15 Online Business Tips everyone should know

For everyone starting a real online business
Enjoy:

1.Giving users the ability to Opt Out of a Mailing List.

Although this step is not considered huge because many people use spam emails anyways to get through to that free super amazing million dollar idea you're giving away for free, there are a few who use their regular email and everyone should have the right to stop getting your free sample of Viagra emails.

*If you do send people spam email for free Viagra, I suggest you reread the opening sentence I said REAL Online Business although this might be a business for some it's almost most of the time temporary.

2.Domain Registration.

So many people register domains with the cheapest source they can find and who can blame them a dollar saved is a dollar saved, but when you wanna start a real business online you need security and registering your domain with the guy who runs his reseller account out of his corner store office down the street might seem like a good idea because it's $1.50 cheaper, I promise it's not.
Choose a reputable register and spend the extra money for the security so we don't have to read about your I got scammed thread in a year,
anyways some examples of top level domain registers with a good reputation are:
Godaddy
Namecheap
Enom
for Canada try:
Namespro

*Side Notes For Number 2*
Keep your domain and hosting separate it's just for the best.
For the Love of god read the UDRP 'Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy' this will save alot of Legal Threads on DP.
Use the United States Trademark Database or the Canadian Trademark Database if you are unsure about the legality of the name you are considering, consult a lawyer if you are still confused by doing this you can avoid getting one of these.
Pick a domain that is easy to remember and if you can to the point.


3.Hosting.

This pretty much runs along the same lines as number 2, but I will add this,
be wary of some, there have been stories of hosts stealing websites so choose wisely and also companies offering unlimited something don't waste your time with them unlimited anything is impossible and a complete sales hype to trick you to buy, find a good host with a good reputation.
Anyways, although I'm not going to refer any hosting providers here, Webhostingtalk is a good place to find reviews and ask alot of questions.

4.Secure Socket Layer Certificate aka SSL Cert.

SSL INFO
Come on people these can be had for 30 dollars and in some cases cheaper and even free, they also add value to your website in the sense of security, people are a lot more easy going about giving out information when they see that nice little padlock and yellow or in some cases green address bar come up on the screen when they are asked to give away their email, name, address or whatever.
These can be bought at many places including
Godaddy
Namecheap
InstantSSL
Free SSL

5.Website Layout.

Plan out how your website will work before you go and make it, this might take a day or two, but if you plan ahead you save a lot of headaches later, some things to consider doing and figuring out.
1. Who is your Web audience (Age, Gender, Etc...)
2. Sketch out the Web site (I personally use 4x6 cue cards)
3. Navigation structure (Sitemap that's number 8)
4. Design elements (Hint: look at how Google does it in Webmaster Tools)
5. Graphics (Logos: Pay more then 3 dollars if you're committed to your site)
6. How are you going to arrange the topics and subtopics of your site?

6.About Us Page.

These things are great but a lot of the time they are used wrong,
for some inspiration read this great article over at Clickz About Us Help

7.Proper use of the Contact Us page.

These pages are here for people to contact you (duhhh) but a lot of the time people put insufficient information, example being just an info @example.com not good enough guys and gals.
For a business that does sales you should have

Sales@
CustomerService@ or CS@
TechnicalSupport@
Billing@
Legal@
Other@
(Of course the above are only if they are applicable)

Also you can forward it all to one address, Having many ways to be contacted just looks more professional and you will give the illusion that you're more then a one man show, also add phone numbers, an address, personal contact email, if you have them and want to give them out, and finally make the page easy to find.
Apple has a nice contact us page, it's very detailed.

8.Sitemap.

O.K Sitemaps are important probably one of the more important things overlooked by many, if you don't have one get one, they are important to anyone under 50, search engine spiders, and anyone over 50 catch my drift.
Make one submit it where you can for example Google

9.Design Colors.

Choose colors that are easy on the eyes not to bright not to dark, don't use a black background unless you have to, don't put yellow on pink or green on purple, or anything else that is just ugly, a easy to look at website means people will come back and remember your site
Look at how Google does it on Webmaster Tools that site is just beautiful to look at so nice on the eyes

10.Adsense.

I personally don't use Adsense on my main sites but if you do or are planning to use it, do it right, don't put 1 page of content with 200 ads, put one nice ad in the right place and lets the click come, rework ad placement if needed. Look at Plenty of Fish he makes a killing off ads and he doesn't put 200 on each page as a matter of fact he doesn't even have any on his homepage.

11.Make your Business a Business.

Register your business with your State/Province as a Sole proprietorship, Partnership, or Corporation if you can.
A registered business is more professional then one that is not right?
After you have done that, register for G.S.T this way people will think you are making money (lets hope you are) because you don't have to charge G.S.T unless you're making over 30k a year (at least that's how it is in Canada.) the beauty is you can charge G.S.T if you make under 30k also but why would anyone do that.

*Note* The United States has a different tax system then Canada and I'm not 100% about how it works so use Google to find out more information

12.Merchant Accounts.

Try and get a merchant account if you can to go along side Paypal it's just more professional when people pay on your site,
Again I'm not going to recommend anything here do your own homework on this one, I will tell you though that in order to get a merchant account you will need a Business License, a Business Bank Account, and an SSL Cert, along with filling out many forms.

13.Read those little Legal things you should be reading anyways.

Whenever you buy anything that will be used for your business from another company or person always read (If Available) their Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, Disclaimer or anything else that is important that you should read.
You don't wanna buy something and get screwed in the end.

14.Answer your Emails.

You get 24hrs max to answer a sales Email after that the sale is gone,
End of story.
*Note* Try and be considerable quicker then 24hrs and get a quality email client like Thunderbird which is free and has lots of support to handle your emails better

15.Keep you Businesses Reputation in Good Standing.

This isn't hard, answer emails or phone calls, support your product or service and don't rip people off it's that simple, if you do get any problems with a jerk customer just provide a refund.
Some people think bad press is still press but the keyword here isn't press it's Bad all it takes is one story on the front page of Digg and you're done.

Bonus Tip: Pay your taxes

This ain't really a tip but please pay your taxes, I and others alike don't wanna pay them for you, and there is a chance you could possibly get audited trust me this you don't want.

Added Added Bonus: Seo and Web Presence Help
Since the last tip wasn't really a tip refer to these threads here on DP for some info on improving your web presence and SEO help
Improve your Web Presence
SEO Help

Or buy the SeoBook by Aaron Wall, it's worth every penny

Hope you enjoyed my thread
Good Night
Jro

 

Thanks for the tips. They are well received.

 

Thanks for the tips, very useful.

 

thanks for these tips

 

not bad...thanks

 

I liked the one with the hosting services. I never tried a paid hosting till now so I never knew that those guys that say "Unlimited" are not trustworthy. Thanks for sharing

 

Many good tips for people to get started. There are some other things I would recommend, and expand on (given time to type them out in detail). But you cover the basics well grasshopper.

Running your online business LIKE A BUSINESS is key.

Bravo.

 

16. Avoid buying The Rich Jerk eBook.

 

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

**feet kicking in the air**

 

Thanks for the tips

 

Great checklist. Thanks for the tips.

 

haha dang how did I forget that one

 

good tips ...thanks for sharing ...

 

Great job guy
this as guidance for me to venture in intrnet buss...

 

To add to the #7 I'd suggest a contact us "form". I've been amazed at how many more customers will contact you using the form.

Also use of some site statistics gathering like google analytics. I love stats and then you know where your users are going and what is working!

 

Good post OP

17. Dont spam the hell out of your mailing list with useless products just because you wanted some quick cash.

18. Run your online business just like an offline one.

Repped

 

Wow, thanks for the list ...

Last time I had a look, SSL were still ranging around 125$ per year minimum .... sounds like a very long time ago, lol.

 

Excellent additions.

Repped