Few can argue that Covid-19 has had a profound, transformative impact on businesses. Disruptions from the current and future outbreaks will likely continue for a long time, perhaps even indefinitely. With that in mind, it’s worth exploring ways and coming up with fresh ideas to adapt your business model to the new normal.
Improve Your Company Website
Much like your home or car requires maintenance and renovations, the same principle applies to your company website.
If you haven’t made any moves to improve or upgrade your website in years, now is an ideal time to review what improvements can get your site up to speed.
Areas worth double-checking for potential upgrades include:
Secure Connectivity – With the incidence of unauthorized website access on the rise, ensuring that your website has a correctly configured SSL/TLS certificate is critical. (If you’re unsure whether your site is secured, type your website address in the URL bar. If you see a padlock icon, this means your site is secured.) A secure website keeps data in transit safe from keyloggers and other malicious attacks that potentially put your data at risk.
E-Commerce Capabilities – While the COVID-19 crisis applied pressure to many businesses, companies with E-Commerce capabilities could offset some of their losses by utilizing an E-Commerce platform and selling online. Even with lockdown orders in place, vendors can still sell gift certificates or products that are eligible for shipping.
Responsive Design – These days, eclectic sites built on outdated platforms isn’t as appealing and exciting as they were a few years ago.
Today, more people than ever before use Smartphones and other mobile devices to access the internet, so having a responsive design is more important than ever before.
To check to see if your current website has a responsive design, type your website address into a web browser using multiple devices. If the site automatically adjusts to fit correctly on each of these screens, you likely already have a responsive website.
Analytics And Website Tracking – Without website analytics and tracking protocols in place, getting an idea of what’s working and what isn’t on your site is challenging.
Installing an analytics program helps you get a better understanding of the keyword phrases you see traffic from, as well as where your website pages rank on the major search engines. Using this data, you can put together a strategy to improve these rankings.
This data collection might include A/B testing of landing pages, web page content, or even a different placement of urgent “call to action” buttons or links.
Often, a few tweaks to your pages and some off-site factors can help lift your rankings and improve your conversion rate.
Marketing Strategy – Having a robust marketing strategy in place helps you keep in touch with your prospects, leads, and contacts even during a downturn. Nurturing your list can help with retaining your clients and “keeping them in the loop” about your operating status.
Adjust Your Plan as Needed
If Covid-19 could adversely impact your business, it’s worth creating a proactive action plan. Hoping that things go back to the way they were isn’t realistic.
Fortunately, the government has created multiple sources of official Covid-19 news, so staying on top of critical developments in the fight against this health threat is easy. Pay attention to spikes in cases and follow the updates so that you know what’s going on and that you’re prepared to take action.
If you know your sales and revenues are getting impacted negatively, it’s essential to make hard decisions fast.
For instance, if your physical storefront isn’t producing sufficient revenues, shifting to an online sales platform helps leverage your online presence and help you preserve sales that you might not have otherwise.
Take Advantage of Programs for Small Businesses
Part of the government’s response to Covid-19 has been to set up resources and programs for business people. Whether you seek a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan or other forms of financial assistance, it’s worth exploring available options to protect your business interests in a downturn.
Further, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has published a comprehensive guide for businesses dealing with Coronavirus. Most states are already in the reopening phase, so learning about the recommended steps is worth doing. Keep in mind each state publishes its own set of rules, so it’s essential to follow them to remain compliant.
Familiarizing yourself with local, state, and federal guidelines keep everyone healthier and reduce potential exposure to liability.
Flexibility Is a Great Strength
Unfortunately, there are no firm timelines for when the Covid-19 crisis will officially end. So far, there is no clear consensus when businesses and people go back to living their life as they did before the outbreak. That means patience and flexibility will be valuable assets for everyone navigating these unchartered waters for the foreseeable future.
If a second and third wave hits, everyone could face more lockdown orders. This potential opens up a whole array of issues, making planning all the more difficult. However, taking steps to solidify your online presence and your business plan can help safeguard your company if another lockdown order gets issued later.
Many companies will need to deal with a multitude of issues on an ongoing basis. The crisis is causing many disruptions for workers and companies alike, which isn’t likely to change anytime soon. Having a contingency plan to handle unexpected interruptions to your operations is critical to survival.
Lowering expenses, fine-tuning your game plan, and looking for creative solutions to handle the challenges of a changing operating environment marketplace helps your organization thrive when things become more challenging.
Plan for the Long Term
It’s safe to say that businesses across a broad spectrum of niches and industries are feeling the impact of Covid-19.
However, by taking proactive measures now, you can make the preparations you need to thrive in a changing business environment.
Interactive Palette is dedicated to helping companies of all sizes launch or improves their existing online presence. If you could use a hand with any web development services, contact us to discuss your project requirements.
