skills
to implement. All you need to do is take a little time to
learn, set up and maintain your online presence.

Just go to
www.gettingbusinessonline.ie/guide,
follow our simple guide and you’ll be online in no time.

GET YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE 1

CONTENTS

3
JUST GETTING STARTED?
Go to Phase 1 to find out how to get
your website set up!

11
ALREADY HAVE A WEBSITE BUT WANT
TO IMPROVE ITS PERFORMANCE?
Go to Phase 2 to find some ideas for
improving your content and design

17
WANT TO UNDERSTAND YOUR VISITORS
AND GET MORE OF THEM?
Go to Phase 3 to learn about tracking
and promotional techniques
2 www.gettingbusinessonline.ie/guide

PHASE 1
SET UP

Our tool will help you create your website with
a quick and easy step-by-step process:
2 GET YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS
Choose a name for your website and
register your business to secure it.
1 SET YOUR GOALS
(page 5)
Businesses go online for
You will need:
different reasons – what
– Your business address and details.
are yours? (page 4)
– VAT number or company number.
– A mobile phone number so that
we can text you a code.

3 CREATE YOUR HOMEPAGE
Type a brief description of your business
4 SELECT YOUR
and our tool will automatically create
PREFERRED DESIGN
your site. (page 6)
Choose from a range of designs
and see how your content
looks before you decide on
your favourite. (page 7)
5 YOU’VE GOT A WEBSITE!
At this stage you are online and your
potential customers can find you.
If you want to add more pages, more
content or images etc. you can do
so at any stage (page 8). Learn how
to do more with your website in
Phases 2 and 3.

GET YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE PHASE 1 3

1 SET YOUR GOALS
Businesses go online for different reasons – what are yours?

Do you want to increase sales? Get more inquiries or leads?
Provide your customers with extra information about your products?

Your answers to these basic questions will help you design a website
that makes sense for your business.

Your customers:
– Who are the customers you want to reach?
– What kinds of information do these customers find useful when making
purchasing decisions?
– What are your customers already saying online about your products or services?
(A Google search for your business name can give you an invaluable insight into
what your customers care about, love and hate.)

Your competitors:
– Are they online yet?
– If so, what are they doing online?

Your offering:
– What are your business’s main selling points?
– What is the story behind your business?
– Will you sell products online?

Keep your answers to these questions in mind as you create your website
and make decisions about your business’s online development.


2 GET YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS
Choose a name for your website and register your business to secure it.
Your unique website address (e.g. www.yourbusinessnamehere.ie)
is also known as your domain name or URL.

Choosing the right website address for your business is an important decision.
Here are some things you should take into account:

– Are you happy for this to be your business’s permanent online address?
Even if you move premises, your online address will generally stay the same.
– Make it short, easy to remember, clear and unambiguous when spoken –
any name that requires spelling out or explanation should be avoided.
– Make sure it relates to your business – ideally it should be the full or abbreviated
version of your company name or a word or phrase connected to your industry.
– If you’re targeting customers in a specific location you could consider including
the name of your location in your domain name e.g. www.tropicalfishcork.com.

If your first choice of website address isn’t available, try searching with a variation of
the name e.g. including the location of your business. Once you’ve chosen your domain
you will need to sign up and register your business, it’s only at this point that the
website address will be secured for you and you can start creating the website.

Choose a domain
Enter your business name or a few words that say what you do, we will try to find a domain that suits you.

mans best friend find

mansbestfriend.ie Unavailable
mansbestfriend.eu Select
mansbestfriend.com Unavailable


3 CREATE YOUR HOME PAGE
First impressions count – and your homepage is the first impression many
visitors will get of your business. Imagine your homepage as your online
shop front. Make it clear what it is you offer, make it easy to access,
and make it attractive.

When considering what to put on your homepage, think about the most important
thing you want customers to do with your site. Do you want them to view your
products, write a review, call you… or something else? Whatever you want, make
sure that this action is clear and simple for your customers.

Write a brief description of your business in the ‘About’ section. You can come back
and add pages to your website if you need to, so don’t feel like you have to put
everything you do on the homepage. Our sitebuilder tool lets you change fonts,
sizes and colours if you want to – kind of like using a word processing tool.

Site Home Page
For now we want some basic information to put on your homepage. Later on you can change any of this
from within the sitebuilder at http://cp.blacknight.com

Site title Mans Best Friend

Description Dog Walking

About


4 SELECT YOUR PREFERRED DESIGN
There are a range of design themes to choose from – just click on the
one you like best and the tool will do the rest.

Choose the look
Choose a template for your website to give it a unique look and feel.

Theme selector
Pick from one of the following themes for your site. Take your time and find the theme that is best for you.

Clean Forbairt Crisp

After you select a theme, choose your username and password (please keep a
record of these as you will need them to update your website).

Then click the button ‘Complete’. Your details will be verified and your new
website will be live (visible to everybody on the internet).

Once you have completed this stage, we’ll send you an email to confirm.
In future, your website can be updated by logging in at http://cp.blacknight.com

Login details
Choose a username and password to login at http://cp.blacknight.com

Username |

Password

Confirm Password

Next >>


5 YOU’VE GOT A WEBSITE!
If you’ve followed all of the steps and completed sign up, your website is
now up and running. There are a couple of things you should include straight
away, which will appear on your homepage.

A CONTACT DETAILS

Not every business or sole trader has premises – or you might be working from
home – so when your website first goes live it won’t automatically display your
address and contact details. We recommend you add as many details as possible –
it couldn’t be easier!

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO:
– Go to http://cp.blacknight.com
– Enter your username and password
– Move the slider to show or hide your address

B ADD A GOOGLE MAP

You can choose to show your address along with a Google map showing people
how to find your business. Having your address displayed as text on your page is
useful for Google’s search engine and a map is really the easiest way for people to
find your business.

ALL YOU HAVE TO DO:
– Go to http://cp.blacknight.com
– Enter your username and password
– Move the slider to highlight ‘ON’ or ‘OFF’


Your address
39 Canal View

Rathmines

Dublin 6
Dublin

Hide Show address

ON Use Google maps

Save Settings

Many smaller businesses will find that a simple one-page website like you’ve just
created is plenty. You can, however, add to your site at any stage. See tips for the
next phase starting on page 11, and don’t forget to promote your new website,
no matter how big or small it is.

QUICK TIPS
Pages and updates
After you sign up, you’ll have one page: your home page. This is an important
page and acts like an overview page of your business. You may add other pages
to your website from here from the outset (About Us, News, Services etc.)
For tips on how to add more content see Phase 2, on page 11.

Themes
Think your website needs a face lift? Perhaps you rushed through your
application eager to get online. Don’t worry! You can change to one of our
other themes at any point.


BARBARA & JENNIE, OWNERS OF DESIGNIST, ARE ONLINE www.designist.ie
“The website gives people a taste of the shop before they get here.
A huge percentage of the people who come through the door tell us
they looked at the website before they visited.”


PHASE 2
IMPROVING YOUR WEBSITE

Improving and developing your website is easy with
our sitebuilder. Follow our tips to work out what you
need for your business, and how to get it out there.
6 DECIDE ON YOUR WEBSITE STRUCTURE

7 IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE CONTENT

REMEMBER:
If you want to make changes to
your website, you need to enter
your username and password
into our sitebuilder:
Login http://cp.blacknight.com

Username |

Password

Login
Forgot password?


6 DECIDE ON YOUR WEBSITE STRUCTURE
The easier and quicker it is for customers to navigate a website, the more
likely they are to use it. Break down and arrange the information you’re
intending to put on your website in the most logical and user-friendly way.
One way of approaching this task is to draw a simple map or outline of the
site on a sheet of paper.

Home page

About us Offers/Products Reviews / Contact us Our location
Testimonials /
Awards


HERE’S A TYPICAL WEBSITE STRUCTURE - FEEL FREE TO ADAPT IT TO YOUR OWN
BUSINESS’S PARTICULAR NEEDS:

Home page The first page your customers will see - and therefore the most
important part of your site. This page needs to make an instantly
positive impression and encourage visitors to stay and investigate
further. You should include clear links from your homepage to the other
main pages of your site, so that customers can easily find and click
through to those pages.
About us This is where you describe your business – who you are, what you do
and how you do it. Include details of your business history, experience
and customer testimonials.
Offer/Products Here’s where you describe what your business has to offer. Clearly
communicate the benefits of your products and services - and what
makes you stand out from your competition. Include prices and photos
or videos if possible and appropriate.
Reviews / Use this section of your website to let others do the talking for your
Testimonials / business – quotes from satisfied customers, reviews from general or
Awards specialist media, and details of industry awards.
Contact us This is where you’ll display your business address, phone, email address
and other contact details. You may also decide to include your phone
number and email address at the foot of every page of your website.
Location This is for the benefit of customers or suppliers wishing to travel to
your business’s physical location – do give accurate road directions and,
ideally, a map which they can print.


7 IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE CONTENT
Once you’ve decided on the right structure for your website, the next
step is to decide on your content – the actual text and images which
you’ll be featuring on the site.

This is where the notes you’ve taken when you Set Your Goals (page 1)
really come into play – what kind of content will be most appropriate for
your business and useful or interesting to your customers?

HERE ARE SOME GENERAL TIPS:

Find your voice
Your website should reflect your business’s personality. So choose a tone of voice
for your content that reflects that personality - funny or serious, emotive or clinical,
informal or formal.

Tailor to the medium
Users interact with online content differently than they do with newspaper ads or
direct mail pieces. So existing offline content needs to be adapted for your website.
Use short sentences, clear headings and bullet points.

Most important information first
Many users won’t scroll down through a whole piece of content. Always put the
most crucial information at the top of the page where it can be seen immediately.

Speak their language
Write content using the kinds of words that your customers would use, not your
colleagues – avoid industry jargon.


Use images
Wherever possible and appropriate include good-quality visual and audio-visual
content. Useful and interesting photos and film clips can add immensely to the
appeal of your site.

Clearly communicate your benefits
Include the information about your products and services most likely to persuade
customers to choose your business over your competitors.

Clearly brand your site
Make sure people know they’re in the right place by adding logos and making it look
consistent with the rest of your marketing materials and stationery.

Keep your content fresh
Over time, there’ll be changes in your business – you’ll offer new services, discontinue
products, win awards or move premises – and your website will need to be updated
promptly to reflect those changes.


BRENDAN, PRINCIPAL OF DILLON SOLICITORS, IS ONLINE www.dillon.ie
“Having a website is a basic business tool that shouldn’t be ignored.
Many people nowadays do not consider you a professional if you’re
not online.”


PHASE 3
PROMOTING AND TRACKING YOUR WEBSITE

Adding your new website address to your business card,
invoices, flyers, business vehicle and shop front signage
will help get the word out about your website.
There are many more ways of ensuring a potential customer can find you if they are
searching online, free or otherwise. In this section, our tips will help you promote your
website and give you advice on tracking to make sure you understand who’s visiting
your website and what they’re doing on it.

8 PROMOTE YOUR WEBSITE

9 ADVERTISE ONLINE WITH GOOGLE ADWORDS

10 USE SOCIAL NETWORKING

11 MEASURE YOUR WEBSITE’S EFFECTIVENESS

12 LEARN EVEN MORE


8 PROMOTE YOUR WEBSITE
You’ve got your website up and running. Now you need to get customers
to visit it. Here are some promotional ideas to try out:

A ADD YOUR WEBSITE ADDRESS TO YOUR MARKETING MATERIALS
AND STATIONERY

Your website should become the first port of call for anyone seeking more
information on who you are and what you do.

Your website address should appear on any materials your business uses to
communicate with the public, from letterhead, business cards and invoices to
t-shirts and promotional calendars.

Similarly be sure to include your web address in all advertising or other
marketing materials.

B MAKE SURE GOOGLE CAN FIND YOUR WEBSITE

In order to make sure that somebody searching for your kind of business
finds you, you need to make sure that your website comes up as early as
possible on that person’s Google search results.

Here are a few simple tips on how you can make your website more easily
found in Google search.


Text
While Google can analyse many different types of content on your website, text is
still the easiest for it to understand. The more you can make the words on each
page of your website relevant to and focused on your core business offering, the
easier it will be for people searching on Google for your business to find you.

External Links and Recommendations
Just as in the offline world, you build your online reputation through the
recommendations of others – which typically means having other businesses
and individuals linking their websites to yours.

Ways in which you can increase your online reputation include:
– Contacting your local chamber of commerce or industry organisation and
asking them to link from their websites to yours, and/or list your website
address in any relevant offline publications or listings.
– Participating in relevant professional online forums and sharing advice and
useful information with other internet users.
– Encouraging satisfied customers to write reviews of your products or
services and publishing these on your site.

For more tips go to www.google.com/webmasters

If you just want to learn more about how Google searches work go to
www.google.com/howgoogleworks


9 ADVERTISE ONLINE WITH
GOOGLE ADWORDS
With Google AdWords, you can create and run ads for your business, quickly
and simply across Google and a huge network of partner websites.

– Advertising with AdWords allows you to reach new customers at the precise
moment when they are searching for your type of products and services.
– You only pay when someone clicks on your ad, and you control how much
you spend on each click, your daily budget, and where your ads appear.
– AdWords accounts also include graphs and performance data so you can
track what’s working and edit your ads accordingly.
– You select where you advertise. You can decide whether to show your ads
only to people in your own local town or region, or to the whole world.

Why not try out Google AdWords to attract more customers to your website?
Call us on 1890 907 098, you’ll receive an AdWords credit* and one of our friendly
AdWords experts will help you set up your account. If you want to learn more go
to www.gettingbusinessonline.ie/befound

*Terms and Conditions apply.


10 USE SOCIAL TOOLS TO CONNECT
WITH CUSTOMERS
The explosion in the popularity of online social networks provides enormous
opportunities for your business. Here are some ways in which social media
can be invaluable in helping you promote your business:

Keep your customers up to date. Set up an account on a social media site, write a blog or
send out an email newsletter to provide your customers with news of new products,
promotional offers and usage tips. It’s important to refresh information regularly – the
less you update your blog or social network profile, the less often people will return to
view it. You should also check the legality of emailing customers to make sure you are
complying with email marketing policies.

Listen to what customers are saying. Aside from any direct feedback you may receive via
social media, you can find out what’s being said about your business, your competitors
and your industry by regularly checking in on review sites, online forums and social
networks relevant to your business. There are a number of specific tools available to
help you find these sources of customer feedback:
– Google Alerts. Simply sign in with your Google account, enter some keywords and
you’ll be alerted whenever Google finds those keywords used anywhere on the
Internet. www.google.com/alerts
– Google Blogsearch. Find blogs focused on your industry and products plus one-off
mentions of your products in other blogs. www.blogsearch.google.com
– Twitter Search. See what is being tweeted about your business, your products, and
your industry. www.search.twitter.com

Once you’ve identified a useful source of information, get used to checking in regularly.

Monitor and be proactive about reviews and ratings. Many local business directories and
consumer websites feature user ratings and reviews. It’s important to pay attention to
what other sites in your industry are saying about your products and services – and to
respond promptly to any reviews or queries regarding your business. Try to boost your
business’s profile on these sites and be proactive in encouraging satisfied customers
to post reviews.


11 MEASURE YOUR WEBSITE’S
EFFECTIVENESS
Once you’ve got your website up and running it’s important to keep track
of how it’s working for your business.

There are a wide variety of tools available to enable you to track and analyse
your website’s impact on customers - how many people visited your site,
how many of those visits led to purchases, and so on.

You can also understand and improve the effectiveness of your advertising
and promotions online by carefully monitoring the results of each burst of
marketing activity.

SIMPLE TRACKING TECHNIQUES

Here are a few of the more straightforward methods of measuring your website’s effectiveness:

– Use a new phone number (i.e. not your regular business number) for your website
contact details – you’ll know whenever you get a call on this new number that
it’s from an online customer.
– Make special offer coupons available on your website – every customer who redeems
a coupon has come via your website.
– Ask new customers to complete an online form – or simply ask them on the phone
or in person to find out how they heard about your business.
– Use an online statistics counter to track how many visitors your website is
attracting. Search online and you’ll easily find a free tool to help you.


MORE ADVANCED TRACKING TECHNIQUES

Some of the more advanced things you can find out through tracking are:

– Referring Sites. Where are people coming from, and which of your ads and
promotions are driving them to your website?
– Keywords. Which words and phrases are visitors using in their searches
to bring them to your website?
– Content by Title. Which pages of your website are visited most often?
– Specific Link. How many people clicked through an individual link included
in a particular email sent or ad posted by you?

When analysing activity on your website, you’ll want to focus particularly on the
rates of conversion – how many of the visitors to your website actually signed
up for a newsletter, made a purchase, or contacted your business.

Google Analytics is a powerful free tracking and analysis tool which allows you to get
detailed information on where visitors to your website are coming from, what drove
them to you, and what they do once they arrive.

Google Analytics can also help you analyse the effectiveness of your online advertising
with Google AdWords (see page 20) and other e-commerce solutions.

You can find our more about Google Analytics at www.google.com/analytics


12 LEARN EVEN MORE...
By setting up your business website and spending some time developing
basic strategies to promote yourself online, you’ve already done your
business a big favour.

There are many more ways in which you can use the online environment to promote
your business – and with a little time and motivation you could master these more
advanced strategies too.

There’s lots of useful information on promotional and advertising techniques,
search engine optimisation, e-commerce and advanced measurement tools available
absolutely free at www.gettingbusinessonline.ie


SIMON, OWNER OF SPARTAN BOXING, IS ONLINE www.spartanboxingfitness.ie
“I’ve wanted to set up a website for a while now. One of the main
reasons I hadn’t was I didn’t think I had the time or the knowledge
but with GETTING IRISH BUSINESS ONLINE it’s been easy.”

GET YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE 25

ROSIE, OWNER OF BROADWAY BAGELS, IS ONLINE www.broadwaybagels.ie
“Being online has opened my business to the world.”

www.gettingbusinessonline.ie

Getting Irish Business Online

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