Coming up with truly unique online business ideas is difficult. In a globalized economy, where everyone has access to the same sources of inspiration, anyone can come up with an identical concept and execute it effectively. But even if someone else has beaten you to the punch, you still have the opportunity to do it differently, better, and smarter. Whether you’re aiming to sell a physical product or a remote service, starting with a domain name search can help you find the best option to enhance your branding and reputation. This article will help you work out your fastest route to getting noticed, building an audience, and achieving profitability.
Scope out the competition
Being first is nothing – what counts is being the best. From cola and candy bars to computers and cell phones, consumers want to have a choice. Monopolies are anathema to the free market. So, it’s fine that someone else has run the hard yards of educating the market – of telling the world that this is even possible – and that people need it. They’ve figure out the ideal design and features. And they’ve discovered what kind of price people are willing to pay. What that means is that you’ll save valuable time, effort, and expense.
Visit your competitors’ websites and read every word. Watch all their YouTube videos. See what people are saying about them on Facebook and Instagram. You’ll quickly become an expert in the niche market you’re eventually going to dominate. What’s more, you’ll hone your go-to-market strategy by working out exactly what makes your own offering so very special and exactly where it fits in the marketplace. This process will also help you decide on the language you use to describe your product or service – which is how potential customers are going to find you.
Understand your uniqueness
People need to a reason to believe – If you’re a retail business owner, your site visitors must be convinced to pick your product over the competition. And those reasons have remained essentially unchanged since humans first began trading. It all begins with establishing a solid foundation for your online business, choosing the right platform for your ecommerce website, selecting the theme, colors, and design to optimizing the user experience. Each element can make all the difference in winning over your customers.
- Quality
Are you going to offer something that’s more stylish than the rest? One that’s made from superior materials? One that’s going to last longer? Think about your “buyer persona” – the kind of character who represents your average customer and consider what they care most about. And factor in an acceptable lifespan for your product. Is it a case of “buy once, cherish forever” or a use-and-replace business model that will keep people coming back for more?
- Price
Is yourbusiness.com going to be a top-of-the-range, limited-edition, height-of-luxury proposition? Is “stack ‘em high, watch ‘em fly” your approach? Or are you aiming for that ever-so-elusive sweet spot – the perfect balance between cachet and cost that will make you the go-to vendor for every discerning mid-market buyer? You can, of course, change what you charge further down the line, but that could damage your reputation. People like consistency.
- Experience
If you can’t compete on quality or price, you can still stand out by offering the best customer journey. That journey begins as soon as someone visits your website, continues as they navigate your content, and climaxes as they make a purchase. But it doesn’t end there. After-sales service is critical. If a customer changes their mind, they want a no-quibble moneyback guarantee. If they run into trouble, you’ve got to shoot fast and true. And never forget: even an angry customer can become your best brand ambassador if you do the right thing.
- Social responsibility
Whether you’re selling a life-enhancing elixir, a handcrafted future heirloom, or a device that’s going to save people serious time, you may need to stress sustainability and ethical sourcing. And perhaps there’s a cause you’re particularly passionate about. If so, you do you. But go easy. Not everyone believes in what you believe.
Settling on your SEO strategy
Defining your Unique Selling Point is the first step toward creating a winning SEO strategy. Search Engine Optimization – and Search Engine Marketing (PPC) – are crucially important. Potential customers aren’t going to click through to page 9 of the Google search results to find you. You need to be on the first page – as high as you can. That visibility is vital to the success of all unique online business ideas.
Search and they shall find
Most people want to find and buy what they need as fast as possible. OK, if it’s a house or a car, they’re going to take a bit more time over it. But if we’re talking gifts, gadgets, or gig economy services, you’ve got to grab people’s attention quickly. Winning traffic means finding and using the right words – the phrases people are actually going to type and that accurately reflect your USP.
Most cat owners will enter some kind of adjective or qualifier along with a core phrase “cat food.” So, is your cat food gourmet, bargain, next-day delivery, or made with free-range chicken?
Your first port of call is the good old Google homepage. Enter a simple description of your product or service and see what autocomplete suggests. That can be a great initial guide to what people are looking for within your category.
But you’ve got to dig deeper by identifying the full range of words and phrases that will bring in customers, so that you can build your site content around them.
As a rule of thumb, keyword phrases with monthly volumes of 200 to 500 are ideal. That’s a respectable number of searches and getting a decent first-page position won’t be too difficult. Many softwares, such as SEMrush offers this as one of their free services, and some website builder platforms even offer internal tools to track and measure the site performance and success.
Another handy feature is “Rank Checker” for specific keywords. You enter the URL of one of your rivals to discover all the keywords and phrases they’ve optimized for. You’ll probably want to use some of those too, either for driving organic search traffic or for bidding on pay per click ads.
Above all, make sure you own your keyword cluster. Check out all the variations and permutations (the long tails) of your core phrase. And use as many as you can, without looking like you’re forcing them in there. It’s a skill. But you don’t have to crack it first time. That’s the beauty of building a website. It’s always a work in progress. Just use Google Search Console to monitor which keywords are bringing you traffic, and which are just taking up space on the page.
If you build it, they will come
As people have been saying since the dawn of the internet, your site is your shop window. And all unique online business ideas need websites that draw people in. Great design is essential, of course. Smooth user experience is also vital. But perhaps the most important element is your site’s search ranking. Working out why your offering is different than everyone else’s is part and parcel of a winning SEO strategy that will deliver results right from Day One.
Leave a Reply