The key goal for all business websites is to attract as many visitors as possible. However, not many business owners remember to cater their website to those with special needs and disabilities. To make sure your website is accessible for everyone on the internet, here are a few tips to consider.

Be mindful of your colour choices

Colour is often viewed as a major contributor to making a website visually appealing. However, not all people have the privilege to distinguish between colours, or may find it difficult to read texts over certain colours. It is therefore important to be mindful of the colours you choose to use on your website as well as the contrast levels between your text and background colours. For example, red-green colour deficiency is most common among individuals experiencing colour blindness so it is best to avoid using such colours on your website altogether. Using visual cues such as asterisks and question marks can also be helpful in separating content otherwise divided by colour.

Ensure your website is keyboard and mobile-friendly

Not all of your website’s visitors are going to be on a computer, so it is important to make sure your website is both keyboard and mobile friendly. Keyboard-only navigation means that all of the content, links and pages on your website can be accessed without a mouse, often using the ‘tab’ key. It is also important to accommodate mobile users and make sure your website can shrink down to the vertical, zooming and pinching format while also retaining its functionality.

Include alternative text for images

Visitors may prefer to read text over viewing images on your website due to a number of reasons, such as slow internet connection, image-blocking browsers or users who are sight-impaired. To satisfy such audiences, consider providing descriptive alternative texts in place of images to convey the same message to those who cannot see them. Alternative text is especially important in cases where your image acts as a page link or is integral to the content on your website.

Make sure your content is structured

A clean and uniform structure is integral to making your website accessible and this can be achieved by using headings to correctly organise your content. Headings can be used to help visitors easily navigate between your content, but it is also important to make sure your headings are visually uniform to prevent confusion between different content pages on your website.

Email marketing is becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to reach their customers. However, this means it’s likely that customers are also getting marketing emails from a range of other companies – it’s therefore crucial that your emails are designed to stand out.

Promise value in the subject line

The subject line of your email is often what determines whether a customer will click on the email or ignore it. Don’t just summarise the content of the email, but focus on an aspect that will be valuable or attention-grabbing for the customer. This could mean that the subject line offers a benefit to the reader, offers to solve a problem, or provides relevant information. Promising the reader that the email content contains something of value will increase the chances of them opening it, and delivering the promise of value in the email contents will motivate them to also open your next emails.

Focus on design

Aside from looking pretty, having a well-designed email can also make your content easier to read, get your message across, and encourage actionability. Modern email designs are generally simple with easy to read fonts. Having a consistent colour scheme that reflects the branding of your business can create a cohesive and neat design while promoting brand recognition. It’s also important to make it easy for the reader to contact you or visit your website.

Using images as links to your website allows the reader to easily access your products or services without compromising the design of your email with visible link addresses.

Ensure mobile accessibility

Most emails are designed on a desktop, but this doesn’t mean that they should only be designed for a desktop. Studies have shown that the majority of emails are now viewed on a mobile device, so it is essential that your emails are able to adapt to a mobile user interface. Having overflowing text on a mobile device can discourage the customer from reading all your content, and can make your email look unprofessional.

Personalise content

Many email marketing platforms allow you to use the recipients’ first name in the subject line. This personalisation can increase the chances of drawing the customer’s attention to your email as they naturally gravitate towards the familiarity of their name.

Content should be produced with the intention of it going viral and being shared across a broad number of platforms. Although this sounds ambitious, it is a good practice to help ensure solid planning is being incorporated into creating content to make an impact on readers. With that in mind, do not be discouraged if your content isn’t reaching large volumes of people, as there is a lot of luck behind creating viral content. Here are some ways you can get the most out of your social media presence.

Composition:
Careful thought needs to go into how you choose to display your content. The best way of composing your content will depend on a number of factors, such as your target audience, the seriousness of the content, and whether it is better presented using text, images or videos. Try using a mix of different ways when composing content such as lists, videos, infographics, photo essays, memes or written how to/opinion pieces.

Content:
The content you share should have a “wow” factor. It should be engaging, thought-provoking and above all, credible. Before coming up with a content idea or committing to writing about it, conduct research to work out what is already being said about the topic and how you can provide something new to the discussion. If your competition is doing the same thing as you, you can’t expect your content to stand out. Provide your audience with something extra that no one else is doing.

Conversation:
Great and shareable content sparks discussion. The internet is flooded with information so to stand out and prevent being lost amongst the noise online, your content should generate a point of dialogue. Directing your audience to some kind of action or being intriguing enough to make people tell others about it is a good thing to keep in mind when creating and posting content. Incentives, such as giveaways, are another way to get your audience talking and sharing content. The cost to you is minimal, but the potential benefits are great.

Consistency:
To build not only shareable content but a popular voice in your industry that people keep coming back to, you need consistency. Consistency can be achieved by using the same tone (sarcastic, humorous, informative, etc), regular posting or using a theme (reviewing a TV show relevant to your industry, weekly wrap-up of news, etc). By posting regularly, you can connect with your audience frequently and build a better relationship.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for businesses to use the web to communicate effectively with their clients and potential customers in order to retain them during such difficult financial times. While the modern internet provides businesses with many avenues to contact their clients, a few key methods you can consider implementing in your business strategy are explained below.

Send regular emails with updates:
Retention emails are a good way to start when trying to stay in touch with your clients over the digital space. Your emails should express a deep understanding of your customers and the circumstances they are most likely in (e.g. currently in self-isolation), outline your business services which may provide support during trying times and above all, show that you care about their well-being and encourage their feedback.

Your emails should also include updates and news about your business so that your customers are aware of your circumstances as well. Make sure that your emails are distributed on a regular basis (e.g. once a week) without being too frequent and running the risk of spamming and putting off your customers.

Provide updates on your website and blog:
Another way you can stay in touch with your clients is to provide regular updates on your business services through your website and/or blog. Clients are more likely to visit your website if they are still interested in your services during such times, so it is important to be transparent and provide updates on your business activities through your website. Also, consider posting frequently on your blog and providing your clients with more interactive and current content to keep them engaged with your business.

Use interactive tools on social media:
If you are looking to keep up to date with your clients’ interests while simultaneously updating your clients on your business ventures, social media is the best way to do it. With more people on social media than ever, now is the time to take advantage of your various relevant social media platforms to not only post updates about your business but also keep up to date with your clients on a more personal level.

With features such as stories, polls, surveys and comment sections, you are sure to gain a more interactive and personal experience by communicating with your clients through social media. Take the time to reply to comments, start interactive promotions such as giveaways and let your audience know that you care about and want to be engaged with them.

Enforcing health precautions is an essential step to creating a safe workplace and giving your employees peace of mind, especially during the current pandemic. Businesses looking to invite their employees back into the office after the easing of lockdown restrictions should implement safeguards to ensure their workplace is a safe one.

Conduct a COVID-19 risk assessment

Before opening your office to employees, conduct a COVID-19 risk assessment with Safe Work Australia. A risk assessment will include an evaluation from Safe Work Australia regarding your business’:

• responsibilities and leadership,
• worker engagement, alternative means of communication and participation levels,
• COVID-19 hygiene principles (such as the 4 metre square requirement),
• hierarchy of controls, and
• employee health and safety plan.

The progression of additional business activities will also be assessed. For example, the safety of business trips when travel restrictions are lifted.

Implement cleaning processes

Invest in frequent cleaning services and processes to lower transmission risk and give your employees peace of mind. In addition to hiring a cleaning service, you can also keep your workplace safe by providing employees with disinfectant solutions for door handles, light switches and keyboards.

Other cleaning and hygiene processes to implement include:

• Distributing hand-sanitizer
• Reminding employees to wash their hands
• Providing PPE wherever necessary
• Minimising physical interaction between your employees (e.g. using disposable condiments, laminating documents for easy cleaning)

Support your employees’ mental health

Supporting your employees’ mental health is just as important as their physical health. To create an environment that your employees feel comfortable and safe to work in, provide aid in the form of workplace flexibility, therapy and counselling services, home-to-business transportation options and financial advice. Additional services such as child-care can also be helpful to supporting your employees’ mental health.

Approaching strangers at networking events can seem intimidating, but shying away from interaction means you could be missing out on some great business opportunities. Here are some ways you can comfortably approach people and make a good first impression.

Prepare

It’s essential that you know the nature of the networking event you plan on attending. Make sure that you know the meeting agenda, workshops available, dress code, revent schedule, and the host, companies and people that will be attending. If particular participants stand out to you, do some background research on them to get an idea of what they do and who they are so that you can narrow down who to talk to and what to talk about when you see them.

Be approachable

People are more likely to want to talk to you if you look approachable. Try to avoid standing in the corner avoiding eye contact with people, and instead placing yourself somewhere others can see you. Studies have shown that people are 86 percent more likely to talk to strangers on the street if they’re smiling, so don’t be afraid to keep a smile on your face, especially when someone looks your way.

Ask open-ended questions

Open ended questions are more likely to sustain a longer conversation and help you build rapport with someone more quickly. Close-ended questions that require one or two word answers may be useful for establishing basic facts about the other person (e.g. what do you do? Where did you study?), but mixing in open-ended questions that allow you to talk descriptively and passionately can prevent the conversation from getting stagnant or dull.

Be an active listener

With so many conversations, events, and people, networking events are often full of distractions. However, when you engage with someone, it’s important that you don’t let what’s going on around you distract you from listening. Try to remember their basic details, such as their name and company, so that you can recall them later if you see each other again and demonstrate your interest and polite character. Make appropriate eye contact with the person you’re talking to and ask them relevant questions about what they’re saying to show your engagement.

Exit gracefully

Ending a conversation can be awkward for both parties, and you may fear that you’re being rude if you initiate the goodbye. Remember that parting ways is a normal part of a conversation, and the other person may be just as keen to go and explore the rest of the event as you are. The easiest time to end an interaction is when there is a lull in the conversation. When this happens, politely let the other party know that it was a pleasure to meet them and thank them for their time. If you would like to connect later on, you could suggest a future meeting, exchange details, give them your business card, or send them a message on LinkedIn.

Improving your SEO ranking is an important step to developing your business’ digital presence and increasing web traffic onto your website and social media pages.

SEO refers to search engine optimisation and improving it allows your business to top search results as the first link to come up, thereby ensuring credibility and attracting more relevant clients. To reliably improve your SEO ranking, here are a few key steps.

Optimise for mobile
Nowadays, clients are browsing the web from their phones so it is important to make sure all your web content is mobile friendly. Mobile optimisation also encourages search engines to link your websites first. To make mobile-friendly web content, consider:

• Minimising loading time for mobile users (usually with slower connection than desktop) – search engines as big as Google are planning on using page speed as a mobile search ranking.
• Organising your website objectives and planning the ideal mobile experience for page visitors.

Prioritise speed
Increasing your page speed (the rate at which your web pages open from search engines and within your website) improves user experience for potential clients. By making sure your website is up to speed with both mobile and desktop modes, clients will gladly sift through your website and information as it can be done conveniently. To optimise your page speed, you should:

• Be wary of your image file sizes – use a compression tool to reduce file sizes.
• Enable browser caching – so that clients do not have to load web resources again.
• Minify your scripts – get rid of any extra augmentations that are slowing down your website.

Make sure your content is up to par
There is no use in a good SEO ranking if the content on your websites is not high-quality nor attractive enough to retain clients. Not only should your content be conversation-worthy, you should also be regularly releasing new content (such as blogs) and perform regular technical SEO audits to keep up to date with your position in the search rankings. Testing what kind of content bumps you up on search engines will also help you in improving your SEO ranking in the long term.

Small businesses coming out of COVID-19 may be looking to expand and grow as quickly as possible to prepare for a changing economy. One of the ways you can effectively grow your business is by improving your hiring strategy and making sure it is efficient.

Analyse and catalogue your needs
To make sure your hiring process is fit for your business, spend some time analysing your needs. For example, consider how quickly you are looking to expand, how many employees you are looking to and capable of hiring, the space you have available for additional employees, and other similar conditions. By being specific with your requirements, you are making this easier for yourself in the long run and trimming away unnecessary expenses before you even know it.

Consider hiring part-timers and contractors
Expanding your conditions for potential employees will widen the pool of talent available to you. Instead of being set on particular working conditions such as full-time working hours or in-office working, consider being more flexible with your working arrangements. Hiring part-timers and contractors will be more advantageous to businesses looking to grow quickly and substantially, as part-timers and contractors come with lower costs and you do not have to worry about employee retention for the long-term.

Invest in training your new recruits
Make sure to spend time training your new hires by providing them with the education and resources they need to be successful in your business. While it may not seem worthwhile to invest in part-timers and contractors, building a training procedure will be beneficial in the long run for future employees as you will establish a strong workplace culture while also developing a process that is most suited to your preferences.

Focus on hiring one at a time
It is understandable for you to have many positions open at one time, but to make sure you make accurate judgements on the best potential employees, try to focus on one position at a time. This way, you will avoid being overwhelmed with business decisions involving both ordinary business proceedings and new recruits. Use the same approach when you are hiring a team for a particular project or a new location as well.