When setting up a new business there is a lot to think about from the anxiety of giving it all up and taking on the world alone, invoicing, providing the product or service and taking time for yourself.
We can’t help with everything, but can make life easier when it comes to marketing and your brand. Please see below the items which need to be completed by all Start-ups when setting up their new business and developing their brand:
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Choose your company name”][/rre_module_header] This is becoming harder and harder, back in the day before the internet it wasn’t such a challenge you could have numerous companies in different states or countries called the same thing without any fear of brand contamination. However today you have to be unique across 195 countries and 7000 languages. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Choose your domain name”][/rre_module_header] Check if the domain name is free and also check the other TLDs. Finally Google the name see what comes up is someone using it as a product name? is it used as a band name? how much noise will you be competing with and is it worth it? |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Register your domains”][/rre_module_header] For brand protection it is usually advisable where possible to register the .CO.UK .COM .NET domains |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Register your social media channels”][/rre_module_header] Remain consistent with your channel usernames, if it’s taken for one re-assess all the channels |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Register your hosting account”][/rre_module_header] When registering your hosting, ensure the servers are situated in the country you are selling your products. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Register SSL Cert for your website (HTTPS)”][/rre_module_header] A secure certificate not only encrypts data entered on forms, it give buyers confidence and helps improve your google position. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Setup your email address”][/rre_module_header] Setup both general info@ and specific firstname.lastname email addresses using your private domain. Never use your Hotmail or Google addresses, given the small investment it’s a massive detriment to your professionalism. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Setup a non-geographic or local telephone number”][/rre_module_header] If your products national, you might want to promote your non-geographic number if not a local. Nothing fills me with more dread than phoning a new company on a mobile phone number. VoIP telephone numbers and solutions are cheap as chips. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Design your logo and brand identity”][/rre_module_header] Taking the time to develop not only your logo and website but overall brand identity and bring these together in a set of brand guidelines will save you time and provide consistency when developing additional collateral such as adverts, brochures etc. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Develop your website content”][/rre_module_header] Developing content for your website is more than stringing together a few nicely written sentences. Each page will have its own set of keywords you are looking to promote, these keywords need to be used consistently within the content, title, description and SEO friendly URLs |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Link your social media channels, Google Analytics & Webmaster Tools to your website”][/rre_module_header] Including clean links to your selection of social media profiles is essential early on when asking Google to index your website. You want the associations to be made as early as possible. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Develop your website ensuring it is mobile responsive”][/rre_module_header] When your website is designed, don’t sit on your desktop and sign it off. Test it on your mobile and your tablet and really try and use the website. Think if this was the first time anyone had seen your business? |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Add your sitemap.xml to Google Webmaster Tools”][/rre_module_header] A site map is essential in enabling Google to quickly and easily index your website, keeping your sitemap up to date provides regular updates and site changes to google. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Add your robots.txt to your website”][/rre_module_header] where you hope visitors will get to |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Add your “Goal” pages in Google Analytics”][/rre_module_header] Identifying which marketing activity is ultimately achieving the results you want is essential. So if you have a call to action page such as booking a call or completing payment on an ecommerce site then set this as your goal page and track which elements of your marketing is getting the most people to complete this goal. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Add social sharing functionality to your website”][/rre_module_header] When you write amazing content, why force your visitors to work to share it. Social sharing functionality is essential when it comes to a good content marketing strategy. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Add your logo & imagery to your social media channels”][/rre_module_header] Ensuring brand consistency across all of your social media channels is essential. When a visitor sees your facebook, twitter or linkedin they should provide the same brand experience. Logos, colours, messaging and appropriate content related to your business. |
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[rre_module_header position=”left” title=”Develop a content marketing strategy”][/rre_module_header] Developing a content marketing strategy is simple, start with 12 boxes representing the months of the year. We then add national holiday days such as Christmas, New Year, Mothers Day etc. We then look at industry related dates and dates related specifically to the clients business. Which then provides regulars, consistent updates to your social media channels. |
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[rre_button type=”large” position=”center” url=”/consultation/”]Start Your Consultation[/rre_button]
