Grow Your Business Online in 2024

Welcome to the digital frontier of 2024 – an era where the virtual landscape is as critical as the physical for businesses striving for success. In this ever-evolving digital world, staying ahead isn't just an advantage; it's a necessity. As we stand at the cusp of yet another year of technological leaps and bounds, it's imperative for businesses to keep pace in order to remain competitive. From securing the right domains to protect and enhance your brand, harnessing the power of professional email platforms for effective communication, creating engaging and responsive websites that turn visitors into customers, to ensuring your online presence is backed by robust and reliable hosting – read on to cover the keystones of a thriving digital business strategy in 2024. Jump to the section you wish to read: 1 – Update Your Website Content and Customer Engagement 2 – Professionalise with Email and Productivity Tools 3 – Fortify Your Brand’s Online Territory with Multiple Domains 4 – Hosting: The Silent Power Behind Your Website

4 Ways to Improve Your Business Online

1 - Update Your Website Content and Customer Engagement

In this vibrant digital era, an outdated website is akin to a classic car - charming but not always efficient. Embark on a journey to revamp and rejuvenate your website, transforming it into a modern masterpiece of engagement and functionality.

Why Settle for a 2020 Sales Pitch When You Can Have a Revolution?

If your website gives your sales pitch from 2020, it's time for a digital facelift. A stale website might not showcase the latest products, services, or technological advancements your company has made. This is akin to a salesperson not being aware of their latest product line during a pitch or like greeting a new customer with an outdated script. As competitors update their sites with the latest technologies and designs, sticking with an old website will put you at a significant competitive disadvantage suggesting your brand doesn’t value innovation or improvement. A modern, updated website signals that a business is thriving and keeping up with the times. An outdated website, on the other hand, might raise doubts about the company and in turn, lead generation. Sleek designs, intuitive user interfaces, interactive elements, and most importantly an updated sales pitch, make each website visit a memorable and impactful experience. Jump on your website today and see if it still matches what you are telling your customers on a daily basis.

The Age of Responsive Design

Like a chameleon adapting to its environment, your website should fluidly transform to fit every screen, from the vast landscape of a desktop to the compact terrain of smartphones. With the majority of internet traffic now coming from mobile devices, a non-responsive website turns away a half of your potential customers. Google has cemented the need for a responsive site and has officially switched their ranking algorithm to crawl the mobile version of your site first. This is called mobile-first indexing. Ignoring responsive design leads to lower search rankings, making it hard for new customers to find you. As mentioned above, jump on your website but this time on your phone to see what your customers experience looks like.

Crafting Digital Experiences that Resonate

Your website should not just speak but engage in a dialogue with your audience. From captivating content to interactive elements, every pixel should tell a story. Websites lacking interactive and engaging elements fail to capture the attention of visitors, leading to lower engagement and conversion rates. A website that doesn’t effectively communicate with its audience fails to build the trust and connection necessary for lead generation and sales. It’s about ensuring that your business is heard loud and clear, no matter the device.

So What Can You Do To Improve Your Website In 2024?

In 2024, don’t just build websites; create digital experiences that resonate, engage, and convert. Your website is the digital face of your brand, and it's time to give it the makeover it deserves. Imagine a platform that offers the flexibility of a canvas with the robustness of a fortress. WordPress websites can offer just that - a perfect blend of creativity and technical prowess, ready to embody your brand's vision.

Webcentral offers both DIY WordPress websites and Designed WordPress websites

2 - Professionalise with Email and Productivity Tools

The way your business communicates is more than just an exchange of information; it's a reflection of your brand's ethos, professionalism, and credibility. The evolution of email and document creation tools has significantly raised the bar for business communications. Transform your communication tools into a powerful extension of your brand's professionalism and efficiency.

The Evolution of Email Communication

A professional email address – your name followed by your brand's domain name (e.g. [email protected]) – is no longer just a preference; it’s a critical aspect of your business's identity. It's like donning a digital suit every time you send an email. Each email is an opportunity to reinforce your brand. Failing to utilise a branded email is a missed chance to make your brand more memorable and recognisable. Your email is often the first point of contact with clients, partners, and customers. A professional email address sets a tone of trust and competence right from the start. Using generic or personal email addresses for business communications makes your business appear unprofessional or unestablished, eroding trust with clients and partners. Are you still sending your customers emails from a gmail or hotmail address? Take the step to professionalise your emails today.

Leveraging Microsoft 365 for Enhanced Productivity

Microsoft 365 offers an arsenal of tools that take you beyond basic email capabilities. It’s about creating a seamless ecosystem where your emails, calendars, and documents coexist in harmony across your team members and computers. A file created at home can also magically appear on your work laptop with Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint. As competitors leverage advanced tools for streamlined and sophisticated communication, not keeping up means being perceived as outdated or less professional. Streamline your workflow with tools that help you manage your time, tasks, and communication. It’s about working smarter, not harder, and doing it with style. Review how you share documentation and assets across your business to see if Microsoft 365 can enhance your business in 2024.

Integrating Creativity and Professionalism

In a market where standing out is key, blending creativity with professionalism in your communications can be the difference between being remembered and being overlooked. Utilise the array of free premade templates across Microsofts 365 product suite to make every piece of communication a memorable one. By not fully utilising the creative potential of your communications, you miss out on reinforcing your brand identity and values in every interaction. Review your documents to ensure they all match your brand and style.

How Can You Harness Creative Professionalism in 2024?

Webcentral's Microsoft 365 plans offer the tools you need use revolutionise your documents at the click of a button.

Explore the dynamic capabilities of Microsoft 365.

3 - Fortify Your Brand’s Online Territory with Multiple Domains

Your domain name is more than a URL; it’s the cornerstone of your digital identity – a digital address that signifies your presence in the online world. A robust domain strategy isn’t just about having a home for your website, it’s about safeguarding your brand's identity and maintaining a strong online presence.

Understanding the Importance of Domains

Your domain name is the frontline of your brand's identity in the digital world. In a world rife with competition, imitators and competitors will snatch up similar domains, diverting traffic intended for your site and negatively impacting your online visibility and customer reach. By owning multiple variations of your domain name, and similar domain names, you prevent competitors or imitators from misleading or diverting your customers.

Choosing Extra Domains to Protect your Presence Wisely

In the domain name game, strategy is key. Going beyond the conventional '.com' and considering various extensions and variations of your domain strategy to cover all bases. As we are in Australia, it is preferable to purchase the .com, .com.au, .net.au and .au version of your domain name. Imagine if a competitor purchased your domain name with a different extension and put a website up to funnel leads to themselves. This is more common than you think. Limiting your domain strategy to just your brand name keeps you vulnerable. Secure domains that account for common misspellings or your service offerings. It's a proactive step to ensure you capture all potential digital footfall. We have one of our customers recently purchase over 40 extra domains to make it difficult for a competitor to expand into Australia. Are the .com, .com.au, .net.au and .au versions of your domain name available for anyone to purchase? Find out here with our domain search.

The Art of Domain Management

Start by reviewing your domain portfolio. You may find you have domains purchased from multiple providers. This makes is very difficult to track down your domain assets when the time comes for action. Our platform makes it easy to transfer your domains in and monitor them in one screen. You can learn how to transfer domains to us here. The next step to manage your domains effectively is to set your domains to auto renew. We have had customers lose their domains to competitors because they have forgotten to renew their domains. In one case, the company had to dissolve due to losing their brand domain. For the price of a Big Mac meal, it’s worth setting up auto-renew. You can learn how to check if your domains are on auto renew here.

Ready to fortify your online presence with the right domains?

Your domain strategy in 2024 will be a decisive factor in your digital success. It's about asserting your place in the digital world and ensuring your brand stands out with clarity and strength.

Search for your domain names here.

4 – Hosting: The Silent Power Behind Your Website

Envision your hosting as the powerhouse of your online presence, a crucial element silently fueling your journey through the digital landscape. In this era, sluggish or insecure hosting isn’t just an inconvenience; it's a barrier to your success. The right hosting can propel your website towards unparalleled performance and security.

The Need for Speed & Resources

In a world where patience is a rare virtue, a slow-loading website is a visitor’s nightmare. Your hosting must deliver lightning-fast speeds, ensuring your website loads in the blink of an eye and keeps your audience captivated. Slow websites lead to high bounce rates as modern internet users expect instantaneous loading and associate slow loading speeds with lack of credibility. Your website may become slow as your business grows due to adding more plugins and having more visitors as you become more popular. This is a tell tale sign you may need to upgrade your hosting plan or improve your websites coding. Login to your cPanel interface and look at the Statistics panel on the right hand side to see your resource limits. Upgrading your plan will increase these limits.

Looking to improve your speed further?

There are also ways to improve your website speed using caching and re-ordering how your code loads. This is something which your developer will have to implement. If you are using WordPress, you can install the basic version of WP Fastest Cache for free. We ran this on one of our test sites and immediately saved 1 second on the load time. You can do a PageSpeed Insight analysis here to see where you can improve.

The Need for Security

With the ever-looming threats of the digital world, secure hosting isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity. Inadequate security in hosting can leave your website open to cyber-attacks, risking both your data and the trust of your users. SSL certificates and robust security protocols are your digital shields, guarding your website against unseen invaders. Our Webcentral cPanel hosting comes with a forever free SSL security certificate which can be implemented by your developer for startup sites. We recommend purchasing a higher encryption SSL certificate if you host client data and credit cards. The reason for this is paid SSL certificates come with warranties. You can simply check if your website is secure by visiting it and checking if it has the security padlock and ‘https’ in the URL.

Webcentral cPanel Hosting: The Conductor of Convenience and Security

Imagine a dashboard where control meets convenience. cPanel hosting offers just that - a user-friendly interface backed by powerful features, giving you complete control over your website’s performance. Without an intuitive interface like cPanel, managing your website’s backend can become unnecessarily complicated, hindering efficiency. Every website has its unique rhythm, and your hosting should complement it. Not using a flexible hosting solution can lead to performance issues, especially during traffic surges.

Ready to Give Your Website the Power it Deserves?

Webcentral offers cPanel hosting plans that scale with your business as you grow, handling all new traffic to your website with ease, and provide you with peace of mind with our forever free SSL certificate and much more.

Read all the benefits of hosting websites with Webcentral.