Launching an e-business, or online business, has many similarities to launching a brick and mortar business. On the other hand, there are some aspects of establishing an e-business that requires the owner to follow some tips for e-business planning that differ from offline businesses. In addition to putting together a business plan, the business owner also has to put together a very comprehensive marketing plan that includes driving traffic to the e-commerce website from both online and offline initiatives as part of the e-business planning process.
The first step is to write a business plan. This is a guide that the business owner can use to help dictate the steps to put together all of the foundational pieces required to start and operate the business. The business plan should include extensive research on the competitors of an e-business and how they are selling their products or services to the same or a similar audience.
Create a marketing plan that incorporates both online and offline ways to drive traffic to the e-business site. Many website and e-business owners make the mistake of only focusing on Internet marketing efforts, but it truly takes a combination of both online and offline efforts to drive the right traffic to the website.
The amount of traffic is not the only focus for the owner of an e-business. It is also important to focus on the conversion rate, which is the number of website visitors that are turned into paying customers. When e-business planning, the owner of the business and website may want to employ some Internet professionals to help with these efforts.
One of the experts may be a search engine optimization (SEO) specialist, which helps the owner identify the proper keywords to use in the website content when e-business planning. A professional marketing writer is another professional that the owner of the site may want to include in the e-business planning process. The business owner should also make the proper plans for hiring and working with a professional website designer.
In an e-commerce business, the website designer is the key element for creating the look and feel of the site. More importantly, however, the website designer adds the functionality and behind-the-scenes technology the site needs to function as an e-business site.
For example, an e-business site that sells products needs to have a shopping cart, where visitors can add products to the cart. When the customer is done shopping, the site needs to have the functionality so that the customer can checkout.
