Over the past few months, technology has played an increasingly important role in helping small business owners stay connected with their customers. GoDaddy’s global entrepreneurship survey found 60% of global small businesses use a website to market themselves and 58% of Canadian small businesses made changes to their website, including adding an online store, adding more content and began or increased their digital marketing activities, during the pandemic. However, there is still lots of untapped potential that small business owners are not gaining from their website.
In celebration of Small Business Month, GoDaddy encourages small business owners to create or update their website to help support their business growth. Building a website using GoDaddy Websites + Marketing helps small business owners to save time and money, build their brand and get seen by more people. Here are four tips to help maximize your small business website.
Start with a .ca Domain
A .ca domain helps Canadians easily find a local small business online. In 2019, the Strategic Counsel found that 83% of Canadians prefer shopping on a website with a .ca domain name. GoDaddy Canada’s recent survey also found that shopping local is top of mind right now with 88% of business owners vowing to support local entrepreneurs going forward. Small business owners can get started currently with a .ca domain for just $0.99 (for the first year when you purchase a two-year term)! In the long run, your domain will cost you a fraction of what you pay for your daily latte. It’s a simple investment that makes great sense.
Add an Online Store
Creating an Online Store for your small business allows your customers to purchase your products or services regardless of location and time. The GoDaddy Online Store is easy-to-use with our website builder, combining a sleek virtual storefront with powerful selling tools, customizable shipping and flexible payment options, integrated with your website. With Online Store, no technical skills are required, which means you can set up your storefront and start selling your products and services to customers around Canada and the world.
Integrate Web Security
Having a more secure website is important for small business owners to help protect both their customers and their business. If you’re creating an Online Store, you want to keep your website secure and also provide security for your customer’s purchases. GoDaddy Online Store plans come protected with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) Certificate, so it won’t be an additional cost to keep the transmission of your customers’ data to and from your website more protected.
Opportunities for Digital Marketing
Digital marketing can deliver impactful results at a fraction of the price of traditional marketing. With the Digital Marketing Suite, everything you need is in one place – built-in search engine optimization (SEO), paid search, email marketing, social media marketing and business listings. Between increasing your website traffic with GoDaddy SEO, engaging customers with email marketing and getting your business on the map with Google My Business integrations, small businesses can more easily be found online.
As always, GoDaddy is here to help the everyday entrepreneur. We are currently offering free tools and resources as well as highlighting small businesses to encourage supporting local Canadian small businesses in your area. Visit GoDaddy to learn more!