So you have decided to start up an online business. You have realized that some pretty decent money can be made online, through various income streams – e-commerce, pay per click (PPC) advertising and affiliate marketing are just a few of them. You may have even bought a domain, sorted out some software, listed your products and you are ready and raring to go.
It’s a little bit more complicated than that, though. Sure, you might get a few sales and clicks, but to be truly successful, you need a good understanding of not just sales and marketing. But how the internet works as a whole. In this article, we are going to cover only a few things that you need at least a basic knowledge of.
Data Protection
Laws have really tightened up around data protection in the last year or so, especially in Europe, with the introduction of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in May 2018. Many high profile businesses, such as Facebook and British Airways, and even countries and governments have been caught up in data breaching scandals, and it has not done anything good for their reputations. Knowing how to handle data securely, and not keeping any personal or financial information that is not relevant to your business operations is essential.
Internet Security
A lot of data protection breaches are caused by a lack of knowledge of internet security. Everyone should have some basic security knowledge and anti-virus and phishing software on their computers or devices, but if you are handing people’s personal information and financial details, it is even more critical. If you need to brush up on your skills or want to learn more about protecting you, your business and your customers online, have a look at some of the Alpine Security popular cybersecurity courses.
Legalities
From the GDPR mentioned above and related laws to disclosure and paying taxes, you should know the basic legalities around your particular field of business. For example, if you decide to take part in affiliate marketing on your website, you need to make sure that these are disclosed and clear to anyone on your site. If you employ anyone, you need to make sure that you are following the rules when it comes to paying them, taxes and workers rights.
Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO is a vital part of marketing an online business, and without it, you are unlikely to be successful. It is a lot less complicated than it sounds – it is based around the keywords that will attract people to your website, and making sure that your site is easy to navigate and user-friendly. If you can get SEO right, you can rank highly in Google searches and bring more traffic to your site. There are plenty of tutorials online to help you get to grips with SEO if you don’t want to spend any additional money, but if not, you can pay the professionals to sort it for you.
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