This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
How To Start an Online B2B Business?
This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
B2B eCommerce
The upsurge in the B2B sector in a lean period has caught the attention of a major part of eCommerce entrepreneurs projecting a new aisle to B2B business opportunities.
Source: https://www.zdnet.com
A progressive part is presently buzzing with the question on “How To Start an Online B2B Business? ”
Has your curiosity been kindled as well? Kudos, you have stumbled on the right blog.
In this blog, we have attempted to decipher every step of building a successful online B2B business.
The first thing to pop up in your mind must have been how to get a perfect Business to Business website.
Now, hold your horses! Have you even decided yet what kind of B2B business you want to have? Well, probably not. That, my friend, is the first step.
Surely a website is the face of the business, but that’s not the base.
Before everything else, you will need a plan that will act as the blueprint of the whole execution.
Focus on the forte
Prior to picking your oyster, ask yourself these questions-
How much am I capable of investing?
Stick to a niche rather than going all gung-ho if your investment is minimal and expand yourself gradually though you can still choose to be a full-fledged website if you are willing to take the risk.
What will be beneficial and easy for at initial stages?
Sticking on to the niche leaves you with a good range of alternatives as well
- Traditional B2B business that allows product listing, warehousing, shipping and delivery facility
E.g Alibaba.com
- A B2B company that doesn’t want to go through the hassle of maintaining warehouses at different places and provides listing, shipping and delivery facility only.
- Or a B2B company that totally works on drop-shipping frame i.e just for product listing and tracking. All the other responsibilities are of the vendor.
E.g IndiaMart.com
Get a Domain Name
To get started you will need a domain name. A domain name is the identity of the website.
Here are the pointers to take care of while choosing a domain name
Keep it Short
Keep your domain name short, it will give a lesser chance of mistyping. Keep it with a maximum of 3 syllables. A longer domain name will give more room for errors.
Make it Catchy
Catchy domains become popular easily, one such example is Alibaba.com. In an interview, the CEO of Alibaba stated that before starting the company he was thinking of a suitable name when “Alibaba” popped up in his mind, he asked numerous people whether they knew who Alibaba was and he got a positive answer almost every time.
Avoid hyphens, signs or numbers
People may get confused straight away if you include hyphens, numbers or signs and create a typo.
Easy to remember
The name you choose must be a striking one so that people can remember at once when they want to search you.
Research about it
Before you finalize your domain name research about it to make sure it is not taken.
Choose an appropriate extension
Some examples of domain name extensions are.org, .com, .co etc. choose your extension wisely keeping in mind your target area, plus whether you want to keep your business on a country or global level.
In case you have a plan to expand your business to a global level go for the extension ‘.com’.
Make quick action
Subsequent to clinching your domain name, act quick and buy it, as domain names sell out like hot cakes.
Now you can finally focus on building your Business to Business website.
Decide The Layout
Appealing theme
B2B eCommerce
Needless to point that a website represents the whole business and the motive of the businessman, therefore, it needs to be crisp and impressive.
Don’t just create a website for the sake of it, don’t make it tasteless and dull. You need to keep in mind that even though it’s a Business to business website, it should still look as appealing as a B2C website.
Tablet and mobile friendly
You definitely don’t want to restrict your business while everyone is expanding their prospects. Get a website that can be browsed through phone and tablets as well without any buffering. Websites that take time to load have higher bounce rate.
Upgrade-able and customizable
The website should be open to upgrades and customization. With the passage of time, an outdated website that has a rigid frame won’t survive in the market plus you will have to spend a fortune to get a new website
Customer Convenient
User-friendly websites increase your chances to get voluminous traffic. Make your website multi-lingual for the convenience of customers especially if you will have a global level business.
Query box or live chatbot
Talking of customer convenience, an adept B2B site provides the customers with a platform to launch their queries and answers them promptly. Make it a point to include a query box or even better a live chatbot on your B2B ecommerce website.
Prominent CTA button
Before choosing the text for your CTA button, ask yourself these questions
- What do you want to achieve through your CTA button?
CTA buttons are one of the key factors affecting Customer Conversion Rate, it is important what you put on your CTA button and where you place it.
A CTA button must be placed where it catches the eyes of your potential clients PDQ.
- Where do you want to lead your customers through the CTA button?
You can place CTA buttons on your homepage and other pages, leading to different pages but deciding where to make them land will be crucial for your business. Make the decision carefully if you want to achieve maximum conversion through them.
Choose The Right Frame
It is very important to choose a suitable frame for your B2B business model.
Your website should have a strong and flexible frame. As you know that a B2B website is different to a B2C website on many levels.
Several SAAS based and open source software solutions are available in the market, though most of the business entrepreneurs select open source solutions because with SAAS based solution there is a very limited customization scope.
Some of the open source solutions that can suit your needs best are-
Magento Frame
Sourec: https://blog.capterra.com
Magento open source
Prestashop Frame
Sourec: https://blog.capterra.com
Prestashop
Woocommerce Frame
Sourec: https://blog.capterra.com
Woocommerce
Opencart Frame
Sourec: https://blog.capterra.com
Opencart
Plan your marketing strategy
Social media is the best platform for marketing for B2C and B2B alike. The difference is between the strategy and the choice of social platform. B2B eCommerce platform is a much bigger and totally on a different level from B2C eCommerce.
Choosing social media platform that will best suit your marketing strategy should be your primary concern. Some of the best platforms for promotion are Facebook, Twitter Instagram etc.
Subsequent to choosing your platforms you must decide how you are going to promote your website.
- Create a page on every social media platform you have selected for promotion. Facebook for business and Instagram for Business are two podiums that will help you frame your pages regarding the promotion of your website.
- Link your website to the pages on these social media pages, this will provide you with two-way benefits.
Firstly, it will make sure that the traffic gets directed to your website and nowhere else.
Secondly, it will cut the hassle for your potential customers to find you. They will be able to do so through any of your posts.
- Post actively. Gazillions of people posts per day on social media and bajillions of posts flow through, hence it is important to post actively yet making sure that your posts don’t overcrowd your followers’ wall or else they will be fed up unsubscribe you.
- Pay attention to the type of content and images you use while posting. Irrelevant contents lessen the chances of engagement and lead generation.
Content marketing is another effective way to generate a generous amount of organic lead for your website. Through blogging, you can achieve this.
Blogs with relevant keywords and content will help the web crawlers to make your blogs rank higher and get abundant views. Careful use of links and CTA buttons in your blog double the chances of traffic being directed to your website.
Promote your blogs on your social media pages regularly. This will also help you generate leads for your website.
Conclusion
A B2B business sure takes some time to get to the paramount of success. But it is really necessary to follow each and every step in pre and post structuring your website, as no business has ever reached far in the race without proper planning and guidance.