January 20th, 2024 – Free Learning Resources To Build Your Online Business
There are many ways for one to build a successful online business, none of which are inherently right or wrong. Whether you are selling products or services, there are things that online business models have in common. We will look at content creation and marketing. Today, I want to talk about some free online guides you can use to help you start building your online business.
A Good Website Builder
Having a website or online shop is necessary for an online business, but they are not all built equal. The first thing you should do is research which website builder you want to use. Then look for how to secure a domain and the resources you’ll need to include on your site. Research is key here. For this reason, I’ve compiled some guides. These can help you decide which builder you want to use and how to get the most out of it.
Which Builder Should I Choose?
Here is a comparison list of the top website builders. They show the user review, the category of achievements, and some bullet points about why people enjoy that builder.
BlueHost/WordPress
If you choose to go the Bluehost/Wordpress route, here is a great YouTube tutorial that shows you some basic steps to creating a great site.
I’m on Bluehost and I love it. It consistently meets my individual needs while I build my online business. I was able to set up my secure domain and email address through the builder. The ability to customize pages is excellent. I make the pages look how I want, and the functions are very user-friendly.
Shopify
If you’re more interested in the Shopify route for selling products or services, I’ve compiled a few resources here.
First is a guide that explains what a Shopify store is and how it works.
Second is a read-through article that explains nine steps to creating a Shopify website.
And finally, a YouTube video that explains similar ideas as the ones in the article, but it is in video form rather than written if you’re more interested in that kind of visual content.
If you choose to research on your own to find a different e-commerce platform, I suggest finding articles or videos done by creators who are not affiliated with that company. You are looking for not just the good things but also the disadvantages of each option. Bloggers will be more likely to tell you the truth about what they enjoy and don’t enjoy from their builder based on their experience, whereas the builder-generated content will focus only on the positives. How-to guides and explanations for use are great when done by the builder but reviews are much more suited for reviewers who do not gain or lose anything by giving you honest information. This will give you a much more accurate representation of which builder will help you meet your specific needs when building your online business.
Creating Content
Content creation means generating information that will sell your product or services and that entices your specific audience. This could mean blog posts, videos, short-form content, posters, newsletters, etc. No matter what you are trying to sell, you need to have material that your audience can consume, that shows off your product or skills to them and encourages them to engage. Below I have compiled a few online guides that can help you get started with creating content to build your online business.
Content Creation And Content Marketing
If you’re still not sure how to create content that will benefit your website and the products/services you wish to sell, here is a guide on how to get started with content that connects to your audience.
When creating your online content, you need to be aware of not just what you want to write but what your audience wants to hear. Your content is made specifically for them. For a few tips on how to create content that appeals to your audience, follow this guide.
SEO
Search Engine Optimization is an essential part of building an online business. You want search engines like Google and Bing to be able to find your content and show it to potential customers. Learning SEO is integral for effectively connecting to your audience. I’ve listed two resources that will teach you what you need to know about SEO and how to use it.
Beginner’s Guide To SEO by Moz
Google Search Console
Google Search Console (GSC) is a piece of the SEO puzzle. It allows you to track your website’s presence in Google searches. It lets you see the audience you are reaching, how you’re reaching them, and how to make your site appear higher in the search results. I’ve compiled a few resources here to give you more information about what GSC is, does, and how you can use it.
Marketing Yourself
At this point, you should have a website built and optimized for your content performance to rank higher in Google. But that’s only going to work for the people who are already looking for you. Now you need to figure out how to make yourself appear in front of people who might be interested in your services if the opportunity had presented itself to them. This is where Social Media Marketing comes in.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: social media is your friend. You will be exposed to millions of people, markets, and communities you would have never expected. There are 8 billion people in the world. Almost 2.5 billion of them are Instagram users, and over 3 billion of them are Facebook users. These are double the number of LinkedIn and closer to five times the number of X (formerly Twitter) users coming in at 1 billion active monthly users and 556 million active monthly users respectively.
Ignoring an audience as wide as this would be detrimental when building your online business. Furthermore, it’s not enough to simply have an account on these platforms, you need to learn how to utilize them so you’re reaching the right audience for your product or service. I’ve compiled here a list of guides that explain the basics of Social Media Marketing and strategy.
How to get started with SMM as presented by HubSpot
An Introductory Guide to Social Media Strategy
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There you have it, some free online learning guides that will help you build your online business. If you like this post, please make sure to comment down below and come back for a new post on the Next Step Scopist blog!
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