How To Leverage Your Startup’s Website to Build Business

Everyone knows that operating a startup is demanding, stressful, and all-around difficult. And unfortunately, not every great startup idea gets validation by the masses: it can be a long, difficult slog even just to make your first few dollars. So with that said, there are several important ‘hacks’ you can use leveraging your startup’s online presence to boost your visibility and improve the ability of potential clients to find you.

It might not get you your first 1,000 customers, sure: but these tips and tricks can help you gain the important foothold which will keep your startup growing. It’s often the first dollars which matter most: so focus on getting them! As a caveat, not every tip or trick will work for every startup; your product will matter, your service will matter, and if you don’t build the right infrastructure… even if you build it, and the clients come, the whole house of cards might still collapse.

So, if you know how to create a website (and trust us, you do!), then rest assured that you can leverage it to build more business for your startup.

Use a Pre-Launch Website to Gain Contacts

If your startup is still pre-launch, slap up a pre-launch page ASAP! You need, at the most basic, a single page which explains who you are, what you intend to do, and gives a space to collect email addresses for pre-launch newsletters or post-launch email marketing campaigns. A lot of startups lose on potential businesses by not collecting the contact information of potential clients before they launch.

When your startup goes live, you can then email all of these individuals to let them know you’re ready to do business! And if you want to earn their repeat business, customer loyalty, or give them incentive to work with you, offer these select few a discount or promotion. Many buyers out there won’t make the plunge with new businesses if there aren’t steep incentives like this, so consider doing so an investment in your business.

Conduct a Sharing Rewards Campaign

Sharing rewards campaigns are very simple: they reward users or visitors for referring their friends. It’s a great tactic which can help startups go viral; and some startups have seen impressive yields, up to 100,000 new visitors within the period of a week.

Write Articles Which Attract Your Clients

Everyone knows that a blog is important, but it’s far more difficult to tell what your blog should include, or how you can use it to attract potential clients. The important first step is to find out what your potential clients like to read online, and what sort of content motivates them. Even better if you write high-quality content which might get picked up by larger news or blogging outlets. And if you know or follow a blog about the industry your startup is in? Email the authors or writers, and see if they’d be willing to do a brief piece introducing you and funnelling their visitors over to a special landing page you make for them.

Use Your Website to Run a Contest

Want to use your startup’s website to help it go viral? Then considering running a contest promotion. There are plenty of free apps like Rafflecopter which can help you manage a contest on your website which promotes viral sharing! You can award points for social media shares, posts about your startup, customer use photos… it can be a great way to build a great following without too much legwork on your part.

Market Research

Trade product, services, promo codes, anything you have to use your website to conduct a little bit of market research. Believe it or not, market research can help you identify problems with your website or product which might be harming your revenue, can help you pinpoint ancillary services or products you can offer to gain more clients, and just show you what clients are interested in. If nothing else, market research can help you identify great ways to promote your startup.